Across the Universe

Woke up to construction work outside the hostel this morning - even though it was only about 8 in the morning. We hung out in the hostel for awhile getting ready and eating their free breakfast before hoping on the tube to Buckingham Palace. We wanted to catch the changing of the guards, especially since I had only caught the end last time. We got there 10 minutes before eleven, stood up by the railing across the street from the palace, and then waited, and waited some more. The only action we saw for what seemed like an hour were a few guards moving inside the gated area of the palace. Only had to wait about 40 minutes in all before the guard band and a small procession parade past us and moved on into the palace. Shortly afterwards guards on horses moved in the opposite direction to take their stations at St. James Palace. We didn't stay much longer as we wanted to hit some other sites before we headed to the train station. Thinking a better place to stand would have been along the front right side of the gate separating you from the palace.

Before wandering around for more site seeing we stopped at a Rail Europe center to buy our EuroRail passes. We decided the best option for us was a 15 day and country pass. We found out a cheaper option would have been to purchase the tickets online a few weeks ahead of time, but it was nice having someone talk us through the system and give us a hard copy of all the time tables. I'm so glad we got these before leaving an English speaking country! She told us to avoid a line called Thalys because they overprice and make sure to book transportation in France ahead of time because they fill up quickly. Some you can hop on anytime without reserving while others you can reserve face-to-face the day of. 


After our expensive purchase we headed to Abbey Road. As we were looking we wondered unto the busy square where I sat with the girls and Mike eating gourmet cupcakes waiting for the start of Chicago two years ago. Great memories. We took the tube line to St. John Wood where a short walk took us right to Abbey Road and the Studio. I looked for the message we had written on the wall outside abbey Studios two years prior with no luck. Probably painted over by now. We stayed for a few pictures, sprinting in and out of traffic. Grabbed some food before heading to the airport. Decided to get some subway before headed to the airport. Corn was one of the side options, really miss that.

Abbey Studios

Strolling across Abbey Road

Off next to the airport, took the tube to Tottenham Hale and took the Stansted Express train to London - Stansted airport. One of the first trains we rode on with wi-fi! We got there about three hours before the flight so did a lot of hanging out in the airport as we couldn't even check in our bags until 2 1/2 hours before the flight. Probably be easier for a backpacker to just carry it on if they want to deal with the hassle. Unfortunately our bags were a little too big. Not a good start to the trip, as soon as I went through security I went off and had to be pat down. At least inside we got some good entertainment watching fish eat dead skin off the bottom of people's feet who were willing to pay 12 pounds. We also were showed the Beats by Dre high performance headphones in an electronic store, only 300 pounds. Crazy London!