Our Hotel

We stayed at the Rhodes Hotel and the following picture is the view from our room on the third floor. It was quite a challenge in the process of attempting to carry my luggage up to my room since the flight of stairs was very small and steep. I had the privilege of having a friend assist me with the movement of my luggage. The rooms were quite small and this is something I am not used considering the fact that I believe that my room size now is small I am officially grateful for my room.

Cristal Ann Gonzalez

Our first night out...

We went to a nice pub where I believe was near Charings Cross Station. On the way to the dinner, I ended up realizing that traveling in such a large group  was quite difficult. Getting on the tube with a large group and not getting separated was a challenge. Thankfully we had a wonderful tour guide who knew her way around London best. The most interesting part of our dinner was when we received our desserts. Typically we use forks to eat with our cheesecake and in this case we were given spoons. Some of us where just confused about the combination. Overall a good dinner with great company.

Cristal Ann Gonzalez

Hop On Hop Off

We really took advantage of the hop on and hop off tour with our day access pay. We sat on the second floor but in the covered area. We saw some of the sightings, such as the London Tower, London Eye, Manchester. We took hop on hop off tour and ended up at the London Tower and Bridge where we took pictures and enjoyed some hot chocolate.

Cristal Ann Gonzalez

How I survived....

Being from Texas and never experiencing snow the climate adjustment was at time challenging for me. I tended to seek for warm locations and I really enjoyed hot cocoa, hot teas, anything that was hot aided my survival. Throughout the first few days of being there, I had a difficult time with the cold weather. On about the fourth day in London I seemed to be accustomed to the weather. The next day unfortunately I started I feel a little bit under the weather. Overall, I will miss the frequently amount of hot drinks I had.


Cristal Ann Gonzalez

National Art Gallery

On our way to the National Art Gallery, it decided to snow and this was the first time I have been in snow. With our London Pass we were able to use the headset that normally comes with a cost in the entrance of the gallery. The Art Gallery is free to the public and having this relaxing time to be at my own pace was quite relaxing. Enjoying some of the art work and learning some of their history was a wonderful experience. There were many students within the gallery but it did not seem so crowded because of the large space.

Cristal Ann Gonzalez

Apollo Theatre

The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Wilton Road near Victoria Station in the City of Westminster. Opened as a cinema and variety theatre, the Apollo Victoria became a venue for musical theatre, beginning with The Sound of Music in 1981, and including the long-running Starlight Express, from 1984 to 2002. The theatre is now the home of the musical Wicked, which had played six years at the venue as at September 2012.

Oscar Salazar

The first Hard Rock Cafe (HRC) opened 14 June 1971, in London, England under the ownership of young Americans Peter Morton and Isaac Tigrett.  As we sat outside, it was freezing cold!  We sat outside for about an hour and we were finally able to get a table. 



Oscar Salazar

London Bridge



Oscar Salazar

Big Ben the 320 foot high Clock Tower is named after the largest bell, weighing over 13 tons, and was cast in 1858 at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in East London. To this day one of the largest bells they have ever cast. Each clock face is over 7m in diameter. When the Houses of Parliament | sits by night a light in the Clock Tower burns above Big Ben. Old pennies act as counterweights to ensure Big Ben keeps time to the nearest second.
The Gothic masterpiece that are the present Houses of Parliament, were constructed between 1840 and 1888 .




Oscar Salazar

Hop On, Hop Off

The Original London Sightseeing Tour offers the most flexible hop-on / hop-off london tours, with over 80 stops, 3 main sightseeing routes and countless photo opportunities, The Original Tour really is the finest way to see London and her landmarks. Sit back, relax and take in the sights, sounds and iconic views of the city, both ancient and modern.




Oscar Salazar

Sea Life Aquarium

 I went to the Sea Life Aquarium, and when i first walked in there was a clear floor looking down at the shark tank. The i saw jelly fishes, Sting rays, and got to pet a Star Fish. It felt spongy. At one point i also went in a clear tube and watched sharks and sting rays were swimming over me. It was a beautiful sight. I just wish i got to pet the sting rays.

