Sunday the 8th
Sunday morning we met up with 3 other American exchange students who live in Denmark and are vacationing in London. The first thing in the morning we went to Westminster Abbey, which we couldn't go in because it was a Sunday morning. We then walked to Buckingham Palace which was breath taking. We missed the changing of the guard, but we walked through a beautiful park. There were pigeons all over the place, so I tried to sit on a bench and feed the pigeons, but they didn't respond to my bread. It was defiantly not like in the movies. It was quite disappointing. After Buckingham place, Pedro and I split from the girls and went on a cruise on the Thames. It was a little chilly, but we braved the cold and sat outside on the boat. They played music and gave a brief history of some the things along the river. We then headed to the National Gallery, and then the Portrait Gallery which I enjoyed much more then the National Gallery. By then we were quite tired and went back to the hostel to rest for awhile. We met back up with the girls that evening and went to a blues club. The next day the three girls left to go back to Denmark.
The view from the very top of St. Pauls Cathederal. *Borrowed from Pedro*
Monday the 9th
First thing Monday morning we took a ride on the "London Eye," the gigantic Ferris wheel across the Thames from Big Ben. The weather was spectacular, and we were the first people on in the morning. You could see all of London from the top. From there we went to Abbey Road and took our pictures in front of the famous Beatles landmark. We then continued to Greenwich to see the meridian line. We arrived just before 12 o’clock noon, and took our picture while being in two different hemispheres. After Greenwich we went to Kensington Palace, and then to Kensington Park. At Kensington park I had another chance to try to get the pigeons to come to me while sitting on a park bench, like in the movies. Unfortunately this time when I tried it I got attacked. The bench was by a lake and so not only did the pigeons come, but so did the geese. They attacked me which wasn’t so pleasant. After we were finished with the killer geese we went to Hyde park and speakers corner. The guy who was speaking was not interesting, so we went to the marble arch, and then to Harrods. We had no money to spend at Harrods so we didn’t stay there to long. For dinner we went to a traditional British pub, Albert’s Pub. I had a Shepherds pie for dinner. It was very tasty.
Tuesday the 10th
Tuesday Pedro and I decided to split up to peruse other interests. He’s much more appreciative of museums and arts, so he went to some museums and to Jimmy Hendrix’s house. I started out the morning by going to Notting Hill. I was disappointed to find out that the actual door isn’t there. I did find George Orwell’s house though. After Notting Hill I headed to Covent Gardens to do some shopping. I didn’t really have any money to spend though, so I watched the street performers, and gave what little money I had to them. From there I went to the London Theatre museum. It was fascinating. They had history of the London theatres, along with a live demonstration about theatre makeup, and costumes. When I was finished with the Theatre museum I went to the actual theatre. I went to a matinee of "The Phantom of the Opera," at her Majesty’s Theatre. It was amazing! The set, the special effects, the music. . . The entire show was breath taking. I had middle back of the stalls. I was able to see everything very clearly. I was very surprised to find out how casual the theatre was even for a matinee. Everyone was in jeans and t-shirts, and they sold candy and soda like at the movies. I was overdressed in my skirt and high-tops. After the show finished I walked to China town and went to Subway, which was absolutely disgusting. It was the first time I’ve gone to Subway in the past seven months, and it was appalling. Once I was in China town it was a very short walk to the Palace Theater to catch the 7:30 performance of Les Miserables. Pedro met me at the theatre. I’ve seen Les Miserables before and have had the sound track memorized since I was probably 10. The show was unbelievable. We sat in second row center. We could see the sweat on the actors face, and could hear them without the microphone. The only downside to that show was that it made me think of my parents, especially my father since it’s one of his favorite musicals. I was still surprised to find that the dress was no more fancy for the evening performance also. It was all casual wear and they sold ice-cream and candy to bring into the theatre. After the show we went straight back to the hostel to get a good nights rest.
Wednesday the 11th
Wednesday morning we took a train to Wimbledon to see the famous tennis stadium. There wasn't much there and we were quite disappointed. We recovered though and ate a great lunch at a small place by the train station. They made fantastic pasties. We then went back into London and to the British Museum which was amazing. I was so surprised that they let you take photos of everything inside including the Rosetta stone. They exhibits were fantastic. After the museum we decided to use up some of the free things that came along with our London Pass which we bought that included all of our public transportation and almost all of the museums and attractions we went to in London. We went to a bowling alley and got a free game of bowling in which Pedro kicked my butt at. We played along side four really cute little boys with British accents. I didn’t even break 100, and Pedro got mostly spares and a couple of strikes. After we finished our game we went to the movie theatre in which we got free entry into all movies starting before 5:00. We decided to see “Elephant,” but before the movie started I wanted to buy something to eat to bring in. We went to a couple of grocery stores, but we were in China town again, and we couldn’t find anything recognizable, so I passed up the food at that point. “Elephant” was a great movie based on columbine. It was very artistic. After the movie was finished we went to dinner at Pizza Hut(we don’t have Pizza Hut’s in Denmark.) We then went back to the hostel to pick up our bags. Our plane was leaving at 7am on Thursday morning, and you were supposed to check in 1 ½ hours early. And it takes an hour to get Stansted airport from London, so if we were to stay another night in the hostel we’d have to wake up sometime around 3:30am. So instead of waking up in the middle of the night and having to pay anyway, we decided we’d just spend the night at the airport.
