I was silently geeking out at some of the places we saw because of this video. I soon found out that a girl on the trip was freaking out about it too. Justin told the story of how the blue cock came about the area we saw and how this is a popular tourist destination for those with families.
We got off the bus to catch a perfect view of the London Bridge as well as the other famous buildings such as the Cheese Grater and the Shard. We intended on taking the opportunity of a bathroom break, but Justin got excited and took us around the corner instead. Walking inbetween those buildings was unreal. The way it made the bridge look was just so cool. I was actually really surprised at how little tourists there were. Justin and Mr. Brown, my teacher in charge of the trip, explained that the Spring months were the least popular times for tourists in London and Paris.
Justin told us about all the buildings in the area and the unique story behind each one. This was where we could see the balance of the modern and historical architecture. I couldn't believe how the city just looked so natural with both kinds of buildings in it.
The bus tour then continued and we stopped at a lovely church (which I have forgotten the name of) and the cafes around it for lunch. Rain clouds were popping in and out every few minutes, which I guess was very typical.
We got back on the bus one more time to catch a peek at the River Thames and the London Eye among other landmarks and buildings.
We parked the bus and had a chance to see the gates of Buckingham Palace open and observe the men in their fuzzy bear hats. Apparently, the hats were made up of fur from two adult black bears. Kind of depressing if you ask me.
After the thirty second march, Justin told us some great and hilarious stories about the Palace and what's happened inside it. We played a little trival pursuit, if you will, on fun facts about the Palace and the Royal Family. According to Justin, the Royal Family has had many a citizen sneak in, even a man come into the Queen's bedroom, and that the Queen has owned at least 51 corgis, which I happened to take a lucky guess at.
We then went to the more green side of the Palace, the park if you will, and saw pieces of Canadian homage from the British.
We then walked over and explored Piccadilly Circus for souvenir shops. This was tourist central. My friend was trying to tell me how it was like the New York of London, but I really wasn't buying it. Because it was so big and busy, we couldn't really venture out and see all of the cool places.
We took the Tube for the first time to go explore the Tower of London, which Justin told us all kinds of stories about. I didn't get many pictures, but the history inside of it was insane. The fact that it was so old and still able to maintain its look and shape was amazing. We even saw the enormous raven birds that made the Tower so famous. I have a bit of a fear with big birds, so I kept my distance.
We took pictures from the London Bridge before getting ready to go on a ghost walk tour of London. I completely forgot to bring my jacket and froze, as I found out that it gets really windy at night. The ghost walk was insanely boring and stressful because we were wandering around weird areas of the city late on a Friday night. Plenty of drunks approached us and there were many people hooting and hollering down the alleyways. At one point, we lost Mr. Brown and a boy in my grade, so that didn't help with the stress and worry that we were already experiencing. The teachers that came on the trip were very tempered and stressed out people as it was, so this situation really wasn't enjoyable.
It was great seeing the buildings at night and exploring different areas of London, but nothing about the tour felt right at all. None of us felt safe and we were all relieved to return to our hotel rooms late that night.
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