From the top- Wednesday night I spent the night again at my friend Mollie's house because she lives much closer to the train station and we had to catch our train Thursday morning at 6:30 am. In the morning, we sleepily took a 45 min train from Liege to Namur where we boarded a double-decker tour bus with about 60-70 exchange students and took the bus to Calais, France where we boarded the ferry. It was a beautiful day outside and we all wanted to stretch our legs so we roamed the boat and enjoyed the very windy but worthwhile views from the deck. After about 90 mins we were greeted by the White Cliffs of Dover in England! We got back on the bus and drove a few hours to Canterbury where we had guided tours of the Canterbury Cathedral- it was stunning. We had some free time to see the lovely city after that and then we all hopped on the bus again and drove to London! We arrived in the dark which was cool because we saw Big Ben and the Eye of London all lite up and glimmering. The Rotex (ex-exchange students between 20-22 years old who organized the trip) gave us each 10 pound for dinner so a group of 10 Americans/Australians found a little mom and pop restaurant and we ate an "English Breakfast" :) We finally took the bus to our hotel where I shared a room with a girl from New York, and my new best friends, Mollie from Manhattan Kansas and Mallory from Kansas City Missouri. Maybe it's because we're all mid-western or maybe because we all have "M" names, but we have become best friends in just two months! I love being with them- you really miss having close friends when you're so far away so they are a blessing!
The next morning we woke up at 7am and took the bus to Windsor Castle-- unfortunately I didn't get to meet the queen, but we took a long tour with individual head-sets and then took pictures with the guards which is so touristy but a must-do :) We got money again for lunch so we found a darling panini shop and then did a little shopping! The next stop was Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum which was SO creepy and fun at the same time! I felt so silly because I was really getting an adrennaline rush, as if I was actually meeting these famous people because they are incredibly life-like; it was the coolest museum I have ever been in. Next we had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe of London (fun fact: it was the very first Hard Rock Cafe) and then we went to the theater to see "Blood Brothers" which was absolutely wonderful-- I laughed, I cried, it was a great evening.
Saturday we regretted not going to sleep until 4 in the morning when our 7am wake-up call came, but we managed to grab a cup of tea and get going. From about 11-2 we took a walking tour around everywhere you would ever want to see in London- Big Ben, Thames River, Parliament, Buckingham Palace etc- and then we had lunch and could pick a museum to see, my friends and I chose the Tate Modern. After some art culture we utilized our free metro passes to explore London on our own from 4-10:30. Mollie, Mallory, our Canadian friend Christian, and I walked around, shopped, went to a pub, ate fish and chips, and had our final cup of London tea before we loaded on the bus that night and headed home.
After the bus, ferry, and two trains, I got home at 10am Sunday morning and went straight to church with Benoit because there was a French Horn concert that happens just once a year and he wanted me to see it- he is so kind :) Right after there was a horse parade because it was the "blessing of the animals" but after an hour of watching horses I told him that I needed to go home and take a nap...
While the trip was exhausting, I enjoyed it a million times more than I thought I would! London is a picture perfect city and I was among lovely company; what more could you possibly ask for??
Thursday I am packing up the suitcase again and heading off to Germany to visit Jordan Berger! Life is good :)
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