Last March, I got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It all started with a text from my dad on a random day in September: “Do you want to go to England?” Of course, my first response was spiraling in disbelief. Is this really happening? I thought it was all a dream at first, but six months later, I was eating pizza in Primanti Bros. at the Pittsburgh airport wondering how any of this happened. Long story short, my dad got to take a business trip that allowed him to pick from a list of places to travel that included a few meetings and planned excursions. Initially, my mom was supposed to go on the trip, but she was not able to take a week off of work, so I was the next on the waiting list to go. I’ve wanted to document my trip for some time now, but I felt that this was the perfect opportunity to share some of my favorite places from the trip.
Windsor Castle
Unknowingly, before our stay in London even began, I took a picture of Windsor from the sky as our plane was nearing Heathrow airport. I thought the estate was Buckingham Palace at first, but later found that it was truly Windsor Castle, making it one of my favorite photos and places from the trip. I loved Windsor Castle; it looked as if we were stepping into a fairytale. The entire town of Windsor was a picturesque place with little rows of houses and nature all around. The castle was beautiful and straight from a fairytale. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle, so the vast finery of the castle will remain in my memories but not on my phone. When walking through the castle, you get to look around and see all of the finery, paintings, and ancient furniture that looks like it is straight from a period drama. It was crazy to me that everything I saw was not just a movie prop; it was all real. Something cool we learned from our tour guides was how Windsor Castle has a special flag they fly only when the King is there, and it was up at some point during our visit, meaning we were on the same property as the King of England.
Westminster Abbey
A tour at Westminster Abbey was one of the first excursions on our trip. It is best known to be the church of the royal family and the burial site of past monarchs and notable figures in history. We saw the memorials of many ancient kings, queens, and royalty, including the beloved Queen Elizabeth II. We stood where the royal family has their church services each week and saw where the coronation would take place just a few months later. One “culture shock” I had when we were at Westminster was that many of the graves in the building were in the floor that you are walking on. It was strange to me that as we toured the building Alfred Tennyson, Charles Dickens, and Issac Newton were under foot. It was also strange to me that the Abbey even had a gift shop, but I guess they need to make extra money to keep the building in excellent shape somehow.
Big Ben and Buckingham Palace
When you hear the word “London,” everyone thinks of a few of the same things, including Big Ben and Buckingham palace. On a chilly afternoon one day of the trip, my dad and I decided that we were going to walk to Big Ben. It was less than two miles from where we were staying, and it was one of the warmer days of the trip. On the way, we passed through Piccadilly Circus, the “Times Square” of London with its beautiful fountains and shops along the way. We walked for a while and finally arrived at our destination and got to see the enormous clock looming over us. To be honest, I thought it might be a little bigger when I saw it from far away, but as you get closer you see the true size of Big Ben. Buckingham Palace is also a major site in London, but compared to Windsor, it was somewhat disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful, but the splendor of touring a castle tops the experience. We just walked up, took a couple pictures and that’s about it. Now, I do think it would have been a better part of the trip if we got to see the famous changing of the guard, but they canceled it on the day we were supposed to go.
Stonehenge and Bath
After a long bus ride to Wiltshire, we finally got a glimpse of the famous rocks at Stonehenge. It was so cool to see the famous rock formation I had heard so much about. My dad was fascinated by Stonehenge, but I was more excited about the sheep roaming around in the fields next to the structure. Naturally, as one does when in England, I named a few of the sheep after some of my favorite British book characters. What made this stop a running joke in my family was that my dad almost committed a felony. Currently, visitors are not allowed to touch the rocks at Stonehenge to protect the site, but my dad really wanted to touch them. He didn’t think anything would happen if he did, but I told him I didn’t want to be all by myself in another country if he got arrested, so he sadly let go of that dream. On the same day, we traveled to the city of Bath where the famous Roman Baths are located and where Jane Austen wrote several of her novels. We toured the intricate Roman bath system that was much more interesting than expected. Afterwards, we had some time to tour the city with a quick stop at the Jane Austen Museum (although we did not take a tour), a hotdog from a street vendor, and buying some of the best fudge I have ever eaten.
