After going though customs in Gatwick, I had to find my way around the London trains for the first time, by myself, to a little area called Brockley where Sarah lives. Everything went smoothly, and she was right there waiting for me when I got off the train. Ten years had gone by since we last saw each other, but we are family and everything was just so natural. Sarah lives in a cute flat with a garden and a bunch of guitars. She also paints and you can find her originals hanging on the walls---a woman of many talents! Of course she didn't have any gigs scheduled for the 6 days that I was in London, but lucky for me, I get to see my rock star cousin play a gig in Minneapolis when I get home.
The first day, Sarah made me a delicious lunch and took me to Greenwich Park. It was nice and sunny, and there was a lot going on in the park to get ready for the Olympics--the equestrian events will take place there. For dinner I had my first Thai food experience. Sarah really does know how to order, and since London doesn't really have its own food identity, it was fun to try a bunch of authentic ethnic foods. We went to this little place where everyone brings their own bottle of wine and you can see you food being prepared in the kitchen. After dinner we went back to Sarah's flat and chatted for hours--that was the real story of my time in London!
On Saturday, Sarah had the whole day planned out for us, and I was lucky enough to experience a new piece of London. We spent most of the day on the South Bank, first with a visit to the Clink Museum--the first even prison in London. When I was little I used to love all of the Medieval stories of Kings and the weird prisons...strange I know, but it was fun to see! Next, Sarah and I met her friend Caroline for lunch and spent the rest of the day with her. Caroline has been a published poet since age 15, and her mom plans all of the creative events on the South Bank, so after a nice meal of fish and chips, we went to check out some modern art. I might not always understand it, but the exhibit we saw had me giggling the whole time--the artist was just really witty and had some great stuff. Next, we hit up a tent for a Cabaret show--basically we had these amazing seats to watch a group of performers do crazy things like kick themselves in the face or walk on wine glasses. One man blindfolded himself, climbed up a rope, and held on as they spun it around and around. There was also a woman who stepped all over one of the men with her heels on. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before! Next, we all had dinner and chatted about our crazy day of art over a bottle of wine.
On Sunday, Sarah had some writing to do, so I met my friend Aaron, who has been studying in London since August, in the city. We actually just walked and walked around the entire city, with a trip to Regent Park--another Royal garden-park thing. During our walk, Manchester United and Man City were both playing their final games of the season and the winner of the Premier League was going to be decided. It was fun to walk, peek into a pub check the score, walk a little more, peek in, etc. It was only around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and everyone in London was inside some pub to catch the results--Man City ended up winning their game with a cool 2 goal come back to seal their first place finish in the Premier League. Sunday night, Sarah made us a lovely Mediterranean dinner, and the chatting continued.
Monday morning I was woken up by a distressed cousin telling me that the driver couldn't find Grace at the airport...we both freaked out a little, because Grace didn't have a cell phone or anything! Finally we called the driver back and heard Grace's little voice call out "I'm hereee" on the speaker phone. From there, I waited by the window for her to arrive. It took a couple of hours, but she made it! We took a bit of a rest, and then walked over to our flat--that's right, we had a flat for the week! Sarah's friend who lives down the road let us stay in her flat all by ourselves. I told Grace she wasn't allowed to be jetlagged, so we settled in and headed to the city. We did a lot her first day--museums, Buckingham palace, Hyde Park...I'll let the pictures to the talking:
 |
| Back to Trafalgar Square! Grace was trying to see if the pigeons remembered her from 10 years ago |
 |
| Grace and I in front of Buckingham Palace after crossing through a bunch of construction for the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympics |
 |
| The flowers were in full bloom in Hyde Park! Grace doesn't discriminate--she hugs more than just trees! |
 |
| Grace and her long lost friend Ben! |
 |
| Thumbs up for Ben! |
 |
| Grace was a trooper and made it through a day of sight seeing after getting off the plane. Then we made pasta for dinner in our flat to relax. |
We went to a lot of museums around the city. London is great because they have free admission to their famous museums. The British Museum was incredible, and possibly my favorite part place to see in the city. My pastor gave a sermon last year about the "Tree of Life" and I was lucky enough to see it in person at the museum. The tree is made out of cut up guns and weapons from Mozambique. The country has suffered from a lot of civil wars, and as an incentive for the people to get rid of their weapons and stop fighting, an organization gives things essential for living like plows and tractors, and makes pieces of art out of the weapons they destroy.
 |
| My favorite part of the British Museum: The Tree of Life |
 |
| Grace on her way to the Hogwarts Express in King's Cross Station |
 |
| We had a Harry Potter filled week! |
 |
| Cousin Sarah was so good to me and made my time in London so special |
 |
| For our last night, Polly came down and treated us to a fantastic Turkish dinner. Family was the highlight of my week in London |
I spent six full days in London, so I couldn't possibly write down all of the incredible things that I got to do. Grace and I saw birthday cards with original Beatles lyrics written on the back, bits and pieces of Shakespeare originals, parts of the Magna Carta...AAAAND the Harry Potter Studios. We have now seen a behind the scenes look at the making of eight incredible movies. After our day in the studios I gained more of an appreciation for the art that went into making the films. There are so many forgotten people who are masters of their fields that made things like the wand boxes, paintings like the Fat Lady, tapestries that hang in the common rooms---these things all exist and took a lot of hard work from artistic geniuses to make the movies so special. Really the four hours we spend experiencing Harry Potter deserves its own post, but travel doesn't allow much time for that, so I will leave you with some cool photos.
 |
| Inside the Great Hall for the start of our tour |
 |
| This is the portrait of the Fat Lady. We learned about the talented artists that made the paintings used in the movies. The film staff were often used as the subjects in the paintings |
 |
| This is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. I tried to get in, but I don't speak Parseltongue very well... |
 |
| They really did make hundreds of Hogwarts letters for Harry |
 |
| Hagrid is played by an actor who wears a big costume that includes a mechanical mask! |
 |
| Here we are in Diagon Alley |
 |
| Here we are in front of Hogwarts castle. Not quite as big as you would expect. They surrounded it with a green screen and used special effects in the movies. |
With the first chunk done, Grace and I hopped on the Eurostar to go to Paris. 2 and a half hours and you go from the center of London to the center of Paris. Crazy.
Here is a quick outline for the rest of the trip:
 |
| Paris, France Interlaken (Gimmelwald), Switzerland Zürich, Switzerland Vienna, Austria Salzburg, Austria Venice, Italy Verona, Italy Cinque Terre, Italy Pisa, Italy Florence, Italy Rome, Italy |
Looks like a lot of blog posts coming your way--probably to be written on various trains around Europe.
Stop in Melk on the way to Vienna and you can visit the Benedictine monestary where I went to high school. In Salzburg, makw sure you sing "Do Re Mi" by the fountains.
ReplyDeleteChuck