London! (Part 5)

Well, these are the last of my pictures from my semester abroad! I've been a bit behind in getting them up, but here they are at last!

 

These first pictures are from my day outing to Stonehenge, which was quite an adventure. It was an hour and a half by train from central London, which took you to Salisbury, which was still a 20 minute car ride from Stonehenge itself. I had it all planned out: I would take the train to Salisbury, and then board the "Stonehenge Bus", which picked people up from the train station to take them out to Stonehenge every day of the week. I would get out, take my pictures, walk around, and then head back to London. Alas, it did not go as planned.  When I got off the train at Salisbury, I headed outside to the pickup spot for the tour bus. There were several other tourists standing there, so I figured that I must be doing something right, since I wasn't the only person who wanted to get to Stonehenge on a Sunday in December. We waited. And we waited. And we waited. No bus. Finally some nice local man took pity on us and ran inside to check if the bus was running that day. Of course, it was not (due to the snow and ice). Perfect. Luckily, I had made friends with a Brazilian and two Australians who were also standing at the bus stop, and we agreed to share a taxi out to Stonehenge to cut costs for everyone. We found a cab, and the driver is super nice, and agreed to take us out and wait as long as we needed and then take us back. Well we got out there just fine, only to find out that the Stonehenge park was also closed due to the snow! So, we ended up not getting to walk around it, but we still got pictures and such from the road. After, the cab driver was nice enough to drop us off at the giant cathedral in Salisbury (the town's other main attraction). Overall, it was a very fun and interesting experience!

Sad day.


It was SO COLD.























When I got back to the train station, this notice had been posted on the bus stop sign. It would have been much more helpful if it had been there three hours before.


The London Eye! The most expensive Ferris wheel London has to offer!


I got back to Waterloo station right as the sun had gone down, so I walked about for a bit to get some pictures of London's main landmarks in the awesome lighting.





Parliament and Big Ben.






































Piccadilly Circus!





Ripley's Believe It or Not!


















And so ends my time in the UK. It was a fabulous, wonderful experience, and I can't wait to go back sometime in the future!

London! (Part 4)

While in London, I took a day trip to Hampton Court Palace (about a 30 minute train ride from Waterloo). The palace was at various times occupied by Henry VIII, William of Orange, and George II, and I got to tour areas lived in by all of them!

The entrance to the palace.





One of the great fireplaces in the giant kitchens of Henry VIII.


This felt really nice because it was FREEZING while I was there, although I felt a little sorry for the palace employee whose sole job was to stand watch over it.


You can send mail from the palace!


Peacock! Tasty?


A model of Henry VIII's wine supply.


Henry VIII's Great Hall.








The private apartments of Henry VIII.


A portrait of Henry VIII's family. From left to right, Mary's fool, Princess Mary, Prince Edward, King Henry VIII, Queen Jane Seymour (His third wife), Princess Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's fool.





The steps are really shallow and uncomfortable so ladies could glide gracefully down them.








This room was the beginning of the tour for King William of Orange's apartments. Yes, the walls are covered in guns and swords.























A toilet fit for a king, apparently.























Next, I got to walk through the rooms of George II.








George II and his wife, Caroline.











The Queen was ahead of her time in the bathing department, so this was the best they could come up with for her.

















The Thames.