LONDON TRIP (PROGRAM)

8 JUL, FRIDAY:
The hostel we stayed at was the Generator right by Russell Square.  It was a lot bigger than the Clink (you could fit over 300 people) which meant that it was a little dirtier and louder.  The free WiFi and security though as really great which made it a good hostel.

First thing that we did when we got to London was go to one of the top clubs in the world, FABRIC.  It was really really fun and a lot of people on our program made it!  It was only £10 to go in (student price) and the music was great!

Jack Beats, a pretty cool DJ duo that rocked the house.  I was able to get up really close and it was so much fun!  It's usually not my kind of scene, but with all of my friends there it was a really cool experience. :)  The night ended really late, but it was well worth it.

Jack Beats was featured!

9 JUL, SATURDAY: 

On Saturday, Kate and I got to a late start and met up with Danny, Robbie, and Sam at Westminster Underground.  From there we walked to the Waterloo station (mainly trying to find food for lunch since Kate and I were really hungry) before we went to the Tate Modern.  Along the way though we stopped for some picture opportunities by the London Eye.

The weather was really pretty great.  It was supposed to rain all weekend, and it did 'spit' a few times but I was fine wear a skit (and usually I get freezing at the slightest dip below 70) so it was great.  So far on this trip I have been really lucky with the weather - a few times it's been rainy and cold but the sun has been out the majority of the time.

London Eye

From lunch we went to the Tate Modern, a free art museum full of modern art (you can kind of tell by the name).  It was really cool to see some artwork that I haven't seen yet at the LACMA (though you have to pay to get in there).  I saw Monet and Pollock and a bunch of other different art pieces and exhibits.  Danny and Sam were really stoked on the whole thing because they are art majors.  It was cool to see everything they knew and what they enjoyed.

Tate Modern

Pollock was so cool to see up close!

After a couple of hours at the museum, everyone got tired so we went back to the hostel to take a quick nap before heading out to see Hamlet at the Globe.

I really wasn't looking forward to watching Shakespeare and standing for 3 hours (we got 'peasant' tickets for £5.  Shakespeare was always difficult to get through in middle school and high school, and watching the movies would be even more confusing.


I was really surprised then that I actually really enjoyed watching it.  The players made it really funny and were really engaging.  Standing after walking around all day was still a little lame, but the Globe had a great atmosphere.  We were also really lucky it didn't rain on us... Thank goodness for California weather in England! :)

Sam, Kate and I at the Globe

Afterward Hamlet, many people on the program wanted to go out to the pubs or clubs, but Kate and I were just exhausted and went straight back to the hostel.  We did set up a plan to get up earlier because of this, just so we can hit some big things on Sunday before we left.

10 JUL, SUNDAY: 
Kate, Sam and I woke up early to go to the British Museum.  It was great going a second time because I was able to walk through everything and enjoy all the little details.  I missed seeing the Parthenon, and it was great to see something so wonderful as that.  I did a major project in 6th grade around the Parthenon and took Art History fall quarter.

So excited about the Parthenon!

Having fun with the Egyptians (Me, Sam, Kate)

I also saw a cool exhibit about clocks, which brought back many memories of my Grandpa Hennon who built all of his kids Grandfather clocks (my Aunt Judy, Uncle Paul and my dad).

Grandfather clock!

There was also a really really cool room that we saw at the end that had hundreds if not thousands of book all written during the Enlightenment.

The "Enlightenment Room" full of amazing books and artwork from that period

Danny, Sam, Kate and I in front of the British Museum!

At the Russell Square Underground station, I saw a memorial for the 2005 Terrorist attack that happened on the Tube.  It was really cool to see because I've been learning about how the British Secret Intelligence (SIS) combats terrorism, and we will be learning about terrorists attack in the next couple weeks.

Memorial for the 2005 London Bombings that hit at King's Cross

The thing that I had been waiting for (and the biggest reason for me to study in Cambridge) was the HARRY POTTER TOUR.  My first goal was to make it to the World Premiere, but that would have taken about four days of camping out and missing four days of class (which you can't do when you only have 4 weeks of class).  Since I couldn't see that (I barely could watch it on the terrible internet here) in person, I had to at least see all of the movie locations I could.  To see Alnwick Castle (where many Hogwarts scenes were shown) would have cost about £70 for the train ride, so I couldn't go to 'Hogwarts'.


I found this Harry Potter tour for £20 per person, which made it worth it for me.  The tour guide was over an hour late, which meant that Kate and I were worried about making it back to the bus.  Waiting ended up being great, because it went a lot faster than we thought.


Becky was our tour guide, who knew enough about Harry Potter.  She was a really cute blonde Londoner and she was a great tour guide.


Kate and I ended up being the only people who were taking lots of pictures (I have about 100 from the tour).  I recognized so many different places and it was so cool to see all of the locations in person.  I was able to reenact some scenes (seen below) and I was so happy to also get some major pictures with different London landmarks too.

Inspiration for Diagon Alley (used in films)

Trafalgar Square (where the World Premiere was 3 days before!)

Ministry of Magic!

Hiding the bodies like Ron did in Deathly Hallows Pt 1

Creepin' like Ron did in Deathly Hallows Pt 1

Got to see Big Ben on the Thames River Cruise!

Millennium bridge which was destroyed in Half Blood Prince!

The Original Leaky Cauldron (for Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets)!

Near the Bank Underground Station

Beautiful buildings... Bank of England

It was an incredibly successful trip to London, but I still feel like I haven't seen everything yet!  Kate and I will be going back on July 23 to see Kate Middleton's dress at the Buckingham Palace, reenact the wedding at Westminster Abbey, watch the changing of the guards, and have tea at Harrod's and feed the pigeons at St. Paul's.  Can't wait for more London adventures!

Links to learn more from my trip:
Jack Beats
Fabric
Tate Modern
Hamlet
The Globe Theatre
British Museum
London Terrorist Attack (2005)
Harry Potter Movie Locations