Londontown

“I’m driving to London Tuesday to meet up with my parents, wanna come?”

And so it all began.

English Emma took me and Sarah (my American roommate) on the best, spontaneous, whirlwind of a road trip we may ever experience.
I’m not sure how to describe the exhilaration Sarah and I felt after getting in that car and setting off. We were in a car, number one (even if it was a backwards English one), and number two, we were leaving France. LEAVING FRANCE. Leaving the Disney bubble. This in itself was pleasure enough. Knowing we were driving towards a country where everyone speaks English sent shivers of excitement down our spines. England, here we were on our way.

First things first! We had to get there.

You may be confused. “Isn’t there a huge body of water between England and France?” If that is what you are thinking, yes, you are correct. If you weren’t thinking that, you may need to consult a map. After you have done that, come back. You’re sure to be thinking it now. Do not worry friends, the Eurotunnel exists! Water cannot stop us with the Eurotunnel around.
The Eurotunnel goes under the Channel. Magic, I know. Its things like this that make me sure the wizarding world exists. After driving through the UK Border check (You do WHAT in France?) we drove onto the train which was going to zip us under the English Channel. This was a bit nerve-wracking, driving onto a train, knowing we were essentially trapped. A bit of knitting took our mind off things however, and we were in England 30 minutes later.

Wrong side of the road. Weird. ‘nuff said.

About 2 hours later we arrived in the city of London. Our hotel however, was just outside of London. OH our hotel.
The Rossmore Hotel, room 45. This room will go down in history as the shadiest room 3 young girls ever stayed in. The multitude of mirrors. My goodness. A plethora of reflective surfaces overwhelmed us upon our entry. My favorite was the mirrored headboard. The large bathtub in the corner of the room (surrounded by mirrors of course)was quite awkward, especially when Sarah tried to take a private shower but was foiled, seeing as how we could see her reflection on every wall in the room no matter how she cleverly tried to arrange the small shower curtain. It provided us will a place to sleep though, for which we are very grateful.

Wednesday morning found us on the Underground, making our way into the city center. Emma took us to the theatre in Leicester Square where many big movie premieres take place, including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince just a week earlier! After that we wandered around Covent Gardens a bit, then we met up with Emma’s parents, one of the loveliest British couples I have had the pleasure of spending the day with. Seeing as how they are Northern Englanders, every few minutes we were informed that “in the North…” things are done a bit differently. I plan to visit them soon to find out for myself.
The big event of the day was a visit to Madame Tussauds wax museum. We spent the day taking pictures with celebrities, movie characters, and political figures. I really enjoyed running away from a giant disco ball with Indiana Jones, and of course, meeting the Queen. What trip to London would be complete without a private audience with Her Majesty?

Saying goodbye to Emma’s parents was a sad moment. I think I may have been more emotional than Emma herself. It was so wonderful to be around a mother, and saying goodbye to her felt a bit like saying goodbye to my own mom. I can’t imagine when that day comes in September, in fact, I won’t even try. It’ll be bad enough when it happens.
After that we hit up an authentic English Pub for an authentic English tea. I had proper fish ‘n chips, they were well good (I’m learning more English than French here I swear). Satisfied with our meal, we hit up the glory that is Primark for some cheap shopping (boots for 8p? shirts for 5?!?). I just wish I had had more energy to take full advantage of the glory that is Primark. Next time, I’ll be prepared. We made sure to hit up Tesco’s (the big grocery/anything you need store) for some last minute English food items and best of all, books.

It was time to hop back onto the Eurotunnel, this time back towards France. It took us longer to get home then it took us to get there since Emma tried to avoid toll roads, but, sure enough, 36 hours after leaving France, we were back. I was lucky enough to sleep in the backseat all night while the girls drove seeing as how I had to work the next day and they both were off. Despite that, the next day I looked a bit like a zombie while heading off to work. But it was worth it. Well worth it. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
In fact, as soon as possible.