London: Part Deux (Oct 26-28)

So this past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to London and meet up with Whitney Zahn, a student from the Eau Claire Forensics team who is studying abroad in Austria for a year. She was making her first visit to London, so we met up, saw the sights, ran around the city at a dizzying pace, and did a whole hell of a lot! I'm going to have a rapid succession of blog posts soon, but here's a teaser: a few photos and a huge list of everything we did! Want to learn more about something specific? Let me know!

Things I did This Weekend:

Friday:
Saw Tower Bridge
Walked London Bridge
Browsed through the Tate Museum of Modern Art, and saw my first Picasso, Pollack and Monet
Saw a piece of art that almost made me cry! (Spitz, by Bernard Frize)
Saw the Millennium Bridge
Saw Cleopatra’s Needle
Saw the Reconstructed Shakespeare’s Globe Theater
Walked along the South Bank of the Thames
Saw the OXO Tower
Watched some Street Performers on the South Bank
Stood under the London Eye
Visited the Star Wars Exhibit (Woo Hoo!!!)
Saw Salvador Dali’s sculpture of the Long-Legged Space Elephant!!
Bought a Bag at Harrods
Viewed the Diana/Dodi Memorial in Harrods
Visited Piccadilly Circus at Night (The British Equivalent to Times Square in New York)
Saw the Statue of Eros
Visited Leicester Square
Walked through Chinatown
Saw a Movie Premiere (“Grace is Gone” starring John Cusack – we didn’t see anyone, but it was sure happening! http://www.premierehub.com/premieres/film.php?id=113)
Had Fish and Chips on Leicester Square

Saturday:
Dropped Whitney off at the Tower of London/Browsed the Shop
Saw the Mighty Thames!
Saw St. Paul’s again (from the Outside)
Visited the Portobello Rd Antique Market
Saw Westminster Abbey
Visited St. Margaret’s Church
Viewed the Statues in Parliament Square
Saw Westminster Palace (Houses of Parliament)
Took Pictures with Big Ben
Witnessed Anti-Abortion, Anti-War, EU Constitution, and Carbon Emission Protests
Saw #10 Downing Street (PM’s Home)
Saw the Horse Guards
Saw Inigo Jones’s Banqueting House (constructed by James I)
Visited Trafalgar Square
Saw the Admiralty Arch (adjacent to Trafalgar Square)
Visited St. Martin’s in the Fields
Had Lunch at Café du Crypt (a restaurant in an actual crypt!)
Went back to Leicester Square – got tickets to see Spamalot!
Stopped by Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross Station
Took the Underground all over the city!
Strolled through Hyde Park
Stopped at Speaker’s Corner to Deliver a Speech with Whitney!
Visited the Diana Memorial Fountain
Walked down Constitution Hill to see the Monuments!
Stopped by the Canada Monument, eh
Viewed Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Fountain
Had Fish and Chips at a “greasy spoon cafeteria”
Saw Spamalot
Tried to find Abbey Rd.
Crashed for Some Much Needed Sleep at the #3-rated Hostel in all of London (Palmers Lodge)

Sunday:
Found Abbey Road Studio, and THE Crossing from the Abbey Road Album Cover
Wandered through the British Museum
Saw the Rosetta Stone
Saw parts of Two Wonders of the Ancient World (The Mausoleum at Halikarnassos and the Temple of Artemis)
Saw something that was
Viewed the Terracotta Army Exhibit (only 500 tickets per day!)