Being a tourist

So as you know I've been spending quite a bit of time traveling around Europe. This has been fantastic but as a result I haven't spent nearly as much time as I would like actually seeing the sights of London! I know Bloomsbury pretty well because that is where I go to school. I've been to the markets, the globe, soho, and a few other cool sights on my daily waunderings and social engagements. But I really haven't spent a whole lot of time doing London sightseeing. This past weekend I was actually IN london for a change so I decided to be a typical London tourist for a day! I set off on my own (sometimes I am a better tourist flying solo I've discovered) and headed for the most tourist-y part of town- Westminster.

I was following a Wesminster guided walk from my Rick Steves tour book (I recomend him-he's a smart guy). So I started at the tube, walked over the Wesminster Bridge while contemplating Wordsworth, then checked out Big Ben and Parliment. Would you beleive I've been here for two months and this was the first time I've seen Big Ben up close?

Then I headed for Wesminster's most famous attraction- Westminster Abbey! I'd actually been here on my family London trip years ago, but I remembered loving it and wanting to go back. I'm so glad I did. It was even more awe-inspring then I remembered and I can definatly appreciate it more knowing what I now do about English history and literature. They won't let you take pictures inside but the huge cathedral is basically crammed with monuments and memorials to all the greats of England. It is where most of the royals and other really important figures are buried, including Queen Elizabeth, Edward the Confessor (who built the church around 1100) and Geoffrey Chaucer. In a lot of ways it is an indoor graveyard, but with stained glass and unbeleivable gothic architecture. I spent a good three hours waundering around, reading the monuments and reflecting. When I left at 2:30 the choir had come in to sing the Evensong service, so I got to hear some of that which was really beautiful as well.
Part of the reason I am a very good solo tourist is that I tend to go on random flights of fancy when something catches my eye. I was originally planning to walk to Trafalger Square and go to the National Gallery, but instead somehow waundered into St. James's park, one of the luscious parks London possesses. The sun was just starting to go down (the sun starts to set around 3:30 here remember) and it reflected brilliantly on the brightly changing leaves. St. James has a huge lake in the center and is known for it's waterfowl. There were dozens and dozens of ducks, pigeons and geese waundering the sidewalks, along with Londoners enjoying what was left of the beautiful day. I ended up walking all the way through the park and ended up at Buckingham Palace. The palace was not on my list of things to see because it is really not that pretty or interesting on the outside. Even so I walked around, took a few pictures (I now have literally hundreds and hundreds of pictures from this trip) and then slowly wound my way to Piccadilly Circus- also not a very interesting place, but kind of pretty since they have put up the christmas lights.

All in all it was a productive sightseeing day. Crossed a couple big things off my list of things to do before i leave in just about three weeks (saaad)! Hopefully when my mom comes we will do some more sightseeing!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!