Back to London!

Now the adventure part of my trip begins. I have a lot of bucket list items to cross off here in England, and I intend to do as many as I can in this trip. Maybe I should have mentioned this in my first post, but visiting England has always been a dream of mine. From an early age my dad talked to me about how he wanted to come over here just to hear people talk in English accents. The more I learned about England, the more his dream became mine. England is a fascinating country with an incredible history. The English have produced some of the world's best authors, actors, and musicians. It excites me to know that I'm in the same country that produced some of my literary heroes. After all, this is where my beloved Jane Austen wrote her novels. It was also home to Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, J.K. Rowling and countless others. Some of my favorite actors are English too (Colin Firth, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Sir Ian McKellen...). Jane Austen is who really made me want to come to England though. Pride and Prejudice is my favorite novel, and I've read it fifteen times over the years. I guess you could say I have a mild obsession with Victorian England. Now is my chance to see what remains of Jane's world.

Today was my first day back in London. I took the train from Leicester this morning and arrived at my hostel around one. The hostel is in an old mansion and is pretty cool looking. I'm sharing a room with fourteen other girls, but it hasn't been bad so far. Staying in a hostel saved me a load of money and allowed me to go to some shows and on some tours that I may not have been able to afford otherwise. I would recommend staying in a hostel if you need a cheap place to stay abroad. The price of a hotel room in London is ridiculous.

Anyway, the first thing I did was go see Buckingham Palace. They don't do tours of the public rooms in the Palace this time of year, so I just snapped a few photos and walked on. The guards were huddled in their guard booths so I couldn't taunt one. My aunt Linda claims she made one smile but no one seems to know what she did to prompt it. I'm dying of curiosity. Random story- I saw a couple walking a Newfoundland so large and hairy that I thought they were walking a black bear at first.

This was taken in a park just down from the palace. It looks like a castle, but its actually a short building with several tall buildings behind it. From this angle, it looks like one big castle. Cool, huh?