Semester at Sea | Day Three: Westminster + Buckingham Palace + Trafalgar Square + National Gallery + London Eye + Piccadilly Circus

Yesterday afternoon I made a comment about how jetlag hadn’t even been that bad and I wasn’t that tired. Well, I jinxed us. Around 11:30 this morning we woke up after going to bed just shy of 1 AM. Guess we needed a few extra hours of sleep to recover from the minimal airplane sleep and airport slumber!

We changed our original plans for the day due to our delay, so instead of the zoo and some other attractions in that area we decided to head towards Buckingham Palace and see all of the sights on our way.

Before we could see anything we needed to eat lunch. We slept straight through breakfast at our hostel and had had an early supper last night so we were quite hungry! We stopped at a restaurant called Garfunkel’s just up from our hostel. Nathan had a ham, bacon, and cheese omelet and I had grilled lemon and herb chicken with chips. It was yummy!

The first area we stopped at was Westminster. We saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and the Abbey. I didn’t know what exactly to expect so I was pretty amazed by the elaborateness of the British Houses of Parliament. I’ve been to the White House and let me tell you: it doesn’t even come close! The details in the architecture are stunning at Westminster. The Abbey is so grand and beautiful! ; I only wish we could have gone inside. The first thing I said to Nathan when we walked towards it was “This is where William and Kate got married!” I recognized the gates and long walkway – I thought it was pretty great. =)

There are tons of police everywhere near Parliament. Some of them have really, really big guns. Literally. Part of the reason there were so many today was because there was a vote happening about an assisted suicide bill. Many protesters gathered across the street and we saw several different news teams covering the story.

After we ooohhhed and ahhhhed over the beauty at Westminster, we proceeded towards Buckingham Palace. We walked through St. James’s Park to the Palace and along the way we stopped for ice cream (again), nearly got hit by pigeons multiple times, and saw policeman on horses. The policeman were something I really wanted to see so I’m glad I can check that one off the London bucketlist!

You could tell as we approached the Palace that it was a big destination for all visiting the city. There were large, bustling crowds of people walking in every direction and all trying to get the same photo of the Palace or the guards. I must admit, the guards were a pretty sweet thing to see as well. I had no idea they only switch every day or every other depending on the time of year! How can you stay up for that long?! It’s insane!

The Palace itself is a pretty amazing sight. Just like Kensington, it’s hard to believe royalty lives there – only at Buckingham it’s way crazier. But maybe that’s part of the city’s charm. Instead of a moat surrounding the castle that would make it nearly impossible to even see, in London the Palace is in the heart of the city and you can stand less than 200 yards from the entrance.

When we got our fill of people + royal housing, we journey to Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square is a large public space and tourist attraction flanked by a memorial Nelson’s Column, which is guarded by 4 lion statues at the base. To the North of the square is the National Gallery which we ventured in for a few minutes. We also watched a chalk artist create a piece outside of the gallery – he is super talented!

I really wanted to get a closer look at the London Eye so when we finished at the National Gallery, we headed over there! I thought the Ferris wheel at Navy Pier in Chicago was big, but this one blows it right out of the water! There are enormous cables holding it up and the cars are equally as large. I don’t know that I would enjoy the ride with about 20 other people in the car!

Before we headed off to find somewhere for supper, we stopped at Piccadilly Circus: The Times Square of London. There are tons of shops, restaurants, theaters, and pubs there as well as neon signs, double-decker busses, and people. Lots and lots of people. It was great to see on a Friday evening as so many people were dressed up to go to shows.

For supper, we REALLY wanted to eat at the Sherlock Holmes restaurant but the line to get inside was ridiculous so we took some photos of it and chose a pub near our hostel instead! Nathan got fish and chips again and I had chili con carne. Both of us were really hungry and our food was great!

Here are a few more miscellaneous shots from today. Tomorrow is our last full day in London before we meet the MV World Odyssey and 600+ students, staff, and professors who will be joining us on our voyage. =)

I’m a portrait photography, can you tell? 😉 By far my favorite moments I capture during our days are of the people in this beautiful city. The dad and his son on the train? The CUTEST ever. The couple getting married on the bridge? Beautiful. Nathan by some lovely ivy + brick? The handsomest. I think I will try to capture even more of these moments tomorrow. For now it’s tea time + bed.