Moving, Gardens, and Windsor Castle

So began the last week in NW8...

Monday a large group of Americans (and a couple Aussies) met at the Clifton. I met up with Lindsey at last (a friend of my friend Sas's that we stayed with on Spring Break last year in New Haven, CT) who happens to be working in London and lived just a couple of blocks from us. I also got a very fortunate tip that night from Amanda that she and Morgan had a spot opening at their flat the following week. The next day I called their landlord, visited the flat in Bayswater, and agreed to take the flat, all in time to catch a show of "Aladdin" (a British pantomime - not pantomime as in the silent mimics in the US but rather a highly satrical "children's" show with the lead roles often done in drag), starring Ian McKellen as Widow Twanky, the title character's hilarious mother. Wednesday was the BUNAC pub meet at a v. classy pub on the Thames and Thursday and Friday were spent packing.

Saturday we woke up early to move out of our flat, which all went smoothly and without incident. I even took my first London minicab ride as I moved my stuff into a hostel for the next few days. I spet the afternoon leisurely strolling around Bayswater, my new neighborhood sandwiched between Notting Hill, Paddington, and Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens. I wandered through the parks, catching some of the more well-known sights like the Peter Pan statue, the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, and the Albert Memorial. I met Kate's boyfriend John and we walked up to Westminster to meet Kate before finding something to do for the evening and thus avoiding going back to the hostel too early. (photos: Kensington Gardens toward Kensington Palace; the Diana fountain; the Albert Memorial with the representations of "the Americas"; and Harrods at night.)






Sunday, I met Morgan early to go to Windsor for the day. We caught the train and headed out of town (not too far out of town... the ticket was only four pounds!). Upon arrival we directly went up to Windsor Castle, the first castle I've visited that's still actually used as a royal residence. We took the tour, learning about the various royals and how they used it, including the religious ceremony of Charles and Camilla's wedding the past April (you could by discounted comemerative china from their wedding). We couldn't unfortunately go into the chapel that was the burial place for Charles II, Henrys 6-8 (or something like that, including Henry VIII), and a few other famous monarchs that I forget. The palace also had a ginormous doll house taking up an entire room and was taller than most adults. (photos: the first corner of Windsor Castle; the gardens in the Inner Bailey of the Castle; accross the courtyard to the Royal Apartments; and up the other courtyard towards the center of the Castle with apartments on the right and the Chapel on the left)







After the palace though, we got some lunch at a pub and wandered through the streets towards Eton, the most famous public school ("public" here actually meaning "private"), though it closed early for tours that day. A bit bummed, we headed back to the train and got back to London in time for fabulous gelatto in Leicester Square. I met GP later and we watched a bit of American football showing at a ridiculously American Sports Café filled with all sorts of people you'd usually see at a frat party with no loss of greek letter paraphenalia. Exhausted, I returned to the hostel for the night.