I left a piece of my heart in London (like that's a surprise to anyone who's known me for the past 21 years)

Ah, nothing like a relaxing weekend with some chill CUA folk in my favorite place in the world, where everyone has an AMAZING Accent, and people speak the King's English.  We squatted with Pat, Mark, and Ryan Hamilton in their flat on Hatton Garden, which was amazing, and a slightly refugee camp like experience.  On thurs night, we had an epic heathrow experience, in which our Iberia airlines pilot kind of was like.." hmmm i think im gonna land the plane....NOW", and people screamed when we hit the ground.  I was a little unhappy.  However, the first night we just chilled, which was really nice, and i feel in love with things like "mind the gap:" and "the tube".

On our first full day, we went to Westminster Abbey, which was TOTALLY BALLER.  A shit tons of famous ppl are buried there, including my personal fav QEI, right next to her sister bloody Mary(they hated each other) and right across from Mary Queen of Scots (who Elizabeth had executed).  Oh the irony.   Sadly, pics were not allowed, but i feel like i'll hang onto that memory for a while.  After that, we walked along Whitehall, past Big Ben and Parliament, and peek past the barricades to shout hello to 10 Downing Strees ;).  We then headed to Trafalager square, then up the Mall, which was decorated with Mexican flags (go figure) all the way to Buckingham palace and the Queen Victoria Monument.  That was pretty baller.  Then, we headed to see the statue of Duke wellington and the Arc and then we headed into Hyde Park, where we saw lots of green, the Peter Pan statue, and the Prince Albert Monument.  Then, we walked to...HARRODS. Which was AMAZING.  It's a CITY block long, and like 7 floors of everything u can imagine.  The escaltors were Egyptian themed, and we got awesome cup cakes in the food hall for 2 pounds.  We scoured all the floors, playing a while in Toy Kingdom and Pet kingdom, and then we hit up the gift shop, where i dropped a few pounds.  After that, we headed back to the flat, and we out to this awesome pub for some food and drinks.  Then, we headed home, where the drinking continued, and i learned everything there is to know about Ryan Hamilton...and i do mean everything (poor chap was slightly intoxicated ;))

The next day, we went to the changing of the guards ceremony at Buckingham, which was AMAZING, and quite long too lol.  Then, we headed to the British museum to see famous stuff like the Rosetta Stone and the pieces of the Parthenon.  After that, we lunched at this cute Crepe place on Museum street, and then hopped on the tube to the financial district, and then walked to the Tower of London, which was extra baller bc they had an epic exhibit of King Henry XVIII's armour.  That place was pretty awesome, and i fully enjoyed the Beef eaters( guards), with whom i took a pic with, and the exhibit in the White tower was really awesome as well.  And oh yea, i saw the crown jewels.  The contents of that building could save the world from the financial crisis.  Case and point: solid gold wine basin from like the 15th century....that was as big as my body. Baller.

After that, we crossed the historic tower bridge (the one ppl think is London Bridge), and walked along the Thames to Globe Theater, passsing Francis' Drakes ship, London Bridge, and the HMS Belfast on the way.  After the Globe, we crossed the Foot bridge, the Millenium bridge, and walked to St. Paul's Cathedral.  After that, we walked home...aka alot of epic walking.  But our night was far from over.  We we to the Fryer's Delight, a famous fish and chips place, and enjoyed England's fine fried food.  Then we bought some booze, made cards, and played Kings and watched 40 year old virgin till everyone was good and drunk.

On Palm sunday, we all slept in and Mark prepared a lovely luncheon feast for us, consisting of chicken, potatoes, and an epic salad.  We met Pat and another guy who's name i can't remember, so i'll call him Nigel bc that everyone's name in england, and we enjoyed some lovely company, some political talk, and good food.  After that, we went to Abbey road and took the famous pic at the intersection...which is REALLY busy, ergo it was really funny.  Then, we hit up the gift shot near St. John's Wood Metro, and i couldn't resist buying both my father and Brian Bligh (aka the 2 biggest beatles fans i know) some stuff lol.  After that, we metroed to Baker Street, where all the walls on the tube are decorated with Sherlock Holmes's head, and saw the historic place where he lived according to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: 221b Baker Street.  After that, we headed to mass in Westminster Cathedral (which is by the Abbey, but is Catholic as opposed to Anglican) to hear the Passion.  After a lovely mass, where our priest sounded like Sir Ian McKellan, we went to King's Cross to see.....PLATFORM 9 and 3/4, which was funny, bc first we were in St. Pancras International train station, which is next to Kings cross, and we asked some ppl and they literally did think we were crazy..or it was just the fact that they didnt speak english lol.  After schlepping to Kings Cross, we searched all over only to find that due to construction, they moved the location of the platform to the other end...so we schlepped over there and took pics with teh Cart that stuck in the wall...AMAZING.  Then we headed back and went to dinner at this Italian Restuaruant, where our waiter was from Barcelona and got a kick out of speaking to us in Spanish.

On our last full day, we got an EPIC behind the scenes tour of Parliament courtesy of Pat and Mark.  It Was AMAZING.  Since Parliament was not in session, we got to walk down onto the floors of the House of Lords and of Commons (red carpets and green carpets respectfully). We got an epic tour, and took some hallways and stair cases that only staff takes, which was extra baller.  We got a look at the chapel thats underneath westminster palace, which is the oldest part of the Parliament and survived the fire in teh 1600's and has statues that date back to the 11th century.  Anyway, this chapel is not open to the public, and it has a lovely organ and is super oldddddd.  We also met John, who;s a doorman in the House of Commons and wears a piece of the crown jewels that dates back to the 1800's on his uniform.  I also rubbed Churchill's foot before entering the floor of the Commons, which is wat all the MP's do before they entered. I was happy.  Then, we ate lunch (which was uber cheap bc it was subsidized) on the Terrace, which is outside and is normally where  the Lords and other MP's eat, and it only open to interns when Parliament's not in session...which made it even baller.  Its right on the river, with a lovely view of the Eye and Tower bridge, and since we had epically good weather (the Best in like 2 months according to the secretary in Mark's office, who was this cheerful brit), it was nice to be outside.  After that, i enjoyed a pint of Guinness in the bar thats in the House of Commons, which was a lovely experience.  We sat in chairs where a shit ton of famous ppl go to drink after a stressful day, and it was quite lovely.  Then, i peed in the house of common;s ladies room, bc i wanted to lol.  After that, we saw some crazy Sri Lankan protest and Katie and I went to the War Cabinet Rooms and the Churchill Museum, which are located underground.  It was an amazing experience. The museum is full of shit that belonged to that great man, including cigars, silk Pj's, the assualt rifle in that famous pic of him, and my personal fav: his maroon velour onesie.  It was a lovely experience to go through his life, and after that, we saw the rooms, which have remained unchanged since the war ended in August 1945.  Like literally unchanged.  Maps hang everywhere, there's awesome telephones with green recievers, and its so cool bc u can see what they went through to protect the place from collapsing during hte Blitz.  SO BALLER.  I of course bought shit from the gift shop, and we met up with everyone else, walked across Westminster Bridge, which we walked all over bc it was closed due to the protest, to the Eye, where we got waffles and walked across another footbridge to Picadilly Circus, up through Coven Garden, to Carnaby Street and to Oxford Street.  We then walked home and saw some poparazzi taking pics of someone, but it was just some brit TV reality star.  We then walked home, got some Subway, and spent out last night quietly chilling.

Lovely trip, im in love with British Airways, and i cant wait to go BACK!