London in 2 days

Ok well talk about being able to see London in two days! I was supposed to have 3 in a half days in this city but due to some delayed flights I arrived about a day late and jet lagged. I woke up ridiculously early, 5am. I was unable to go back to sleep so I went down to the common area of the hostel and watched an infomercial on Zumba for 2 hours. (I couldn't figure out how to change the channel). It didnt bother me too much since by now I had figured out how to get my computer working with the wifi. After some free breakfast I started my "so Ashley thinks she can see London in a day" tour. I was wearing my amazing new 2XU gear that I won at the Altrec.com Christmas party and my running shoes. I started down Southhampton ave. I first came to Trafalgar Square, famous for being the heart of London both metaphorically and geographically. It was made in remembrance of one of the Neopoleonic wars. 

 I am extremely impressed with my navigational skills in that I was able to make my way around London with a crappy map and some poorly labeled street signs. It only took minutes to get to Piccadilly circus which was pretty fantastic. Then I ventured on toward Buckingham Palace. At first I was unsure if it was really the palace. It seemed rather plain and small for a palace. I had something more like Dolembace Palace in Istanbul in my head. This was more like a white house looking building with a fancy gate in front of it that happened to have some gold at the top. I actually had to ask someone what it was, there wasn't a sign or anything. I did see the guards, and got to watch the exchanging of the guards. It was pretty interesting in how perfectly in-sync they are.

 I continued my walk through St. James park, there were about a million runners and I was super jealous. I contemplated running since I had my running clothes on but decided that my knee/chin splints wouldn't like that at all. When I got out of the park I was about 5 blocks from a sight that made my stomach drop. I don't know why really but when I saw it I felt like how I imagine people feeling when they have wont the lottery or found the treasure. What I was looking at was the British Parliament, and Big Ben.  Fun Fact: Did you know that "Big Ben" is actually the name of the bell inside the clock, not the clock itself?

I was really Excited

I learned that while walking around the plaza. I would have loved to go inside Parliament but it was a Sunday and therefore closed. Same story was for the Westminster Abby Church also in Parliament Plaza. This church is where Princess Diana's funeral was held, and where countless nobles, dukes, kings and queens were anointed. It was built way back in 1560, but was established even earlier, 1050!

 It was a gorgeous gothic style church that I so wish I would have been able to tour... but again... damn Sunday this time it was open for service and I didnt feel comfortable going in, me not being accustom to the catholic religion. My next stop was to cross the Westminster bridge to get a view of London from the huge London Eye... the huge ferris wheel... surprise! Its Sunday.... damn it. 

Ok so I gave up on all the sight seeing since A. Its Sunday and everything is closed and B. The british pound to American dollar is crap and everything (including food) was out of my price range. After walking by the London eye I saw (the outside) of Shakespeare globe theater.  Then I walked all the way down the Thames river to the London bridge, where I got the song stuck in my head. Then on to the Tower bridge and the London tower. The Tower bridge was awesome to see, something truly midevil. The London tower was also awesome and it would have been nice if my pocket book would have liked the ridiculous price to see the crown jewels but no....

Shakespeare Globe Theater 

obviously

Tower Bridge

Tower of London, where the Crown Jewels are.

So after about 5 hours of walking about, I ducked into a starbucks for a warm up cup of joe and then started my long walk back. At my hostel my internet was again not working and apparently the problem is that there were too many people using the server. Regardless I did sit for about 45 minutes just staring at my screen trying to figure it out. There were 4 Italians with me, they were really nice. One of the girls was trying to get a job here in London and I was helping her to translate a letter she wanted to send off to a potential apartment she wants to rent. (No I do not speak Italian but somehow we communicated) Then we had dinner together, they made some rice and zucchini which was delicious. 
Then around midnight I had to start my long journey to Istanbul. Here is basically how it went. I had to get on a bus to the Luton airport 1.5 hours outside of London at 1am. After walking for about 20 minutes in the middle of the night to find the bus stop I finally got it. Then the bus took me to a coach stop where I switched to a coach bus, that took us to the airport. At the airport I was 3 hours early for my 5am check in. I tried to sleep but that didn't work out, then at check in Easyjet was trying to screw me over with the size of my luggage but I told them what was what! (basically I reorganized and shoved my purse into my carryon until I got past the desk and they couldnt see me take it back out... they were not allowing a carry on and a purse-lame) So my flight boards at 645am and 3.5 hours later I am landing back in my favorite city! I am finally back in Istanbul. I am so happy! Ben Cok Mutluyum!