My second week in London was mostly spent seeing lesser known attractions. I spent some time visiting/doing the following:
-Tragalfar Square
-Platform 9 3/4 (from Harry Potter) in Kings Cross Station
-the former homes of Benjamin Franklin, Herman Melville, and Heinrich Heine
-the National Gallery seeing work from artists such as Monet, Manet, van Gogh, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Pissarro, Cézanne, Seurat, and Renoir
-Regent Park
-Camden Town
-A Jack the Ripper walking tour
I was really impressed by the National Gallery, I hadn't expected to see so many works from so many famous painters. In a few of my French classes in high school we studied these very artists and the artistic movements during which they painted. I had seen some of their works in the Louvre in Paris, but I was really excited to see some of their lesser-known work. Shout out to you, Mme Mooney!
On August 26, Wes and I went out to Wales to visit Cardiff. While in the bus station waiting to leave, an older couple began talking to us. The woman was from Australia and her husband was French. At one point the woman asked me where I was from, commenting that it sounded like I had an Irish accent. I thought it was fairly obvious where I'm from, but apparently not. Anyways, in Cardiff we first went to the Cardiff Castle, then to the National Museum, the Wales Millennium Centre, the Pierhead Building, and Cardiff Bay. The coolest thing for me, as a language dork, was that everything was written in English and Welsh. Of the approximately 3 million Welsh people, around 560,000 of them speak Welsh. (Unfortunately I didn't actually hear anyone speaking it.) Wales kind of reminded me of Texas in the way of their pride. There was not a moment when I didn't know I was in Wales, as they had Welsh flags on every single corner.
On Saturday morning (August 29) it was time for me to head back to Germany. My flight was out of London Stansted at 7:30am. Before booking these flights I had no idea that Stansted is an hour and a half outside London. In the end I booked a bus leaving London at 4am, which meant I had to leave Wes's flat at 3am. I had planned to take the bus from his place to the bus station. When I got to the bus stop at 2:53am, I read the bus information and discovered the bus only ran at 18 and 48 past the hour at that time of day. The bus ride alone would take 25 minutes and then there would be another 10 minute walk to the station. I decided to wait and try to catch the bus, as long as it was on time. While I was waiting for the bus, a young man started talking to me. He first offered me his jacket (it was 55 F outside and I was cold), the proceeded to ask me 21 questions about where I'm from, where I'm going, why I'm in London, when my flight leaves, etc. I was giving him very short and vague answers, trying to make it obvious that I wasn't interested in talking. I would have been very uncomfortable if it wasn't for the two police officers standing across the street. I obviously looked uneasy. At one point he asked if he was making me nervous. I wanted to say, "uh, no sh** Sherlock," but I refrained. Eventually his bus came and he left. My bus ended up being late so I was forced to grab a taxi, spending $25 just to take a 15 minute car ride. Once at the airport I had to get in line to have my passport checked and also to check my bag. I ended up standing in the wrong line, not being informed of such until I had been in line for 10 minutes. After going through the correct line I made my way to security. There must have been 100 people in line in front of me. Luckily they had a lot of stations open so the line moved fast. There was an announcement reminding travelers of how to efficiently get through security, which included putting things like mascara and lip gloss in the toiletry bag (I found that part to be excessive). When it was finally my turn to go through the metal detector, it beeped. They pulled me aside, made me take off my shoes to scan, and then frisked me. It was the most intimate pat down I'd ever had. She actually ran her fingers around the circumference of my breasts twice, across my pelvic region, over my entire bum, in the waist ban of my pants, and so on and so forth. The minute it lasted felt like 10. I was absolutely mortified. The flight back to Frankfurt was without incidence and so was the bus from the airport to the city center.
Matt picked me up from the Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt at noon. We decided to head to Mainz and spend our day in our most favorite city. We ate at our favorite restaurants and walked around. At our favorite döner place the two guys working were the two who we often saw when we lived in Mainz. I watched as the flicker of recognition went across their faces and they smiled back at us. I was so incredibly happy to see they remembered us, and yes, I am aware of how silly that sounds. It was a fabulous day.
Today was less busy. Matt and I went to a food festival and then later out to dinner. I was scolded by an old German man at the food festival. It was hot here today, in the low 90s, and will be again tomorrow.
I am incredibly excited to be back in Germany. I'm really tired of all the traveling. I've been a guest for three weeks now and that alone is exhausting. I've also been very active most days, walking up to 12 miles some days. Being in so many new environments and less than ideal sleeping situations have also led to a constant fatigue. Don't get me wrong, I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing my friends and making memories with them in new, beautiful, exciting places. I'm just ready to be settled into my new life and no longer living out of a suitcase.
I leave for Nuremberg on Tuesday afternoon. I just really hope my host family likes me. I'm a different person in German than I am in English. I'm not as funny and generally less talkative and personable. Then again, we did skype in German, so they've already met that version of me. I guess I shall see in about 36 hours!
Oh, I'll try and post the rest of my England pictures soon.
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