Covent Gardens, Leicester Square, Portobello Road, Windsor Castle...

The sightseeing continues! 

Yesterday, when Laura and I had to go to another pointless orientation for our school program, we left Amber here at the flat, to go about on her own, maybe revisit St. Paul's, do some shopping...except we left her with no key.  Talk about horrible friends!  You unfortunately can't even get out of the flat without a key, much less in again when you're done...so the poor girl was imprisoned in London for about 4 hours.

We sprung her from jail and headed off to do some wandering, first around Covent Gardens.  What a great place!  This area is much as I pictured London to be, for some reason.  The great glassed hall where all the vendors go is a blast...there were flamenco dancers, and a comedy troupe out busking for a few pounds.  The "hippie" soap store that (yes!) played Bob Dylan was a favorite, and the shopping was really good there...although I'm really trying to cut back on spending (this one for two thing is hard to adjust to!) so I refrained from buying anything.  We had some lunch in the open-air and made our way to Leicester Square--another hopping place on a Friday night.  Everyone was out, especially as we journeyed into the theatre district.  There were lots of great old pubs with names like "The Nag's Head" and I was tempted by the thought of a pint.  Instead, we wandered around the square to a fancy ice cream joint.  We also found chinatown, which smelled SO good, even on a full stomach--believe me, I'll be making more than just a few trips back to that particular neighborhood!

Today, we woke up early (again!) and took the tube to Portobello Road market.  This is my perfect environment...just ask the girls.  It had my name written all over it!  Great ethnic booths with pashimas and lanterns; beautiful old antiques like teapots, silver, and costume jewelry; tons of food stalls with bartering patrons; flea market finds the farther north you journeyed; little boutiques, crazily dressed buskers, coffeeshops....ahh, it was glorious.  Already have plans to return.

We took the road so far north, so it didn't make sense to head backwards again--I managed to ask my way to the nearest Underground station (yay for friendly locals) and we soon found ourselves at Waterloo Station.  Huge!  Took a train to Windsor, which is such a lovely town.  Lots of old shops, pubs, etc.--the streets with narrow alleyways and footpaths, noticeably warped foundations topped with lovingly restored restaurants, and people everywhere...with a castle smack in the middle of it. 

The castle itself--the oldest and largest castle still used as a residence--is gorgeous.  We didn't get the full tour, since some of the rooms were closed, but we managed to get into Queen Mary's Dolls' House, which is like a British version of the Enchanted Dollhouse at the museum downtown (for you Chicagoans), and we also went into the dish room...or whatever the technical version of the room that holds the royal servingware would be.  There was also a drawings gallery we looked through...mostly portraits of the queen and her family throughout the years, but also held a few of her special holdings:  including some sketches by Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo.  Being within inches of Da Vinci's work was amazing...I'm such a dork, all I could think was "I'm standing in roughly the same position in proportion to this piece of paper as he once did--wow."   I'm a nerd, I'm well aware, haha...

The best part of Windsor Castle, however, was the cathedral.   This medieval place is the tomb of royals like the queen mum, King George VI, and even Henry VIII...and one or two of his wives.  The stained glass is beyond believable.  They also had some illuminated texts and old books, including one that belonged to Katherine of Aragon...

We picked up some quick food on the way back to the train station, but were running late regardless.  As we galloped down the street, playing the stupid Americans (yet again) Amber accidentally started to veer into traffic...causing a driver to honk rather loudly.  She leapt to the right, lost her footing, and went down like a ton of bricks, legs flailing in the air...much to the amusement of Laura and myself.  Apparently the Brits found it funny, too--I heard a few snickering as we pulled a red-faced Amber to her feet.  We couldn't help ourselves; Laura and I laughed about halfway home. 

I finally had time (and the right timing) to call my mom in the states.  Good to hear your voice, mom!  Headed back to the flat, ate some Confederate ramen noodles (no joke, they make 'em here--complete with a spicy tomato sauce that comes in a packet reading "It's Like, So Tangy, Y'all!") and watched a game show called "Your Country Needs You!", which capitalizes off the rivalry between Enlgand, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland...all in color coordinated teams, to  boot.  It was neck and neck with the Irish and the English (I'll give you one chance to guess who I was rooting for, haha) and, since Scotland and Wales were so far behind, they did everything they possibly could to help out the Irish cause...It's funny how a shared history of bitterness towards a dominating country can, centuries later, determine the fate of a quiz show, haha.  Funny world.

Anyways, I'm heading to bed.  Hope you all are well!  Cheers!

Chris