January in London

Tower Bridge (as seen from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral!)

Hello everyone! So I've been in London for three weeks now and this my first blog post - terrible, I know - but nonetheless! I'm going to try to do much better from now on.  London is wonderful so far.  The city is absolutely beautiful.  Remarkably, despite its size, it has a very village feel to it and every neighborhood is so unique.  I love taking the tube because every time I get above ground, I feel as though I'm in a completely different place.  It's like a new surprise every time I go somewhere! I've seen so much thus far, but since I'm terribly behind on my blog posts, I'm going to try to review some of my most memorable moments.

1. First of all, seeing Cassandra's portrait of Jane Austen at the National Portrait Gallery was one of the most exciting experiences I've had yet.  That's terribly nerdy, I'm aware, but it was just so amazing!!! Jane Austen probably once touched that portrait! Ahhhh, I just can't get over it!

2. Also, my first week here, I went to Windsor Castle, which was beautiful! My favorite part of the tour was looking at all of the photographs taken of the Royal family throughout the years.  Elizabeth and Margaret were perhaps the cutest children of all time.

3. Finally, St. Paul's Cathedral in London is absolutely stunning.  The cathedral survived all of the bombings in London during the Blitz, which is quite spectacular considering it was hit.  The most exciting part was climbing about a million stairs (seriously, a million) up to the top of the cathedral and getting to see spectacular views of London.  I'm deathly afraid of heights and had fleeting thoughts of eminent danger atop the cathedral, but it was still worth it.  One of my most embarrassing moments in London (not including the many times I have tripped up the tube steps) happened at St. Paul's Cathedral as well.  The tour guide led us into this beautiful straircase that led up to the bishop's office.  Just as I was saying to my friend that it reminded me of something out of Harry Potter, the tour guide informed us that parts of Harry Potter were filmed there.  I subsequently let out a huge gasp attracting the attention of the entire tour.  They did not seem quite as impressed.  Perhaps it was a bit of an overreaction - but mostly not.  The scene where Harry and Hermione are walking down from the divination tour in the second movie was filmed there! So exciting!!!

So that is a quick overview of my first month in London.  Tomorrow is the first day of winter break and I'm leaving for a 10-day excursion to Germany, The Netherlands, and Belgium! I'm sure I will have much more to report when I get back!

Hope you're all ok!

Love,
Rebecca