From Russia With Love

I'm back in Moscow after a week in the United Kingdom!  I think the easiest way to tell you about my trip would be day by day.  

My flight didn't leave from Moscow until 8:55 pm but I was so excited that I couldn't sleep in any later than 8:30 am.  So I had the apartment cleaned and all my bags packed

 by 11:00 am...so I had to wait around and keep myself busy all day.  The flight was no problem and I arrived in London early but I had to take the tube to central London where I was meeting Becca and Rick (they flew in early on Saturday morning).  The tube was way more confusing and difficult to get around on than in Moscow but I made it at about 12:30 am their time which was 3:30 am my time!  It was so weird to hear conversations in English and to know what people were saying.  I loved being able to order food without just pointing and it was almost overload because when there were a lot of people around, I just heard words and snippets from all of their conversations.  It was fun riding the tube because after reading books set in London, I could see exactly what th

ey were talking about!

Becca and Rick and I headed out early in the drizzling morning and tried to get to Buckingham Palace to make it in time for changing of the guards but it started pouring so we had to wait it out for a little bit.  We got a little lost and ended up on Regent Street where they have all the shopping and it was really cool (I've read about it in the Shopaholic books)! When we finally made it to the palace, I didn't even think it was the palace because it didn't look all that impressive.  I thought the fall foliage was prettier...We also saw the guards but we couldn't really go near them.  Every once in awhile they walk out of their little box thingies and sort of just walk around and move their guns and all that.  

After the palace, we headed back to find Westminster Abbey but we were getting hungry and we passed a pub that had fish and chips so we stopped and had a huge plate of it!  It was pretty good, too!  We headed out after that and found Wesminster Abbey and since it was Sunday, we weren't allowed in as tourists but we could attend a mass so we went to the 3:00 mass and we were seated in the choir.  It was pretty amazing inside (most cathedrals are...) but I really enjoyed the service.  I've grown up going to Baptist churches and getting used to the "contemporary" church music and listening to preachers.  But this was a totally different traditional way to honor and worship the Lord and it was a really incredible experience.  We left Westminster and walked by the House of Parliament and took pictures of Big Ben and crossed the bridge over the Thames.  On the 

 bridge we walked by these three girls and one of them was that girl that was in School of Rock and is now on iCarly on Nickelodeon!  Rick didn't believe me so later I googled it and her Twitter said she was in London the same day we were and I know it was her!  Anyway.  

We got on the tube and Becca and I went to King's Cross station where we found Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter!  We weren't the only foreigners taking pictures there, either!  Ha ha.  Since we had had such a late and big lunch, we decided to just get a warm drink (we were still a little soggy from all the rain) and some pastries and ended up at Starbucks.  We went to bed really early because we were exhausted!

On Monday we woke up to a gorgeous, sunny day!  We walked to St. Paul's Cathedral and then crossed the bridge that is in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince the movie that the Death Eaters destroy at the very beginning (it's the silver, modern looking, pedestrian one over the Thames) and we walked on there!  We saw the Globe Theater where Shakespeare's plays were performed (watch Shakespeare In Love, you'll see it!)!  Then we walked down to the Tower Bridge and crossed it and there was all this modern architecture with these egg shaped buildings and it was really cool looking because it was like "new" London with the old.  We went into the Tower Castle and went to this Henry VIII exhibit 

After that, I left Becca and Rick to make my way to the airport to fly up to Newcastle!  Once I got to Newcastle, I took the train and the metro to Durham and Kristi and Orrey were waiting for me there!  

Orrey and Kristi and I got up super early and got on the train to Edinburgh, Scotland!  The sun

 was rising as we were on the train so we got to see a beautiful sunrise and we saw the sea and the green countryside and all these little seaside villages and sheep and some cliffs!  It was exactly what I had pictured but even better.  When we got to Edinburgh, we climbed up to the castle (it was really hilly) and saw the Scottish crown jewels and the rest of the castle.  The view was amazing because it looks out over the city and you can see the sea and there are cliffs in the background!  We saw all kinds of plaid everywhere and all the tourist places have bagpipe

music playing and we even saw several guys wearing kilts walking around!  We walked down the Royal Mile and saw St. Giles Cathedral and had lunch at this little cafe.  Then we decided to find where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter and we had a little trouble because one of the places that she wrote it is now a Chinese restaurant so we ended up going to a hotel and asking directions to a different cafe where she started writing the books.  We found it and took pictures and Kristi and I bought mugs that say "The Birthplace of Harry Potter" on it!  J.K. still lives in Edinburgh so we were on the lookout for her but we didn't see her.  After that, we walked to 

I woke up early and Kristi walked me to the train station in Durham and I got to the Newcastle airport just in time (they had to do an extra search of my bags because they thought there was something sharp in them...I had to run to the gate...but I made it!).  It was really not fun saying goodbye, but I'm sure that we will see each other again, somewhere in the world!  I flew back to London Heathrow and had plenty of time for a coffee and muffin and I read and looked around at all the shops until my flight back to Moscow.  When I got on the plane, a little British boy was in front of me and he had stopped to put his bags up and when he saw that I was behind him waiting, he turned around and said "Excuse me" in Russian to me...ha I was mistaken for being Russian in England!  Crazy.  The flight was four hours back and I watched Julie & Julia and there was no one sitting next to me which was nice because I could spread out.  I was exhausted but I didn't want to fall asleep because the worst feeling is having to wake up and get up and have to be up and about.  I got the AeroExpress back to the metro in Moscow and I was already missing reading and hearing everything in English!  I was so exhausted that I slept for 13 hours when I got back and just relaxed all day Sunday!

To look at more pictures, click here.