Girls' night out... to Antwerp!

I had the wonderful opportunity to ride out to Antwerp, Belgium with my Dutch friend Diana, where I met her twin sister, Sandra, for dinner. Afterwards, we went to the theatre to see a movie. While getting our tickets, we ran into one of the girls' best friends from the Netherlands and another friend of hers! It turned out they were all going to see the same movie we were, so we grew to a group of five and had a lovely evening watching a good movie, enjoying some time together afterwards, and then home again to Genval, with Diana!

Antwerp is in the northeastern part of Belgium and is primarily Flemish speaking. It was quite the experience to be surrounded by people speaking Flemish/Dutch (made me miss and realize how "comfortable" I've gotten around the French speakers! ;-), and the movie was great fun; in English, but with French and Dutch subtitles, and the commercials beforehand were all in Flemish! The girls all spoke varying levels of English... and spoke Dutch fluently.

Once Upon a Time in a Land Far, Far Away... Chapter 1

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a little girl.

One day, this little girl went on a big adventure and visited an even bigger city!!! She spent 27 packed hours in this city, had a wonderful visit and made lots of new memories, learned lots of new things, took lots and lots of photographs and then took a train and returned to her far away home... where she lived happi... well, I don't know actually!

But I am that girl, and this is her story... well, a small part of it, anyhow! :-D

Touring London on the Big Bus Tours!!! The touring included a 24 hour ticket to hop-on and hop-off at any sites, a free river "cruise" on the River Thames, and commentary along the ride.

Trafalgar Square; supposedly one of the most famous squares in the world. The square is also used as a location for political demonstrations and events including the celebration of New Year's Eve.

The stone lions especially caught my attention... because they reminded me of dogs. It turns out the creator actually used dogs as his model. Hee-hee! No wonder I found them cool! :-)

The National Gallery - There was a London-wide, plastic, painted baby elephant exhibition going on, which made for a rather interesting visit! It turns out the elephants are there for some kind of charity/fundraiser/auction to support endangered elephants somewhere else in the world...

Some of the elephants were... disturbing?!

The Horse Guards of London - Every day (from 10:00-16:00), a mounted guard is posted at the gate of the Horse Guards grounds to stand (changing horses every hour or so), guard over the stables (or rather, draw attention from tourists?)

The Royal Courts of Justice - cool architecture!

St. Paul's Cathedral, a working church located at the highest point in the city of London. Important services held in this church include the funerals of the Duke of Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill, peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars, and the 80th Birthday of Her Majesty the Queen. In 2001, Britain's memorial service to honor the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks was held at the cathedral, attended by the Royal family

It was kind of a big, awe-ing place! The photo on the right is of the front doors to the church. They were quite tall :-).

The Bank of England headquarters

The Tower Bridge. For some reason, this is one of my favorite spots from the touring I did in London. It's so classic and noble and... British?!

The Tower of London - Home to Sir Isaac Newton, among others. (I was told that this is where gravity was invented, and that before that time, people just floated around through the air. Hmmm... anybody know if we can "uninvent" things?)

This photo is the gate where none other than William Wallace/Mel Gibson was taken and tortured and killed (in a manner very historically accurate, it appears!). The only problem with the scene is that the portcullis that he held up with one arm while fighting a half dozen men with the other, weighs about 2 tons. Hmmm...

The Jewel House, under armed guard. In this building lie the Crown Jewels, which include all the regalia and worn by the sovereign of the United Kingdom during the coronation ceremony and other state functions. This building houses the crowns, sceptres (with either the cross or the dove), orbs,swords, rings, robe, and even the spurs used, as well as several other objects connected with the ceremony itself. Security around the actual items (which can be viewed, but not photographed :-(,including fiber optics to light the displays, and 2 inch thick, bullet-proof glass. The cases are brass and contain inert materials with filtered air. The jewels rest on French velvet. The entire building is, obviously, guarded as well.

The crown picture is not one I took, but one I found online. (Thankshttp://www.fondosanimados.com/wallpapers/paisajes/ciudad/londres/las_joyas_de_la_corona/las_joyas_de_la_corona.php). However, picture this and about 15 other similar, but different crowns, and you'll get the picture. Many of the gems on these crowns are so huge that you don't even notice the smaller diamonds --- which themselves put any engagement ring diamonds to shame! Simply... amazing!

