a sunny weekend in londontown

Last weekend, I was supposed to meet my friend Amy (www.besosfromespana.com) to gallivant joyously around London.  And then Eyjafjallajokull decided to send tons of volcanic ash in to the sky, causing continent-wide airspace closures and stranding Amy in Sevilla.

So what did I do?  I took my Eurostar train ticket, my hostel reservation, and my guidebook and headed to London anyway, of course!

I’ll spare you a play-by-play of my incredibly jam-packed and amazing weekend, and instead I’ll just share some of my favorite moments and places with you:

St. Paul’s Cathedral

My first thought when I walked in?  “The Londoners could really teach the French a thing or two about building cathedrals.”  St. Paul’s is absolutely breathtaking.  There’s light flooding in to the church from all directions (it’s not dark and somber like Notre Dame) and the golden mosaics on the ceiling are incredible.  I think I was probably looking up at the ceiling for about 80% of the time I was in the building.

St. Paul’s has one of the biggest domes in the world, and your ticket in to the church (yes, you have to pay to get in) grants you access to the tiny, winding staircase that takes you to the very top, where you can see an amazing view of the entire city.

Billy Elliot: the musical

After seeing it win the Tony for “Best Musical” and hearing rave reviews, I was so excited to finally see “Billy Elliot: the musical.”  I was NOT disappointed.  The combination of Elton John’s score, incredible dance numbers and an infinitely talented cast made for what is hands down one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen (and that’s really saying something…  I’ve seen a LOT of musicals.)

In case you’re not familiar with the show, here’s a video clip of Billy, the main character, singing “Electricity,” the show’s signature song (he starts singing/dancing after about 30 seconds of video):

(Tourist note: I also saw “Sister Act: the musical” while I was in London.  I was underwhelmed by the disco-y vibe of the show and the redundant song-and-dance numbers.  I wouldn’t recommend it.)

Fat Tire Royal London Bike Tour

I’m convinced there is no better way to see a city than from behind a pair of handlebars, and that is especially true of London.  Saturday morning, I met up with a big group of tourists outside the Queensway underground stop and embarked on a four-hour adventure through the royal parks of London.

Our faithful tour guide, David, took us through the city, telling stories about famous Londoners and explaining the significance behind the sights as we passed them.  The weather was absolutely stunning, so as you can probably imagine, the tour was four hours of complete bliss.

My favorite sights included Buckingham palace (of course), the Princess Diana memorial, Trafalgar Square, and Hyde Park.

Changing of the guard

Cliché?  Yep.  Crowded?  Yeah.  Worth it?  Definitely.  I’m pretty sure the entire city of London showed up on Sunday morning to watch the changing of the guard.   I was super early (old habits die hard), but there were already hundreds of people lining the street outside of Buckingham Palace, even an hour before the guard changed.

What a cool experience!  I loved being in a city where there are real live queens and guards.  It was absolutely whimsical.  And to make matters even more wonderful, the royal band set up in front of the palace and played a set of songs from the musical “Chicago!”  Don’t believe me?  See for yourself:

The Tower of London

For a history buff like myself, visiting the Tower of London was totally worth the slightly absurd 14 pound entry fee.  The Tower is most famous for its role as a prison; three of Henry VIII’s wives were held prisoner and beheaded there.  I followed a free tour around the grounds led by a “beefeater,” a Royal Army veteran.  The beefeaters are paid to live on the Tower grounds, lead tours, and serve as the queen’s bodyguard (they’re the guys in uniform who stand closest to the queen and who yield swords.  Very macho.)

I loved learning about the not-so-glamorous side of the English monarchy.  (Especially since I just finished reading “The Other Boelyn Girl.”)

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I think you can probably gather from all the gushing going on in this post that I absolutely LOVED London, but just in case you’re unsure, my next post (once I get it typed up) will be the list that I made during my three days in the city describing why exactly I adored London.  Stay tuned!

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