London: I Now Understand Why Joey Had To Get In The Map (Sunday, Feb. 14th)

Day 2: Sunday. Happy Valentine's Day. (Best Valentine's Day Ever)

The morning light helped a little bit. I still wasn't feeling this hostel or London for that matter when it was time to get out of bed. I had been woken up by a bunch of noisy people, and when I was awaking, I'm pretty sure there was a frenchman putting his pants on. Alright... time to see LONDON and not more Frenchmen. We had some breakfast--cereal, and headed out to seize the day, map in hand.

We found ourselves to Westminster Bridge and saw all the places we had stumbled upon in the dark last night. It is about a mile and a half walk to Big Ben from our hostel, but when that beautiful clock came into view, things suddenly got better. Finally seeing a part of London that we were expecting...not the south parts and unfamiliar terrain we encountered the night before. Big Ben and Parliament have some kind of magical quality... something innately beautiful about them and their beautiful delicate intricacy. I instantly felt better about London. It reminded me of Harry Potter and was the beginning of my very own Harry Potter weekend.

We had a whirlwind sight seeing day planned. So we kept moving. Next we hit up Westminster Abbey. I was able to say that Westminster Abbey made me feel less Westminster Crabby. It was beautiful, but given it was a Sunday, services were going on and it was not open to the public. Plus it's something like 12 pounds to go in, and that's a little steep for our budget. After a few wrong turns, we found our way towards Buckingham Palace. I now understand why Joey had to get in the map, London is a bit confusing to new comers. Unfortunately my map wasn't a pop-up one like Joey had. I'm sure Claire was glad I made her watch the Friends episode before we want so she could share in my jokes. It's not the same as having Brie, Erin, Ali, or Jonesy here for my references because there were plenty floating in my head all weekend.

Buckingham Palace is not that beautiful for belonging to the Queen. It reminded me of the White House. It was definitely tourist central... we saw a group of people (women) all wearing matching pink I Heart London Sweatshirts. Way to blend in people. Way to blend in.

As we were wandering around Buckingham and the Queen Victoria fountain (not the Buckingham Fountain... the one in Chicago is named after the architect that built it, not anything doing with London), a parade of soldiers on horses came through...followed by a street cleaner. It made me laugh, because it was so random to have a parade of horses and guard, but then totally ridiculous that the parade was followed by a street cleaner to clean up their droppings.

I tossed a coin in the Victoria fountain for good luck and we were on our way. We walked down Constitution Hill. Of course at the end was some type of Memorial Arch. I think every European City has an Arch. We took a little tour of Hype Park on our way towards Harrods. We passed Burberry and other luxurious shops way too overpriced for us. Harrods didn't open until 11:30 so we continue to walk a bit to waste sometime. We found a McDonald's. Now say what you will about McDonald's but it always provides a nice place to sit and rest without being pressured to buy anything. After a little rest and a bathroom break, we headed back to Harrods.

Harrod's is a London landmark and whereas it had been recommended by some very reliable sources, I didn't have very high expectations of it. Now I like to shop as much as the next person, but usually stores aren't that noteworthy. Harrod's is the expectation to that rule. It was hands down the coolest store I've ever been to. It was like the Disneyland of stores, and I think that I am going to move in. Like the Walmart baby in "Where The Heart Is", I'm pretty sure I could live quite comfortably in Harrods.

After wandering through the "Room of Luxury" we found our way to the famous Harrods Food Halls. The chocolate counters were blooming with Valentine's Day candy and beautiful cupcakes. It was like Willy Wonka. The next room had all sorts of meats and oysters and rotisserie. Then there was a pizzeria, a gelato counter, and a Krispy Kreme. Yes, a Krispy Kreme. In the midst of luxury, we found the aroma of Krispy Kreme donuts. It reminded me of Junior High when the Krispy Kreme moved into Mundelein and had my share of heart attack donuts. The Gelato sundaes were too much for me to resist and we settled at this old school counter and had a Chocolate Extreme Sundae. Sitting there, sharing a sundae, in the most beautiful store in a magical city, all the troubles of the night before didn't matter. Life was infinitely good. Ice cream has that effect on me.

We walked up and down the different floors of Harrods. There was so much to see.

(The list of departments in the store... my personal favorites include the Bulletproof Clothes section)

I decided that the Toy Kingdom would be worth a visit. I was picturing a toystore like the one in Home Alone where Maculley gets the turtle doves (Claire says I'm all about the Pop Culture References of the 90s). It was definitely like that. Toy demonstrations and just color everywhere. Someday I am going to bring my (very rich) husband and children here. And then I'm going to buy them the little Burberry kids clothes that were just beyond adorable. Downstairs we walked by the DeBeers diamond collection. There was a diamond necklace that was a mere 253 carats. Not too shabby. Needless to say, Harrods is full of security. There is also an egyptian themed escalator that leads downstairs to the gift shop and the Diana & Dodi memorial. Dodi was a relative of the Harrod owners and there have various memorials to the Princess of Wales and her lover in the store. This one has the engagement ring in it, I think.

