Right now I am just trying to recuperate and readjust to "normal" life. Thanks to everyone who messaged or emailed me to check on me and I'm sorry I never updated. I was so exhausted I didn't want to remember any of my responsibilities!
I'm home!
That's right! I arrived back in the States on September 10th (No thanks to Delta, who apparently never assigned me actual ticket numbers when I rearranged my flights so twice it looked like they weren't going to let me board the plane!)
Bizarre Brussels, Belgium
Brussels is a beautiful city, full of ornate old architecture from the Gothic period, and rich in interesting and diverse history. One of my favorite pieces of architecture are the guild houses in the town square (bottom center). The detail is staggering. I just stood and stared at them for a while.
Tower of London
Embarrassing confession of the day: I used to think the Tower of London was one of the towers on Tower Bridge. And I thought that up until the day my tour guide said "here's the Tower of London" and pointed at what would generally be described as a castle or fortress. Whoops.
Due in part to my ignorance and in part because it is Sar's favorite part of London, I took a tour of the Tower.
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| Top left: Traitor's Gate Bottom left: My tour guide Top right: The White Tower and Tower Bridge Bottom right: Old meets new. Tower of London in the midground, the Gherkin in the background |
Fandoms' London
Upper left: The pub Charles Dickens frequented, still standing
Middle left and bottom left: the buildings Gringotts was modeled after
Center: "Feeeeeeed the birds!"
Upper right: Temple of Templar Knights, as seen in The Da Vinci Code
Bottom right: Millenium bridge. Aka the bridge the death eaters destroy in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
That's right. I never even made it to 221B Baker Street or Platform 9 3/4 (it's just not the same anymore) and still I was surrounded by fandoms!
Changing of the Guard
The bottom right picture is the only one I think needs elaborated on. Basically the entire changing of the guard is a little story, and at this point one of the guards does an elaborate inspection of the guard houses to make sure no one is hiding in it or next to it or behind it. It's a little comical, and I enjoyed it.
You also have to be strong. There was a lady who sent her kid to try and squeeze a spot for her family, and now generally I have a soft spot for kids and let them in front of me but this kid weighed more than I do and was almost as tall as me, so no. No you cannot stand in front of me when you got here five minutes before the start. No. Get here earlier. But she kept instructing the kid to use their elbows to move me and the woman next to me out of the way and she got really irritated when we wouldn't move aside. Then there was an American woman who kept reaching over people to tap me and tell me to get down. Granted, I had stepped up on the cement base of the fence (as had everyone else at the fence) but that was because I had an enormous iron detail on the fence that was as tall as my forehead that blocked my entire view if I got down.
Lesson to be learned: if you want to see anything, you need to get there at least an hour early (or maybe go on a day when it's raining?) and then you need to stand your ground because there are plenty of people ready to rip you from your spot.
More London
First, Traditional London:
Covent Garden! (Look kids!) Big Ben! Tower Bridge! (Look kids!) Big Ben...again! Tower of London! (Yeah, I didn't realize it wasn't a tower. I thought it was part of Tower Bridge. This is embarrassing, especially given it's my best friend's favorite part of London. She's weird, it's ok.)
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