London Eye at night
I flew into London on Saturday, April 28th. My flight was delayed 3 hours due to "technical problems" on the airplane. I flew British Airways for two reasons 1. it was cheaper and 2. I thought it would be a nice change from the low-cost airlines I've been flying. There was some problem with the PA system, but no one ever told us how long it was going to be, whether we would still be able to take off, etc. The plane was full of Italians and none of the flight attendants spoke English! I was lucky because my co-worker, Catarina, was on the same flight as me. She was visiting London with a friend the same weekend I was there, which also happened to be a holiday weekend in Europe. What's important is that I made it there safely though.
Piccadilly Circus
I took the subway to the other side of town, Canary Wharf, where we stayed. Abby's friend, Andrea, was visiting from the states this week too. It was a popular time to visit London! We went to dinner in Piccadilly Circus that night, then saw the play, Dreamboats and Petticoats. It was a musical and the music was fantastic!! After the play, we went to a pub nearby to enjoy an English brew.
Andrea, Abby and me before the play
Sunday, we left our bags at the front desk and set out for the day. We had a "true English breakfast" with baked beans, sausage, blood pudding, bacon, eggs and toast. I could do without the baked beans and blood pudding, but the rest was delicious.
Abby and Andrea outside the theater
We went into the center of town and saw Big Ben, the Parliament building, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. It had to have been the rainiest day of the year and was incredibly windy. I had a very difficult time taking a good picture because the rain kept blowing onto the lens of the camera. We hopped on a boat tour that took us to the Tower of London, however, they gave us no information about London or its history...strange. We couldn't even see outside of the windows because it was so foggy due to the rain. We were happy just to be dry for a few minutes! We didn't go inside the Tower of London because I had already been 7 years ago, when I last visited London.
Big Ben
We saw Tower Bridge and walked across it, searching for the subway to take us to Greenwich park. After getting a bit lost and asking a few people for directions, we found our way. We visited the Greenwich market where people sold various things from food to art to clothes, etc. It turned out to be a nice day once the rain stopped.
Tower Bridge
Late Sunday night, we took the train to Cambridge. What a wonderful city! I'm absolutely in love with Cambridge. It is quaint and full of young adults who study at the University.
Punting Boats in Cambridge
We went for tea:
Visited some of the colleges of Cambridge (there are 32 different colleges; people say that they attend King's College at Cambridge, for example):
St. John's College
Visited the American Cemetery:
Drank at a few pubs:
The Eagle-oldest pub/restaurant in Cambridge
Shopped and went to the markets:
And did a hop-on-hop-off tour:
Abby and Andrea on the top of the bus
It was a full 2 days in Cambridge and I wished that I had more time to spend there. I told my mom that I would love to apply to a master's program there and live. Cambridge is definitely in my top 5 favorite cities. It was so nice to see Abby and to celebrate her 21st birthday (even if I wasn't there for the actual day because I had to get back for work). I'm so happy that I got to see her in Brussels, Prague and London this year!
Everyone has to get a picture with the famous British telephone booths!
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