April 27, 2010
I’m in Edinburgh! I said goodbye to my flat, one of my roommates, my big suitcase, and London… well, I’ll be back in London on Sunday, but it just won’t be the same. Honestly, this entire week, I’ve been dreading leaving this amazing place. But now that I’ve packed everything up and moved out, I’m more resolved to coming home and having an awesome summer. Seriously, can’t wait for that flight out of Heathrow on Monday morning and seeing everyone when I get home. Ah, only one week. Well, six days now!
So, my last two days in London were pretty boring in comparison to all the crazy things I’ve done this semester. On Sunday, Viv and I arrived at Chelsea Old Town Hall at 11AM sharp for a local art fair. We paid our five pounds and had a really good time. A lot of local artists and galleries that loved to talk with us meager art students. Next, was Spitalfields Market. Again. I can finally say that I have worn out that place and I can’t find anything new to look at or buy. One of the vendor guys even recognized me…. But it was my last time. I said goodbye and headed for Brick Land. We ate Indian for lunch at Aladin. Again. Doing all my favorite things one last time. Problem is, I have too many favorites. Lunch was good. And so was shopping around Piccadilly afterwards. Souvenir shopping is so great. So many stupid things I’ll never use, but will look awesome on a shelf somewhere, collecting dust. Waterstones bookstore (the UK’s version of Barnes and Noble) sucked me in once again. Debated getting three books for the price of two (a special they run), but then I realized that I have absolutely no room in my backpack or suitcase. Had to leave them behind and settle for the other hundred books I bought here. No way my suitcase is making that 50 pound limit. It’s going to be interesting at that airport check-in desk on Monday morning…
So, after a full day of redoing the things I love, I packed. And it sucked. Dumb me put on some sad music and things just got worse from there. Not only did nothing fit, but I absolutely loathe packing. Does anyone enjoy it? It is comparable to how much I hate doing laundry. Ugh. But once packing was done, everything got a little better. I started to get excited to go to Edinburgh and then come home.
Monday… Not-Fun-Day. To begin with anyway. Viv and I hauled out overweight suitcases to her aunt’s house just outside of London. We are storing them there until we get back from Edinburgh. 70 pounds of clothes, books, and souvenirs + crowded Piccadilly Tube + hottest day since we’ve been here = one crabby, soar Kelly. Seriously, my calves and shoulders are still burning today. I’m a wimp. Anyway, we got to her aunt Janis’s house eventually. Not only did she take our luggage, but she fed us! Relatives are the best!
After that adventure, we were a bit tired so we planned to go back to our empty, quiet flat for some relaxing. However, Leicester Square called our name, mainly the half-price ticket booth, and we got off for a bit of a look at that night’s theatre offerings. We found 20 pound tickets! To Legally Blonde… Now, I did not really want to go to this musical. Not something I was really dying to see, but Viv and Hal were set, so I decided why not? It is our last night in London and I love musicals. This one can’t be that bad… We walk into the theatre and we find our seats. When we purchased them, the ticket guy told us we were on the upper circle, eight rows from the front. Great, right? Wrong. He failed to tell us that they were four rows from the very last, farthest back seats in the theatre, on the highest balcony. Could barely see. The actors were maybe a half-inch tall if I held out my hand and measured them between my thumb and first finger… So, at intermission, we moved up a bit and things got better. Now, just because our seats were bad, doesn’t mean the musical sucked. IT WAS AWESOME. Seriously so funny. The girl that played Elle was amazing and my favorite part was the FedEx guy. And they did this funny river dance and yodeled, I think. Ah, I almost died laughing. Even better than the movie, which I love by the way.
So, after the show, we did the last thing I wanted to do before leaving London. The thing I’ve been planning to do since the beginning and would have cried if I had missed it. We, mainly me, climbed up onto the giant lion statues in Trafalgar Square. Best night ever. I took pictures and just smiled my heart out. If I ever did anything worthy of note in London, it was climbing atop the lions… pictures will be on facebook soon!
Today, Tuesday, we got up early for our train to Edinburgh. I said goodbye to my trusty bunk bed. Always so creaky and rock hard. Goodbye to our room, 3C. Where everyone stopped on their way to their own room or the kitchen to say hello. And finally, 37 Hyde Park Gate, our flat. Seriously, best semester ever.
We got to King’s Cross in plenty of time, thankfully, because there was already a huge line for our train! One more goodbye before we went to stand in line, this one for Hal. She is flying out of London tomorrow to meet her parents in Florence. Going to miss her so much. Seriously the funniest, most entertaining, and most considerate person. Going to miss her. Until I see her all the time next semester in Madison!
Eventually we got on our train. The ride was long (four and a half hours) but good. I finished my latest British historical novel en route. I’m seriously obsessed. Philippa Gregory and Allison Weir, quit sucking me in! I don’t have time to sit around and read your books! I’ve got things to do, museums to see, pictures to take, lions to climb!
I’ve gotten so off topic this whole blog. I think it’s Edinburgh. There is something funny in the air here. No, I love Edinburgh. First, it is beautiful, of course. What British city/town isn’t? Everything is situated around this odd valley that houses the train station. There is the massive Edinburgh Castle and a hundred ancient, mesmerizing buildings surrounding it. So pretty! And we are located just by the Royal Mile, where the entire town in built up and there are all these different layers of streets and buildings and stairs. You enter a building on the street level, only to find out you are on the fifth floor and there is an entire alleyway or something below. I’m not sure how to explain it right, but it is really cool. And very easy to get lost in.
We found our hostel first thing and then set out to see the sights of Edinburgh. First, there was the Royal Mile. Mostly shopping and touristy stuff, which we skipped for the most part. Both of us can’t shop anymore. No money and no room in our suitcases. Next, of course, was the National Gallery of Scotland. Not as exciting as the one in London, but still good. I can never turn down free art. And after that, the Museum of Scotland. It is open late on Mondays so we thought, why not? Surprisingly, this one was pretty interesting. We saw a replica of the tomb of Mary Queen of Scots. I’m reading a book about her right now, so that was cool. Also, we saw a guillotine. So creepy. Beheadings are almost comical in the UK, but this was just chilling. And then we found a giant catapult. Seriously, this thing was huge! Three-stories tall! It was awesome until we found out it was actually some stupid engine for coal mining. I’m going to pretend I never heard that and go on believing it was a massive catapult.
After too many hours in museums, we ate supper. At a Mexican Restaurant. In Edinburgh. Why not? We thought there was absolutely no Mexican food on this whole island, but Mariachi (I that is what is was called) proved us wrong. And it was really good. Then, it was back to the hostel to change out of my shoes, which were killing me. With happy feet, we decided to go for a bit of a walk around town. Somehow, our walk around the neighborhood turned into a two-hour excursion across town. I’m so tired and sore and exhausted right now I could cry. But we have so much planned for the next few days, I’m going to have to suck it up. I love Edinburgh so far and I don’t want to miss anything!
Royal Yacht and more tomorrow!
Love,
Kelly
No comments:
Post a Comment