London and environs

So a quick flight that only took 20 minutes with the time difference (London is an hour behind Paris) later, I landed in London and was greeted by my lovely boyfriend Ali (for Americans, that's Alex, and he claims Ali is a normal boy's nickname in England although I haven't met any others so far..). Ali picked me up and we headed out to his parents house in...actually I have no idea what the name of the little town is. His parents recently moved to like a country home that is really beautiful but not really in a town per se. But it is close to Winchester where most of his family works and used to be the capitol of England (I haven't actually checked this, but everyone did agree).

The next day I slept late since it had been an exhausting couple of days in Paris and I had kind of ignored the jet lag I was feeling, and then we headed into Winchester where Ali had an interview. While Ali did that his brother, Nic, met me and showed me around a little. It turns out Winchester is actually pretty cool and even is home to King Arthur's round table! We saw this and saw the old cathedral and then went to a pub claiming to be the oldest pub in England. (I'm not sure how you would know this and I'm sure there are many pubs that say the same thing but it's still pretty cool). Here I tried my first real ale which was pretty good and hung out a while.

The next day we headed into London! We took the train and came out right by the London Eye which, if like me you've never heard of, is basically the giant ferris wheel people ride to get a view from the top. Its also right across the Thames from the houses of Parliament which I have to admit are slightly more impressive than the Capital building in DC and Big Ben. Next door to that is Westminster Abbey which we toured with our handy cellphone-like tour guides they give you and was really, really cool. It's beautiful inside and has really cool history like the tombs for the rival sisters Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I (Elizabeth had Mary imprisoned in a tower because Mary was plotting to have Elizabeth killed) and the coronation throne (which was being cleaned while we were there; I guess they think they'll need it soon). My favorite part though was the poet's corner where there's Shakespeare, Rudyard Kipling, Chaucer, Jane Austen, Handel, and a ton of other name's you'll recognize. The only bummer was there's no photography allowed inside the abbey. After Westminster we walked over to Downing Street where the Prime Minister lives (the White House is much cooler) and then through the parks to Buckingham Palace. The flag was flying so the Queen was around but of course we didn't see her. Next we headed over to Piccadilly Circus which looks like a tiny Time's Square and stopped to eat at a pub nearby. Then we shopped a little bit and walked back along the English version of the mall which is where the processions drive for things like the royal wedding and stuff like that. Then we took the train back out on which I promptly fell asleep on the table in front of me.

The next day was a lazy day mostly devoted to expanding my film education as we watched Troy, also known as the longest movie in the world, and Braveheart. We went down to the pub down the street for lunch and I tried to talk to the bartender but he had such a strong accent I couldn't understand a word he said. He asked me if I spoke English and then what kind of accent did I have. I told him that I didn't have an accent and it was his accent that was weird. But he was really nice and the food was good and he told us all about the old Western that was on TV called Magnificent Seven. I have heard of it but he thought I was crazy since I didn't really know any of the actors in it and apparently they are classic American actors.

The next morning I was up at 5 to get back to the airport and catch my flight back to Paris and then find the train and head to Creutzwald!