Riana Brown

London Eye

On Wednesday Jordan, Sydney, Courtney and I went to the London Eye around 10 am. As we were waiting in line some French students started arguing and fighting, it was an interesting, but weird to watch. We were put in a pod with about eight other people. The ride was about 30-45 minutes. It was peaceful  but would have been better if it was just us, less people walking around the pod and trying to take pictures in the same spot. But i still got some good pictures.

Riana Brown

Hop on, Hop off.

 On the second day, nine or ten of us went on the hop on, hop off tour. Almost all of our group sat on the top of the bus to get a better scenic view, while Dr. Kiser sat on the heated bottom floor. It was very cold on the top, but the view was good. We had the idea to ride the bus and see all the sites, then on the second trip, pick where we want to go. But we got so cold and hungry that we got off and looked for a place to eat. The we kind of just roamed for awhile and saw Big Ben and other sites. Then we went on our boat ride, which thankfully was an indoor heated ride. The boat ride wasn't that impressive though.

Riana Brown

Food

While I was in London, i ate a lot of pub food. Mostly burgers and chicken sandwiches. I had a brunch burger near Madame Tussauds, it had a fried egg, onion rings, cheese, lettuce, bacon, it was amazing! Some pizza from The Pizza Factory. Which was really good. A lot of tea, mostly from the hotel room. and some sweets from a grocery store. Some fried shrimp from our first night dinner. I don't really like sea food, but the shrimp was good, especially with barbecue sauce from the chicken wings. YUM!

Riana Brown

The Monument

Finally up 311 steps on the Monument of London. The view was very beautiful and the travel up 311 steps was worth it on my part because we even asked for our certificates of completion. We heard about the Monument and some of its history during our hop on hop off tour. The monument was built between 1671 and 1677 to commemorate the Great Fire of London and to celebrate the rebuilding of the City.


Cristal Ann Gonzalez

London Tower

The London Tower is a must go place while in London. It is a very beautiful building along with its interesting history. Luckily we made it in time to have our own Tour Guide. My favorite part was having the tour guide, he made the experience so much better. Perhaps walking on my own through out the tower I would not have had the same experience. He was really comical and made many jokes throughout the entire tour. My favorite part was visiting the chapel and the crown jewels. The sights were beautiful along with their beautiful history. The entrance was free for us with our London Pass.

Cristal Ann Gonzalez

Shakespeare Globe

Shakespeare Globe was one of my favorite locations to visit while in London. From our hotel, it took us sometime getting there but I really loved the location. We were given a tour of the Globe along with its history. It was a little chilly being outside in the cold for actual Globe. On the side of the Globe there is a shop with a gallery of clothing, tools, and other items used for the plays.


Cristal Ann Gonzalez

London Zoo

The trip to the London Zoo really was adventurous. We took the underground station and had to walk some distance. We found a bus stop to take us closer to the London Zoo area even though we still had quite of a walk left. Our intent was to see the Penguin Show in the afternoon, because of the traveling distance we were five minutes late and missed the show completely. The London Zoo had a free pass with London Pass which saved us around 20 L. My advice would to be there ahead of time to take advantage of the shows and the discount.

Cristal Ann Gonzalez

Phantom of the Opera

My first play was the Phantom of the Opera in London. This was a wonderful experience and I am really glad that I chose to have my first play as the Phantom of the Opera. In addition to the play, we also had dinner before right across the street. The only problem that we had was the fact that we did not have the tickets for the dinner because we did not have them printed out. The food was very delicious and the atmosphere was of a upscale restaurant. I am glad that we had decided to pay the package of the meal and play together.

Cristal Ann Gonzalez

The Roman Baths

The Roman Baths. The last stop on my all day excursions. I wish the water wasn't so gross so I could touch it. It was amazing to see steam rising from one of the baths, I would have really liked to have touch it, especially with the cold weather. The last pool f water I saw was the second picture, and it was so beautiful the way the light reflected on the surface, and off the pennies in the water. Although I did get to drink some water from the pump room, though I didn't like it, it was warm mineral water and tasted funny. But was still a nice experience to say I did. At the gift shop there was a lot of Roman inspired gifts, like little owl key chains and Roman coin key chains. There were also some bath soaps, scented candles and such.

Riana Brown