Tower Bridge
London was amazing!! It seriously was one of the best trips I have ever been on, and it only lasted for two days. Our flights were both at about 7 in the morning so we ended up spending the night in the airport twice. I do not recommend this ever. Sleeping (ok, laying down with eyes shut) on a conveyor belt is not comfortable. Also, the airline only allowed one bag for free, so I packed everything in my school backpack and carried that around with me all weekend. Still, it was worth it. We walked, walked, and walked some more and saw most of the important sights: Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, National Gallery (Velázquez, Monet, van Gogh), British Museum (Rosetta Stone, mummies), Sir John Soane's Museum, St. James Park, Hyde Park, Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter (except it was closed when we got there), and Abbey Road. Abbey Road was probably my favorite. It was really difficult to get the classic Beatle's picture because it was a busy street and there were lots of other people waiting for their turn to get a picture. But we got a few, and they are hilarious.
Abbey Road Picture
Other great things about London:
1. Accents
2. Children with accents (actual quote: “Daddy, this park is so lovely. Can’t we just stay a little longer and talk with the guards?”)
3. People speaking in English (even though it still sounded like a different language sometimes)
4. Cars driving on opposite side of the road (this makes crossing the road confusing because I ALWAYS looked the wrong way at first)
5. Free museums (sorry, I didn’t donate)
6. Changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace
7. Picnic in Hyde Park (What is better than Nutella and fresh bread?)
8. Mexican food
9. The London Eye (It is kind of like a huge ferris wheel with great views of the city)
10. The classic red phone booths
The Sunday we got back, a few us went to a bullfight (corrida de toros) at the Plaza de Toros in Madrid. When we got there we decided to ask this man who was sitting near us about some of the rules because none of us knew much about bullfighting. He was an older gentleman who used to be a torero (matador). He sat with us the whole time, answered our questions, and explained everything. There were a total of six bulls and three toreros. One torero was actually a woman, but she got badly injured within the first 10 seconds so we didn’t get to see her do anything. It was a lot grosser than I thought it would be, and I quickly learned when to close my eyes. It was also stressful to watch because the toreros stood so close to the bull. One guy got trampled by the bull and was rushed off to the hospital probably pretty close to death. Our friend we sat next to explained that bullfighting has actually been banned in a lot of cities including Barcelona because of all the controversy surrounding it. But it was still interesting and definitely one of those moments when I thought, “Ok, yeah I’m in Spain right now - no doubt about that.”
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