After an hour and half of bliss at Harrods, we decided to head out. More city to see, no money to buy. We headed back towards Piccadilly Circus... we had to pick up our London Pass that we bought for the next day of sightseeing. Piccadilly Circus is like a small Times Square with the big TV screens and the Ripley's Believe it or Not.

We loaded up on maps and travel brochures at the visitor center and headed to Cool Britannia...a tourist shop. We were invited in by a British guard on stilts who had me hold his hand when we took a picture...since it was Valentine's Day and all.

We decided it was time to ride the famous tube and hit some of the tourist spots that were a little too far to walk to. The tube is really easy to figure out and after getting all day passes from a nice british man who reminded me of Peter Pettigrew (Harry Potter Weekend continued), we found the line we needed and headed to King's Cross Station.

We found the famous Platform 9 3/4 without problem... there was a crowd of people taking pictures of it. We were the first to get in the picture and pretend to be pushing the cart. We definitely started a trend.

Then it was back on the tube and we headed to Abbey Road. We found a Beatles Coffee shop that pointed us in the right direction of the famous crosswalk and headed that way. Now, you got tourism at your finest at this crosswalk.

Abbey Road is a busy road, but yet people stopped traffic to get the perfect picture, while people are honking and pissed off. I wonder how many people cause accidents there each year. We walked to see Abbey Road Records and sign our names on the grafitti gates where we saw a little girl with a can of spray paint getting her chance to sign. We took the famous Abbey Road picture, but ours are mid movement because we were conscious of the fact that it is a busy throughfare.

After taking our picture, we headed back to the tube and Piccadilly. We found the IceBar where we had reservations that night, and got back on the tube and headed to the Kennington Station that is near our Hostel. At the hostel, we had some pizza for dinner which was actually good..better than what we expected, and watched some old school music videos on the TV--like R.Kelly Ignition. Flashback. We chilled for a bit, then changed, and headed back on the tube to Piccadilly to meet up with Stevie. One of the things that I really wanted to do in London was go to the Absolut Ice Bar, a bar made completely of Ice. Now, it is sort of ridiculous, but it's unique and something you can say you did. So I made reservations for us to go on Valentine's Day... so I can say I spent my Valentine's Day in the Coolest Bar in the World... really, its kept at 5 degrees Celsius (about 20 degrees Fahrenheit).

We planned to meet Stevie at 9 in Piccadilly. Claire and I got there a little early so we just hung out by the famous Eros statue. Big mistake. Valentines Day, two girls alone, is like an invitation for creepers to come talk to you. But we were in a very public place so it was harmless, just annoying. After two guys, one from Belfast and one named Mario. They wanted to come sightseeing with us... and asked for my number. Now, I am a fan of ridiculous stories so I thought it was pretty harmless. We wanted to see if he would actually try to go sightseeing with us. (He did not). They left and within 5 mins another guy came up to us who didn't speak english who wanted to take a picture with us. We declined and headed into the Cool Britannia for an escape from International Creepers of the World.

Stevie arrived, (she was also in London visiting other friends) and we headed to the Absolut Ice Bar. After checking in, and getting our parkas and gloves we went in. Totally ridiculous and cheesey, but it was fun to drink my Absolut Overboard out of an ice glass wearing a parka and gloves. We met a nice couple and exchanged photo taking. The bar was in an underwater theme (they change it every so often to keep up the hype). Everything was made of ice, but the imported Northern Sweden Glass was so smooth and clear, you would think it was fake. After our 40 minute time slot, it was a little chilly and we were glad to move into the Below Zero lounge for our chocolate truffles and Valentine's Day cocktail that was part of our reservation.

We must have a "We're Friendly" sign on our backs because we had a Turkish girl (from Berlin) come up and talk to us for about 15 minutes. She was a little intoxicated, which was blantantly obvious when she couldn't seem to master which one of us was Brittany, Claire, and Stevie. She kept calling Stevie Claire and vice versa. She loved us and told us she was going to come visit us in America. Finally her friend and a new Brazilian friend came and got her. The Brazilian guy stuck around to give us his life story about how he is going to Standford soon.

We finished our cocktails and decided to head home. We said goodbye to Stevie and took the tube home. Successful Day.

The Journey's Hostel earned some serious points for the steamy hot shower I had when I got home. I didn't bring my hair dryer (packing limitations) so I wanted my hair to dry overnight.

It was a great day.... favorite observations:

.Everyone calls you love.

.There were 3 redhead boys standing on the corner of Piccadilly Circus chanting "Gingers for Justice". So ridiculous. They reminded me of the Weasley boys (Harry Potter weekend I swear).

.Some of the London Police Cars are BMWs...reminded me of Need for Speed.

.There was a free Hugs Parade with young people dressed up in strange costumes.

.We didn't see any Mind the Gap signs but we did hear the multiple announcements when getting off the tube.

.We did a lot of jaywalking in London...not very good crosswalks.

.We almost got run over but some nice locals saved us.

We probably walked about 8 miles around London and climbed so many steps up and down the tube. Bed was very welcomed. Best Valentine's Day ever... gelato, ice bars, truffles, and a whole lot of wonderful things. And lots of people I love, miles away :)