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Thursday, July 25, 2013

My London Adventure: In Honor of the Royal Baby



"The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease forever to be able to do it."

-J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan




I am an adventurer. I love exploring new places. I love aimlessly walking streets. I love finding myself lost and realizing that something completely unexpected, yet beautiful is around the corner. I love to explore.


I never want to lose that childlike sense of adventure and ability to be spontaneous. 


This summer I was blessed with the opportunity to go to London, England for 10 days with some pretty awesome people. I went with a group who was completely different than me [they were all music performance or music education majors], yet our common sense of adventure bonded us together for some unforgettable memories. Besides getting to explore a different country and a slightly different culture, I got to explore the arts. I learned about architecture, experienced English symphonies, plays, and even an opera, and got to experiment a little bit with my photography. I am so thankful I got to go on this trip, and I am thankful for the friendships I made along the way. 


Due to some programming issues on my Cannon, I haven't been able to post any pictures yet. So, today is the day! I finally get to share some of my experiences with everyone! I hope you enjoy, because I know I sure did!

The group in front of Kensington Palace.
Unfortunately it was under construction =[

The sky was amazing in London. Absolutely gorgeous.
The picture below is from the roof of our hotel (The Westbury Hotel). I would highly recommend it to
anyone. It was right next to the Earl's Court Tube stop, and it was really clean and quaint.



Fountain in Trafalgar Square.



One day, the London Symphony Orchestra was having a free concert in Trafalgar square. Although we didn't have time to watch the whole thing, we got to watch them practice while eating our lunch. It was beautiful.




Westminster Abbey. What a wonderful place.


Big Ben and Parliament



We got to ride a really cool ferry along the River Thames



Cute little carnival area by the Southbank Centre
(location of most of the symphonies we saw)



Tower of London




View from the top of St. Paul's Cathedral. By far my favorite part of the trip.
Although I am deathly afraid of heights, I ventured up the 528 steps to the top of the Golden Gallery. From there I was able to stand outside, at the very top of the Cathedral, and overlook the beautiful city that is London. 
It was well worth the shaky legs.








St. Paul's Cathedral



I couldn't help but thinking of Harry Potter when I took this one.
Yes, I am a nerd.



Speaking of Harry Potter, Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station! 
By the way, King's Cross looks nothing like the movie. =[ I was very disappointed.


Natural History Museum. Although this definitely wasn't my favorite thing in London, it had some pretty fantastic architecture that I loved to photograph. =]








The outside of the building.



One day I went wandering around the city and found some beautiful things. I think this was the side of Westminster Abbey, but I can't remember. After hours of walking, I found myself really, really lost (luckily there always seemed to be a tube station close by). I ended up wandering through this beautiful neighborhood that opened up to a big field where a bunch of adults were playing cricket. So that was pretty cool. After a while, I decided to rest my feet, enjoy a Pret Manger toasty (These delightful sandwich shops were on almost every corner of the city), and figure out where I was.

It was a wonderful day.

I later found out that I shouldn't have been wandering around that area because it was home to the majority of the psych wards in London. My friends had a hay day with that one. They told me I had found my home in London. Really funny guys... =]






Shakespeare's Globe Theater!!!! I absolutely loved this! We got to see A Midsummer Night's Dream in true Elizabethan fashion: standing propped up against the stage. It felt like I was thrown back in time for the night. England had a way of doing that to me.





As I sit here posting these pictures, I realize my father has taught me well. 

In true Szczepanik fashion, I completely filled 2 memory cards with pictures of my trip. Who knew it could be so hard to condense 10 days of fun! More pictures to come in the next few days.

What to expect: Portobello Road Market, Wimbledon, and my personal favorite, OXFORD!




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