part deux

The second day we woke up early again to get a jump-start on everything we wanted to do. We took the tube to the Tower of London. Now, little old dorky me was so excited. Part of the reason I’m a history major is because of all the stories associated with the tower, from Anne Boleyn to the two princes. So, needless to say, I was super excited. We got there, paid admission, and thought about taking a tour, but it was crazy crowded. There were like 50 people for each tour, so it seemed pretty pointless. Instead we wandered on our own through the entire fortress. I felt like a kid at a candy store, I was loving it. We went through what used to be the medieval castle part, then the defensive towers, then the crown jewels (amazing), then to the Bloody Tower where the princes were last seen. The weather was a little crummy though, which was the biggest bummer.

After being tourists, the three of us crossed the Tower Bridge. We legitimately thought it was London Bridge until we were half way across, and were dismayed to learn it was not the bridge in which the nursery rhyme was based. However, it was beautiful, and we loved the view. To get in the spirit, we also bought some roasted nuts (Mary Marshall’s favorite) and meandered through the tourists. After a quick stop for lunch and a dead-end search for a fashion museum, we continued down the Southbank until we reached Shakespeare’s The Globe. Admission was a little pricy, so instead we enjoyed a cappuccino in the Swan Café overlooking the famous theater.

We were dead tired from walking and it was pouring rain, but we ventured on for a little boutique shopping before heading back to the hostel to meet up with Taylor. The shopping was fun, except a little pricy when we took into consideration that one American dollar is worth like 50 pence.

We all passed out at the hostel for a little, then got dressed up and decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. We took my mom’s advice and headed to Covent Gardens. We wandered down a few roads and came across a pretty happening corner of the city. It was already pretty late, but the first restaurant we went into was perfect and serving until 11:30. We split a bottle of wine, ordered some delicious bread and oils, and enjoyed some refreshing salads we had been craving. It was such a great time, I had a blast with my awesome roommates and a little splurge.

Afterwards we booked it to Absolut Zero, an ice bar located in Picadilly Circus. We had reservations at 12:30 with Taylor. The bar is made entirely of ice. You get 40 minutes inside and they give you a cape and gloves to wear. The actually serving bar is ice, the walls are ice, the chairs and tables are ice, even the glasses they serve your drinks in are made of ice. It was so cool. I feel like everyone I know who has gone abroad has visited this bar, so we thought it may be overdone. But, it was just one of the coolest things I have ever done. We laughed a lot, took a ton of pictures, and enjoyed a pretty legit cocktail in an ice cub- can’t get much better than that!