LONDON

Guess where we went this weekend? In case you missed the title, we went to the sprawling city of London. 2 days of pure craziness left us with an overwhelming impression of a city that is best described as a combination of New York City and Washington DC.

Sunday morning blessed us with travelers luck. After misreading the bus schedule and missing our bus, we caught one that was to arrive at the train station 15 minutes after our scheduled train, meaning we would have to wait an hour for the next train. Our luck kicked in, however, and our bus was 14 minutes early. Considering trains here leave on time, we sprinted to the train only to see the doors shut in preparation for departure. Thankfully for us, an equally late girl was a few steps in front of us and twice as crazy. She pounded on the glass demanding to be let in as she screamed at the train attendants. As they opened the door for her, we sheepishly slipped in and found 2 unreserved seats (a practice that has saved us a lot of money but caused us to sit on the floor many times).

Arriving in London, the first stop was the British Library. We only explored two rooms full of literary treasures and saw the Magna Carta, Hamlet, Hayden's Messiah, Various Beethoven compositions, and most importantly, original Beatles lyrics to Help, Hard Days Night, Ticket to Ride, and I Want To Hold Your Hand among others. Next stop was our lovely hotel. For 60 pounds a night, it was a steal. Great location, quiet room, comfy bed, and hot breakfast makes for a good stay.

Sticking par to course, we went into the British Museum, admired the magnificent entrance hall, saw the Rosetta Stone, and left. Next stop was an hour-long trek across town to Hyde Park, the Central Park of London. Considering it was Sunday, we were going to see the Speakers corner. Imagine it now; a space dedicated once a week to crazy people professing their thoughts, however ludicrous. We jumped from group to group listening to the importance of judgement day, the lie that is the Muslim faith, the lack of help from the British in wars, and how both black and white people should kill each other off. Crowds enjoyed jumping in with interjections and screaming arguments constantly ensued.

Overwhelmed with joy after experiencing political and religious angst at it's finest, we took the tube across town to the beautiful St. Pauls. Deciding not to enter due to admission price, we set off across the Millennium Bridge (the one that collapses in one of the Harry Potter movies) to the Tate Modern art museum. Enjoying works by all of my favorite artists, time flew and the museum closed before we were done. During our exploration, however, we managed to run into a local Hull friend and his girlfriend.

All this work made us hungry. We took the tube back to our hotel to find cheap food around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, however, London doesn't believe in cheap food. Our stomachs demanded food, however, and we settled with an overpriced cafe that charged 2 pounds per water and 8 pounds for a burger sans fries. Man. Oh well. It was a pretty underwhelming 24 pound meal but it got the job done. 5 pounds for Baskin Robbins, however, was well worth it. Is there better ice cream than Baskin Robbins Rainbow Sherbet? No. Of course not.

The only thing left on our itinerary was sleep. Which we did. Very well.

The morning provided beans, eggs, cereal, bacon, and OJ for some nice energy for our action-packed day 2. Stop 1: Newspaper stand for a bottle of water and candy bars #3 and #4 for the weekend. The tube took us to Buckingham Palace despite our ignorance in missing the changing of the guards. Steph demanded for me to get her to live in the palace, and I politely refused.

We bought an all-day tube pass and I decided I wanted to get some use out of it. So I decided to drag Steph up to Abbey Road. Walking across the legendary cross-walk, dodging cars and the occasional cyclist, we got the cliche photo-op. Is it sad if of all the amazing things we saw in this historic city, standing in the same place as John Lennon was the most awe-inspiring?

After swinging by legendary Abbey Road studios, we headed back to tube to take over to Trafalgar square. After exploring the amazing square, we headed to the National Gallery. Despite countless rooms being closed by union action, we saw centuries worth of remarkable artists from Michaelangelo to Rembrant to Van Gogh. A full day wouldn't have been enough to see everything, and the setting sun demanded our premature departure. We then walked down Whitehall road, past the Ministry of Defense and the street upon which prime minister Gordon Brown lives.

This street eventually led us to the Westminster Abbey and the House of Parliament (including Big Ben). After many photos, we passed through countless security check points to enter the House of Commons. Sitting in a balcony, separated by 2 inches of bullet-proof glass, as members of the House of Commons debated the length in which cleared suspects' DNA should be held on state records was amazing. The dialogue was monotonously political, but the experience was excitingly fresh and one-of -a-kind.

We then took the tube back across town to grab an early dinner where Steph tried fish n chips. She gave a thumbs up review before we grabbed Baskin Robbins for the second night in a row. This decision would prove costly, however, as we missed the early train back to Hull by 2 minutes. Treating ourselves to 4 more candy bars, we waited an hour for the next train home. This ride contained a 24 minute layover in Doncaster, and our luck meant that the train took 24 minutes too long to get in. The train was gone and we began to decide whether we should A. Spend the night at a local hotel (if we could find any) B. Spend the night in the train station waiting room, or C. Spend the night riding the train (using our unlimited rail passes) all over the country. We decided on option C before discovering that there was one last connection to Hull 30 minutes later. Hopping the train, we made it home in time to catch the final bus home. For an hour at least, luck was back on our side.

I feel like there is so much I forgot or left out, but oh well. I will spare you all. But Manchester United hammered AC Milan last night 4-0 and are into the final 8 for Champions League. They're gonna win it all. I guarantee it.