London

London got better. I was honestly a little worried at first because our British adventure didn't have the best start. Nothing major, it was just like we were nickle and dimed everywhere we went. Dad starting calling London "Shakedown City."

But, like I said, it got better. A lot better.

We arrived at St. Pancras station. St. Pancras is, as Nick says, the patron saint of spleens. Not true, but still... :-)

We went to Trafalgar Square and we got to hear Sam Willoughby singing and playing guitar. This local artist was performing "Hallelujah" when we walked into the square and when I started to walk away, he started playing "Human" by the Killers. He fumbled and forgot a couple of words but he saw me singing the lyrics and I helped him get back on track. It was pretty sweet.

We got on our double decker bus station and got to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben (fact: Big Ben is the bell, not the clock), Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and the school that Daniel Radcliff attended!

We also stopped through King's Cross Station. Because of the Harry Potter books, a sign was created and so there really is a Platform 9 3/4!

Last night we had supper at a traditional British pub. We all got Fish and Chips and I had Treacle Tart, Harry Potter's favorite desert. The tart was very good...tasted very brown sugary and almost lemony.

Yesterday, we got back on our bus and saw lots of other neat sites.
We went to Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park where anyone can stand up and preach, argue, vent, or yell about anything. The only people we saw were clearly crazy.

Dad and I spent most of our afternoon at the Imperial War Museum while Mom went to the Florence Nightingale Museum (and "used a stethescope pressed up to the walls to hear the exhibit information").

The Imperial War Museum was absolutely fascinating. Because of my Western Civilization class, I knew exactly what the exhibits were talking about... I'm grateful for that! I'm also grateful that I got to visit the museum with my dad. It was really cool for us to both be interested by the same things. It was a wonderful way to spend my afternoon.

There was a Holocaust Exhibit that was only for those 14 years old and up. There were screens showing very graphic footage of the ghettos and the deportation. In the center was a scale model of Auschwitz surrounded by shoes of victims. It is the saddest thing.

A little bit farther in the exhibit was a section talking about all of the hospital deaths that took place before the concentration camps. The medical experiments and exterminations that took place for the sake of "purifying" the race is horrifiying.
It is simply incomprehensible.

After the museum, we took the underground to meet Mom at St. Paul's Cathedral. St. Paul's is where Princess Diana got married in 1981.

I bought some tacky Will and Kate stuff and then we took the Underground to Oxford Circus and I visited Top Shop, a super cool British clothing store. I couldn't afford anything except for nail polish but it was still fun to look around and dream of having £60 to spend on a shirt.

We had dinner in another pub and had delicious drinks and food. England may not be known for having "good" food, but I did enjoy my fish and chips and cider.

In just a few hours, I'll be flying to Norway and Mom and Dad are taking the chunnel back to Brussels. I am so thankful for the time I have had to travel with my parents. I know everyone thinks this about their own parents, but my parents really are the best and I am so lucky! I'm going to miss them and I'll continue missing everyone back home but I know I'll have a great time in Norway!