Wednesday Night/Thursday Morning
We arrived at the airport around 11:15pm. We started to look around for a place to sleep, but everywhere was full. Pedro spotted three guys sitting down with a guitar, so we bee lined to them. It turned out that two of them were from Portugal and the other was an Italian that used to live in Pedro’s city in Brazil, so it was Portuguese all around. We got to know them real quick. They were really nice guys. Not even two hours after we’d been at the airport we saw three other exchange students that we knew from Denmark walk by. Two girls from Canada and one from Brazil were traveling together on their way to Scotland. They joined our little group. Pedro caught a little sleep during the night. I didn’t end up every trying to get to sleep during the night. Around 5am everyone else in the airport start rising to check into their gates. It was around that time that I saw someone else I recognized. I jumped up and yelled, “Chelsea Brennan?!” I couldn’t believe my eyes. At first I thought it could have been since I hadn’t slept in 24 hours, but it was really her. (side note: Chelsea Brennan is the older sister of a close friend of mine from home.) It was such an amazing feeling to see someone I recognized from home. She’s the first South Dakotan and really the first person whom I’ve know, that I’ve seen in seven months. It was such an amazing feeling just seeing someone from home. It turns out that she’s studying abroad in London for the semester and was on her way to Spain(I think?)
Thursday the 12th
Our plane took off on time without any problems. We landed in Copenhagen and I caught a train back to Helsingør. By then I had slept probably a total of an 1 ½ in the past 30 hours. I went into town in Helsingør and dropped off our four rolls of film and then caught a train to Ålsgårde. I arrived back home and took a fantastic long shower and changed into clean clothing. My room was clean(I cleaned it before I left) and Grethe had washed my bedding while I was gone so I had clean sheets and blankets. There was a package on my bed from my mom. I took a three hour nap before dinner. It’s nice being home. I had a fantastic trip. We had a lot of luck the entire trip. We didn't have anything stolen, and it didn't rain at all besides the first day. I don’t think I could have asked for a better time, but it’s nice sleeping in my own bed, and not having to think about when the next time I’m going to be able to eat will be. It's nice to be home.
Sunday morning we met up with 3 other American exchange students who live in Denmark and are vacationing in London. The first thing in the morning we went to Westminster Abbey, which we couldn't go in because it was a Sunday morning. We then walked to Buckingham Palace which was breath taking. We missed the changing of the guard, but we walked through a beautiful park. There were pigeons all over the place, so I tried to sit on a bench and feed the pigeons, but they didn't respond to my bread. It was defiantly not like in the movies. It was quite disappointing. After Buckingham place, Pedro and I split from the girls and went on a cruise on the Thames. It was a little chilly, but we braved the cold and sat outside on the boat. They played music and gave a brief history of some the things along the river. We then headed to the National Gallery, and then the Portrait Gallery which I enjoyed much more then the National Gallery. By then we were quite tired and went back to the hostel to rest for awhile. We met back up with the girls that evening and went to a blues club. The next day the three girls left to go back to Denmark.
The view from the very top of St. Pauls Cathederal. *Borrowed from Pedro*
Monday the 9th
First thing Monday morning we took a ride on the "London Eye," the gigantic Ferris wheel across the Thames from Big Ben. The weather was spectacular, and we were the first people on in the morning. You could see all of London from the top. From there we went to Abbey Road and took our pictures in front of the famous Beatles landmark. We then continued to Greenwich to see the meridian line. We arrived just before 12 o’clock noon, and took our picture while being in two different hemispheres. After Greenwich we went to Kensington Palace, and then to Kensington Park. At Kensington park I had another chance to try to get the pigeons to come to me while sitting on a park bench, like in the movies. Unfortunately this time when I tried it I got attacked. The bench was by a lake and so not only did the pigeons come, but so did the geese. They attacked me which wasn’t so pleasant. After we were finished with the killer geese we went to Hyde park and speakers corner. The guy who was speaking was not interesting, so we went to the marble arch, and then to Harrods. We had no money to spend at Harrods so we didn’t stay there to long. For dinner we went to a traditional British pub, Albert’s Pub. I had a Shepherds pie for dinner. It was very tasty.
