My Farewell #1-Last Day Seeing My Fav Sights

Leicester Square-This theater is where all of the big movie premiers happen (like Harry Potter last Thursday night).

Covent Garden has their Christmas decorations up!

More from Covent Garden

Trafalgar Square

Towards Green Park and The Horse Guards Parade

Not sure what this is, but I think it was a memorial done recently because I've never seen it before. Next to it was a building with a memorial dedicated to fallen Royal Ulster Constabulary.

A walk down Whitehall

The Cenotaph on Whitehall. Remembrance Day (or Armistice Day-Veteran's Day in the States) is Nov. 11, and the following Sunday is Remembrance Sunday. There is a march down Whitehall by war Veterans. The Queen lays the first poppy wreath dedicated to the fallen from the First and Second World Wars and all conflicts after. The Poppy represents remembrance of the fallen in the U.K.

Millions of Remembrance Crosses at Westminster Abbey

One of my favorite views of the London Eye and the Thames.

One of my favorite tube stations (and the most confusing!)

So I went to see Deathtrap-the comedy thriller starring Glee's Jonathan Groff (Jesse from Vocal Adrenaline-yes, this is the only reason I saw it). I was able to get cheap tickets in the Stalls only 7 rows back from the stage earlier in the morning. The seats were the best I'd had in the 5 West End shows I'd seen this trip. However, I was so close, that I could see Jonathan Groff spit everytime he yelled his lines! Like really spit. It reminded me of the Friend's episode where Joey has to play next to a star who spits and he tries to wear sunglasses during filming. The play itself was also very strange. Wouldn't recommend it, but I'm glad I saw it because I would have regretted it if I didn't.

So today I did my last day out in London. I started out at Leicester Square to see what kind of tickets I could get for Deathtrap that evening. Even though it wasn't a musical and sounded a bit weird, I still wanted to see it for the sole reason that a Glee actor was in it.haha. After getting tickets, as it finally wasn't raining, I walked to Covent Garden, then to Trafalgar Square, down Whitehall (where the Remembrance Parade had happened the day before), and ended up at Westminster Abbey to see the millions of Remembrance crosses. It was a very powerful experience. From there, I got a quick last glance at the Thames and the London Eye before taking the tube back to Bob's. I did some more packing (it will be a miracle if it all fits in my two suitcases), before heading out to meet Lauren to say our goodbyes over coffee in Leicester Square before Deathtrap.

I have a little review of the play above. I would have to say it was my least favorite of the 5, but I'm still glad I saw it. It only lasted a few hours, so I got home to Bob's a little after 10, and had more time to pack and realize that my time here is just about over :( I will miss living in London SO much!

Pull out the Red Stripe!! Notting Hill Carnival

Somewhere near Trafalgar Square on our way to Leicester Square. I got us a little lost-surprise surprise!

Charing Cross Train Station

Leicester Square

Covent Garden

Notting Hill Carnival-Have to drink the Jamaican beer as this is a festival to celebrate Carribean's in London!

Most pubs/bars close down and board up their doors and windows to prevent any damage/mess and bring their business to the street

600,000 people came on Monday-Bank Holiday. 400,000 the day before on Family Day

All the stores board up as well. And get graffittied in the process. Most of the residents either leave, sit on their balconies for the best view without battling the crowds, or rent out their toilets for 1 pound per visitor! Those people must have made hundreds!

The smokiness is coming from all of the food stands that lined the streets.

Second largest street parade in the world-first largest in Europe. Can you see why??

I've been so dissapointed in the blandness of British food, that I couldn't pass up the spicy Carribean food!

Jerk Chicken and a ginormous dumpling. And it was GOOD!

Chloe was telling us about this apartment complex. Apparently when they built it, they forgot to put in a "lift" (elevator), hence the side addition that looks like an after-thought. This is because it totally was an afterthought. Oops.

So Notting Hill area is one of the most expensive zip codes in London, and this is the trash situation from the Carnival. When we left at 7ish, the streets looked like they couldn't handle anymore trash, and it goes until midnight, so needless to say, the cleaning crews had quite a job ahead of them!

the Parade

Decided to leave the carnival and go to the less crowded pubs of Carnaby Street to get a few pints to end the night!

So Robyn and I started out the day by heading to Trafalgar Square. I meant for us to walk up Charing Cross Rd. to Leicester Square, but instead we walked down Northumberland Ave. and came to the River Thames and Embankment instead. We found our way back to Trafalger Square and finally Robyn foudn us the road ont he map to Leicester Square and Covent Garden. Haha, I really impressed her with my directional skills of London.

We ended up meeting Chloe around 2ish at Tottenham Court Road tube station. To get to the carnival was crazy. They had closed down entry to most of the tube stations around the carnival so that they could utilize the escaltors and tunnels for people exiting the stations only. With over one million people attneding the two day carnival, you can only imagine what the tube situation was. They literally had people pushing you into the tube, and even when you thought it was impossible to squeeze even one more person in, somehow like 4 would get on. Luckily we only had about 5 stops from Tottenham Court Road because it was boiling hot, Robyn had her face in some ladies smelly armpit, and we were all getting a bit light headed (not that if you fainted you would be able to fall down-you'd still be standing, just unconscience).

The carnival was defintiely fun, but really crowded as you cna probably gather. After about 5 hours of walking around, we headed out for something a little less crazy! Great experience though!