One of my own kind --- a beefeater! Beefeaters, also known as Yeomen Warders, are the ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. In principle they are responsible for looking after any prisoners at the Tower and safeguarding the British crown jewels, but the prisoner work has become quite scarce (the economy?) in recent centuries, so the beefeaters serve more as tour guides to the Tower of London, and apparently have some "tourist appeal" themselves as well!

Prisoners' graffiti in the Beauchamp Tower of the Tower of London..

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You know you're in England when...

This wall is of ancient Roman origin. And when I say old, I mean really, really old!

Chapter 2 - Once Upon a Time, In a land far, far away...

Tried my first oyster... see below:

Dr. Neville (one of my master's thesis committee members and my wonderful personal London tour guide (he lives just a little ways outside of London and met me in London to show me around and keep me from getting squished on the roads or lost in the city - THANK YOU DR. NEVILLE!) and I. We coated the oysters with lemon, pepper, and a bit of hot sauce, and then... slurp... chomp... chew... gulp! Hmmm... I think I just may have thrown up if the oyster was plain, but other than the texture and a bit of "fishy" flavor, the lemon and pepper and hot sauce were quite good! :-) What an adventurous day!

THE London Bridge... not really very glamorous actually, although I am very happy to say it did not fall down while we rode under it...

View of London skyline from the River Thames - You may notice a large number of cranes invading the skyline... just a little reminder that the 2012 Summer Olympics will be taking place in London, and they apparently want to make a good impression!

The London Eye - aka the largest ferris wheel in Europe

The London Houses of Parliament (and Big Ben himself!) (Left: the view from the Westminster Bridge - Right: the view from the River Thames)

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (continued)

Westminster Abbey

The story of the making of this Abbey is quite remarkable, and ancient - but I don't have time or room for it here, and neither do I fully understand it all. :-) What I do know is this is a magnificent building and tEherein lie the bodies of such notable people as: David Livingstone, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, William Pitt, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Elizabeth I, and Mary Queen of Scots. Alas, I did not have the opportunity to meet or converse with any of the above. Perhaps I shall try to take time to do so on a future visit! :-)

BUCKINGHAM PALACE!

HORSES marching around Buckingham Palace (We're pretty sure they did that just for me - the timing was perfect! :-)

Had Chinese food in London's "China Town" for dinner. Mmmm.. duck!

Then we visited the "West End"and saw a most incredible production of "The Phantom of the Opera" in "Her Majesty's Theatre". It was fantastic!!!

After 14 hours of exploring London, it was time to get a couple hotel rooms and crash for the night! Amazingly (or not surprisingly?), I slept really well! (Thought I'd be a real tourist and model my new t-shirt too. Don't worry, didn't sleep in that shirt! :-)

The Science and Natural History Museum: if ever a museum was a "museum", this is it! WAY COOL, and definitely a place I would go back and visit again... and probably again!... and it's FREE! :-)

DINOSAURS!!! The skulls on the right were actually found in the U.S. in the states of Nevada and Montana I believe.

It was like visiting a zoo... but better. The animals held still and weren't depressed or pacing, and you could get a really good, close up view of them too! They had species from ALL over the world, and many animals I had never seen or heard of, as well as just about every kind I have seen or heard of! If I've never mentioned it before or let on, I REALLY like animals! :-)

Hanging from the ceiling and stretching across the entire length of this huge room, was a Blue whale skeleton! (As well as several other whale skeletons. There is also a life-size whale model on the ground level - notice how small those people look? Oh yes, and I could not pass up getting a photo of the angler-fish. :-)

Made a quick stop to visit the Albert Memorial. Note to all my friends: you do not have to do something like this for me when I die... PLEASE

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The Royal Albert Hall

I only almost got squished a couple times for looking left before right (and I could be entertained by watching cars drive on the roads in London for hours! :-) ...Then it was time to take a taxi back to the train station for the ride back "home"... The taxi and train ride were very smooth and uneventful; just the way we like them! :-)

Cheerio, London! You were wonderful, and I hope we may meet again!