Kings Cross and Abbey Road (June 29th)

This morning we walked downstairs to find a small breakfast buffet for us, free of charge! My eyes lit up as soon as I saw one thing: peanut butter. In Europe, peanut butter is nearly impossible to find; they substitute it with Nutella. But in the UK, (another reason why I like them) peanut butter is abundant. I merrily made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on toast. Well, I actually made two.

Our first stop this morning was Trafalgar Square, one of the biggest and most noted squares in London. Our goal was to find tickets to one of the dozens of Broadway shows playing, preferably Wicked. However, after looking around at the countless little ticket booths and asking for prices, we determined that not only were the tickets scarce, they were way out of our price range. Oh well. It was still kinda fun to pretend. As we left Trafalgar Square and started making our way to London Bridge, it began to pour. The rain was coming down hard, but the winds were blowing even harder. My small umbrella didn't do much of anything to keep me dry; it probably proved to be more hazardous than helpful. But within, 20 minutes the rain stopped and the sun came out from behind the clouds. Just like that. Now that's more like the London weather I've heard of. As we walked across London Bridge, Jennifer and I were unsure as to why London Bridge was so famous. It was quite possibly the ugliest and least impressive bridge I've ever seen. Shelley kindly reminded us of the tragic fire that destroyed most of London many decades ago which helped piece together the story. Still, the Tower Bridge looked much more impressive from across the river. After passing the Tower of London and walking over Tower Bridge, we stopped in a local restaurant for some authentic fish n chips. From lunch, we hopped on the tube (aka metro) and headed to our two most touristy destinations of the day: Platform 9 3/4 and Abbey Road.

I have been dreaming of visiting Kings Cross Station since the very first Harry Potter book. Anyone that knows me well knows that I not so secretly wish that I was a witch in the Harry Potter series. Today was my chance to pretend. Kings Cross Station was huge, and with every escalator that we took, my heart rate began to race. When we arrived at Platform 9 and Platform 10, I was confused. There was a ticket machine to get in. Would I have to pay to see Platform 9 3/4? I went up to one of the gentlemen that worked there to ask, but before I could say anything, he just pointed. And there it was. Platform 9 3/4. Jennifer and I teared up. We were really here. Sort of. Even though it was fake, I pretended that it was real and dreamed of going through the wall and boarding the Hogwarts Express. Definitely one the highlights of this trip. That was as close as I was ever getting to the wizarding world, and I was content.

Our next stop was Abbey Road. Now this one probably appeals to way more of you than Platform 9 3/4. The Beatles Crossing was just a few metro stops down. This "attraction" was actually more touristy than Platform 9 3/4. Abbey Road is still an operating road...so that means that cars still drive on it. Everyone, including us, wants to get that perfect picture of them crossing the road like the Beatles. This requires creativity and perfect timing. Cars aren't afraid to honk at you while you cross the road swinging your arms and walking in slow motion. They are no longer amused. Too bad for them. Shelley, Jennifer, and I made our way to the crosswalk after asking a nice young man to take our picture crossing the road. With no clearings of traffic in sight, we eventually just walked out in the middle of the road. There were cars, Double Decker buses, and tons of other people in our picture. Oh well, we still crossed Abbey Road. Jennifer's video on my wall shows our crossing of Abbey Road. It's called "Mont St. Michel and London".

For dinner, we headed into China town. When in London...We ate at this Chinese buffet called "Little Wu". (It was cheaper than "Mr. Wu") For 6 euro, it wasn't bad. They didn't have Chinese donuts which made me sad, but the food was good. And it was a buffet, which is always dangerous. We spent the rest of the evening back at the hostel, socializing with the other people in our room. Many of them were from Australia and a few from the UK, so we all shared stories and fun things about our home countries. We also practiced each others accents for a while, which was very entertaining. Each night, the whole "sleeping with 12 other people" concept was becoming less and less awkward. We all said goodnight around 1 o'clock or so, just like the Brady Bunch. (Plus 7)