Tuesday the 10th
Tuesday Pedro and I decided to split up to peruse other interests. He’s much more appreciative of museums and arts, so he went to some museums and to Jimmy Hendrix’s house. I started out the morning by going to Notting Hill. I was disappointed to find out that the actual door isn’t there. I did find George Orwell’s house though. After Notting Hill I headed to Covent Gardens to do some shopping. I didn’t really have any money to spend though, so I watched the street performers, and gave what little money I had to them. From there I went to the London Theatre museum. It was fascinating. They had history of the London theatres, along with a live demonstration about theatre makeup, and costumes. When I was finished with the Theatre museum I went to the actual theatre. I went to a matinee of "The Phantom of the Opera," at her Majesty’s Theatre. It was amazing! The set, the special effects, the music. . . The entire show was breath taking. I had middle back of the stalls. I was able to see everything very clearly. I was very surprised to find out how casual the theatre was even for a matinee. Everyone was in jeans and t-shirts, and they sold candy and soda like at the movies. I was overdressed in my skirt and high-tops. After the show finished I walked to China town and went to Subway, which was absolutely disgusting. It was the first time I’ve gone to Subway in the past seven months, and it was appalling. Once I was in China town it was a very short walk to the Palace Theater to catch the 7:30 performance of Les Miserables. Pedro met me at the theatre. I’ve seen Les Miserables before and have had the sound track memorized since I was probably 10. The show was unbelievable. We sat in second row center. We could see the sweat on the actors face, and could hear them without the microphone. The only downside to that show was that it made me think of my parents, especially my father since it’s one of his favorite musicals. I was still surprised to find that the dress was no more fancy for the evening performance also. It was all casual wear and they sold ice-cream and candy to bring into the theatre. After the show we went straight back to the hostel to get a good nights rest.
Wednesday the 11th
Wednesday morning we took a train to Wimbledon to see the famous tennis stadium. There wasn't much there and we were quite disappointed. We recovered though and ate a great lunch at a small place by the train station. They made fantastic pasties. We then went back into London and to the British Museum which was amazing. I was so surprised that they let you take photos of everything inside including the Rosetta stone. They exhibits were fantastic. After the museum we decided to use up some of the free things that came along with our London Pass which we bought that included all of our public transportation and almost all of the museums and attractions we went to in London. We went to a bowling alley and got a free game of bowling in which Pedro kicked my butt at. We played along side four really cute little boys with British accents. I didn’t even break 100, and Pedro got mostly spares and a couple of strikes. After we finished our game we went to the movie theatre in which we got free entry into all movies starting before 5:00. We decided to see “Elephant,” but before the movie started I wanted to buy something to eat to bring in. We went to a couple of grocery stores, but we were in China town again, and we couldn’t find anything recognizable, so I passed up the food at that point. “Elephant” was a great movie based on columbine. It was very artistic. After the movie was finished we went to dinner at Pizza Hut(we don’t have Pizza Hut’s in Denmark.) We then went back to the hostel to pick up our bags. Our plane was leaving at 7am on Thursday morning, and you were supposed to check in 1 ½ hours early. And it takes an hour to get Stansted airport from London, so if we were to stay another night in the hostel we’d have to wake up sometime around 3:30am. So instead of waking up in the middle of the night and having to pay anyway, we decided we’d just spend the night at the airport.
Wednesday Night/Thursday Morning
We arrived at the airport around 11:15pm. We started to look around for a place to sleep, but everywhere was full. Pedro spotted three guys sitting down with a guitar, so we bee lined to them. It turned out that two of them were from Portugal and the other was an Italian that used to live in Pedro’s city in Brazil, so it was Portuguese all around. We got to know them real quick. They were really nice guys. Not even two hours after we’d been at the airport we saw three other exchange students that we knew from Denmark walk by. Two girls from Canada and one from Brazil were traveling together on their way to Scotland. They joined our little group. Pedro caught a little sleep during the night. I didn’t end up every trying to get to sleep during the night. Around 5am everyone else in the airport start rising to check into their gates. It was around that time that I saw someone else I recognized. I jumped up and yelled, “Chelsea Brennan?!” I couldn’t believe my eyes. At first I thought it could have been since I hadn’t slept in 24 hours, but it was really her. (side note: Chelsea Brennan is the older sister of a close friend of mine from home.) It was such an amazing feeling to see someone I recognized from home. She’s the first South Dakotan and really the first person whom I’ve know, that I’ve seen in seven months. It was such an amazing feeling just seeing someone from home. It turns out that she’s studying abroad in London for the semester and was on her way to Spain(I think?)
Thursday the 12th
Our plane took off on time without any problems. We landed in Copenhagen and I caught a train back to Helsingør. By then I had slept probably a total of an 1 ½ in the past 30 hours. I went into town in Helsingør and dropped off our four rolls of film and then caught a train to Ålsgårde. I arrived back home and took a fantastic long shower and changed into clean clothing. My room was clean(I cleaned it before I left) and Grethe had washed my bedding while I was gone so I had clean sheets and blankets. There was a package on my bed from my mom. I took a three hour nap before dinner. It’s nice being home. I had a fantastic trip. We had a lot of luck the entire trip. We didn't have anything stolen, and it didn't rain at all besides the first day. I don’t think I could have asked for a better time, but it’s nice sleeping in my own bed, and not having to think about when the next time I’m going to be able to eat will be. It's nice to be home.
indsendt af Jess kl.
4:08 AM
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