Weekend in London

On the weekend of November 3rd through 5th, I left Nottingham for the greener pastures of London. I left after class on Friday night with Ed and his girlfriend Amy Maslin, headed, in Ed's car, to Milton Keynes, a town about 50 miles north and slightly west of London; also the home of Amy's parents. We stayed with them on Friday night and were received with great anticipation by her parents who were very excited to share there home with us. We were served an absolute feast with no holds barred. It was great to enjoy a home cooked meal and to simply sit around the table for a good hour after dinner just enjoying the company and the wine. The Maslin's have been to many different places on vacation so it was great to hear stories from all over Europe and the America’s.


The light on the Houses of Parliament.


Big Ben, which is actually the name of the bell in the tower.


Buckingham Palace: Ed and I


This is a very small part of Camden Lock. It was great.

On Saturday morning, we woke, ate, and were shuttled to the train station by Amy's mother. Our train ticket was 22 pound, roundtrip, quite expensive for such a short trip. When we arrived in the center of London, as the national rail system is conveniently connected to the London Underground subway system, and immediately headed back out to the outskirts to meet up with a friend of Amy's whom we stayed with on Saturday night. We left our stuff and finally headed into Westminster for some major tourist activities. We got into town and visited Piccadilly Circus, the Times Square of London. Just another busy tourist magnet. We enjoyed Waggamamma's for lunch, a Japanese noodle place that was quite tasty. We then headed across Westminster and on to Buckingham Palace. The walk there was quite pretty as it passed next to a very large park that leads to the palace. The Palace was also over run with tourists, like myself. We took our necessary pictures, watched a guard do some exercises, and promptly went on our way. We walked past the other side of the park and headed towards the Houses of Parliament that sat above the River Thames and neighbor Westminster Abbey. It was like tourist overload. We walked around the outside of Parliament, which was a pretty amazing building. It was so intricate that it was hard to really grasp at what a marvel it truly was. It almost felt like Disneyland where buildings are simply beyond the scope of any normal architecture. The sun was beginning to set, mind you it was only 3:30pm, and the whole of parliament was lit by the great evening glow of the setting sun. We walked around Westminster Abbey, tried to look in a window and visited the gift shop. To be honest, I would have enjoyed a formal tour, but just walking around was also quite enjoyable and relaxing. We walked again past Parliament and headed on downriver on the waterfront, enjoying the sites and sounds of this famous city. Before we left town and headed back to Amy's friend's home we visited Trafalgar Square, which was equally impressive.

On Sunday, we had planned to try and take a tour of the tower of London and see the tower bridge, but instead we headed to Camden Lock, a part of town famed for having a spectacular outdoor market. We spent a couple hours just passing the booths and people watching. It was a mix between the Hawthorne District in Portland, Pikes Market in Seattle and Saturday Market in Portland, and the size of the two combined. In my opinion, this was the best part of the weekend, aside from the great food at The Maslin's home, because it was not just a tourist attraction but instead a place that real Londoners would head to and it was great to see normal people in their hometown... if that makes any sense. We finished with a trip to Covent Garden, an upscale shopping region and watched outdoor performers try and earn a living by performing all sorts of crowd pleasing tricks.

Through with London, we headed back to Milton Keynes to have a proper Sunday dinner and get Ed's car. Amy's mother outdid herself again and served up a roast, about 4 veggie dishes, potatoes, and of course, where would a Sunday dinner be without the infamous Yorkshire pudding, a bready muffin thing that goes great with meat and gravy.

All in all, everyone had a great weekend. However, London is a horribly expensive town, with a day pass on the Underground topping nearly 6pounds. But Camden Lock made the trip worthwhile and it was great to see Amy's home and spend time with my friends. I was invited to her home for Christmas and I am sure I will probably be there with the 18 other expected guests for a very Merry Christmas.