Pt. 2 Tower of London, Legoland, and Field Trip #1

It seems like every time I sit down to blog, I’m always starting off with an apology. So I’ll forego the apology and dive right in. These past two weeks made me feel like I'm always going, going, going. Perhaps my pace of life has adjusted to London’s metropolitan pace. I don’t have the energy to write an in-depth entry on all I’ve seen and experienced here—and I’m sure you don’t have the patience to read it if I did. I've tried to make up for my belatedness with lots of pictures, so enjoy!

1. Tower of London (10/10)

Aryn and I joined a big group of girls to visit the Tower of London, but we ended up splitting into more manageable-sized groups. We had a bit of an adventure reaching our destination because of construction on the Tube, meaning we had to walk instead. After a detour across the Tower Bridge, we finally made it to the Tower of London.

It was one of the sites I wanted to see because I never had a chance to during my last visit to London. We got to do all of the touristy things: standing on the moving conveyor belt for a glance at the Crown Jewels, checking out the torture devices, and of course, hitting up the Tower gift shops. The White Tower actually had some really cool exhibits of weapons and armory.

Afterwards, we had even more adventures trying to meet up with Dani’s friend’s friend (yes, that’s how it works when you’re studying abroad) at Green Park, and trying to settle on a place for dinner. By the end of the day, we were completely exhausted.

2. Legoland Windsor (10/11)

Aryn and her family are a bit obsessed with all things Lego, so she was looking for someone to accompany her to the Legoland in Windsor. I thought, “Why not?” So we headed out bright and early for an hour and a half train ride from nearby Barnes Station to Waterloo Station to Windsor.

I won’t go into great detail, but the weather at Legoland was absolutely gorgeous. Plus, we pretty much had the park to ourselves. We only really had to wait in one line the entire day. The Miniland is amazing too; Aryn and I were excited that we pretty much got to see all of Europe. The Lego replica of London was awesome too. It even had moving Underground subway cars. The rides are pretty mild, but we did get to enjoy a live action Johnny Thunder show. It was…REALLY CHEESY. Aryn and I loved it.

We decided to stay in Windsor for dinner, picking the Crooked House, where I had a jacket potato and the most wonderful berry milkshake I think I’ve ever tasted. We were quite pleased with ourselves. Plus, the walls of the house really are crooked. It's crazy.

3. Verulamium/St. Alban’s/Jordan Quaker meeting house/Milton’s cottage (10/12)

This was a field trip to the site of the ancient Roman city of Verulamium. We made a quick visit to the museum, which was only slightly interesting. But I enjoyed looking out at the grassy hills covered in a light gray blanket of mist.

St. Alban’s is situated on the top of a hill next to the main village. We had a cute little elderly lady as our tour guide; the cathedral there is the site of St. Alban’s shrine, set up in memory of England’s first Christian martyr. We had the opportunity to visit a Quaker meeting house and the resting place of William Penn.

From there we took a tour of John Milton’s cottage. It was pretty amazing to stand in the room where he completed Paradise Lost. I loved the curator there, too; he was so enthusiastic about Milton and all that he represented for British politics, history, and literature. Some of us even ate apples from Milton’s own garden.