Pubs, Parliament and Photos

I didn’t do a “real” post yesterday and I apologize.  It was a day full of chores and some slight British hilarity/annoyance as I got locked out of my flat for an hour as the cleaning woman took the keys and couldn’t be found.  I’m not kidding.

So, last night was a blast.  We went out to a local pub for drinks and such with Arup people.  I know hanging out with a group of engineers sounds like the last thing in the world you might want to do, but let me tell you it was great fun.  It might not have been too wise to have zero to eat before heading over there (why do I always do that!?), but either way, lovely conversation and lively crowd.  Later on, like around midnight, Albert & Marc arrive from the airport!!  We grabbed dessert and had a bit of a chat before crashing to sleep at about 3am…yikes.

The Larkin

Nate playing foosball at the pub with coworkers

Today was loads of fun.  We got up for a later start and grabbed an English breakfast at Russell Square Park right near the guys’ hostel.  It was decent, but of course the company was the best.  I do love me a great English breakfast, but the eggs were definitely lacking.  Oh well.  The beans were great.  After that, we head out toward Chelsea and Manresa Rd. (at King’s Road) to see my old apartment where I lived for 5 months in 2003.  I cannot believe that it really has been about 8 years since I did my internship at TIME.  Is that possible!?  Am I really 28 years old??!  Anyway, here’s a picture of the place today.  Looks exactly the same though a tad worn.

My old building.

Good old Manresa Rd.

Then we took the number 11 bus down King’s Rd through Victoria station all the way to Westminster Abbey where we got off and hit up the Abbey (looked, didn’t pay 14 GBP to walk in…lame!), the Parliament, Big Ben, & 10 Downing Street.  We then walked through to Trafalgar Square and enjoyed walking up through the Covent Garden area to see the shops including the world’s largest (and dare I say most gorgeous) Apple Store. 

On the 11 down King's Road--my old stomping grounds!

Parliament

Apple Store: Covent Garden

We ate lunch, grabbed some coffee, as it was really chilly and windy, and then took a walk across the Waterloo Bridge just as the sun was setting.  It sets at 4pm basically, so anyway…

View of the Eye, Parliament and Big Ben

After we made it across, we walked along the Southbank until we go to the Tate Modern where we spent a bit over an hour looking at two different exhibits.  It was cool, and by the time we were finished it was pitch black out already.  Ick.  Oh, so the other day when I thought I was walking the Millennium Bridge, I was not.  I was on the Hungerford Foot Bridge.  Yeah….I’m a tad embarrassed by this, but at least I’m admitting it.  Today, I actually did cross the Millennium Bridge after we walked out of the Tate.  It was a nice walk and we then saw St. Paul’s Cathedral (designed by Sir Christopher Wren) and walked to the Tube to head back towards our flat.  I needed to do a bit of homework and we were starting to think that getting dinner before watching the Barca game would be a good idea. 

Tomorrow we will try to do Notting Hill, which I’m excited about and that might be all.  Marc & Albert leave and we will be heading out to see some family friends an hour outside the city.  Hope you enjoyed all the pix!  I’ll do my best to also post tomorrow evening, but I’m not sure of what my wifi ability will be.