The Sherlock Holmes Museum
It was one of the most anticipated stops on our trip: The Sherlock Holmes Museum. I had heard of the museum several months before when we were planning the trip, and I knew we’d have to stop by. We traveled on the Tube (it’s like a British version of the subway) from Hyde Park Station to Baker Street Station, and shortly we arrived at the door of 221B Baker St. We were welcomed by a worker dressed as a Victorian policeman and ushered into the gift shop to purchase tickets for the museum. I loved the gift shop; it was almost the same size as the museum itself and full of unique gifts to buy. The museum for the fictional detective was like an apartment tour. The creators of the museum took descriptions from the books and turned them into a real-life place for people to enjoy. It was a really cool stop; every room was full of interesting objects, and some rooms even had wax figures from different mysteries from the books. I would definitely recommend it to anyone traveling to London in the near future!
Madame Tussauds and the London Eye
Both of these stops were spur of the moment trips that ended up being a lot of fun. Madame Tussauds was not part of the original plan because the line wrapped halfway around the block when we were on our way to the Sherlock Holmes museum in the morning. But, when we passed by later in the afternoon, no one was waiting outside, so we took the opportunity to see why this place is so famous. If you have never heard of Madame Tussauds before, it is basically a giant wax museum with more than 150 different wax people that you can take pictures with or just tour the building. We saw Leonardo Dicaprio, the Rock, James Bond, the Avengers, Katniss Everdeen, Freddie Mercury, and the royal family. Those are just a few examples. It was a really interesting place. Next up is the London Eye, which is a giant ferris wheel right on the River Thames that overlooks the city. The entire ride takes about a half an hour, and it’s really cool to see London shrink as you reach its maximum height of 443 feet. The Eye moves very slowly, you can’t feel much movement as you are carried around in one of the “pods” which gives you plenty of time to see everything. Both of these places were fun, unexpected stops that I really enjoyed.
The Phantom of the Opera
When people ask me what my favorite thing we did on our trip, I’ll usually say that it was when we went to see the Phantom of the Opera. I have always loved musicals and performances, but before this trip, I had never been to a professional production. We had a free evening one day on the trip, so we jumped at the chance to go see a theater production. Almost everything about the experience was amazing. The acting, the sets, and the overall quality of the production. The only thing lacking was the choice of seats. Naturally, booking seats in a theater a few hours before a production does not necessarily leave you with the best options. We ended up in the balcony at Her Majesty’s Theatre to watch the show unfold with the minor inconvenience of having a really tall man sitting a few rows in front of us partially obstructing the view of the stage. What is really neat about this theater was it was built specifically for the Phantom of the Opera, making the experience all the more exciting.
The Tower of London
The Tower of London was much more interesting than I initially anticipated. Although many think hundreds of people were executed at the Tower of London, only 22 people were killed there. It was more of a giant political prison than anything else. One thing I found particularly intriguing was that the families of the guards (also called “beefeaters”) lived on the property of the tower, so their kids actually grew up there. Also, the Tower not only functioned as a prison but also a zoo at one point, which is why there are several animal statues around the property in memory of its history. The crown jewels were also located in one of the buildings of the Tower. Like in Windsor Castle, we were not permitted to take photographs. All of the crowns and jewels and finery had been passed down from generation to generation. There is even a piece called “The Coronation Spoon” from the 12th century! The tower of London was a very interesting place to visit full of intriguing stories from centuries of England’s history.
My first trip outside of the country was nothing short of an adventure. I learned so many things about the history of London and the cultural differences from the US; Every car is driven on the wrong side of the road, “crisps” are chips, and “chips” are French fries, and you can visit so many amazing locations by just walking down the road. If you ever have the chance to travel to another country, take it. That trip might just be one of your favorite memories to look back on later in life.
