The next morning (December 22) I got up pretty late (since I had gone to bed late). D and I spent a fair bit of time trying to get a hold of Air Canada and the Canadian High Commission, but we couldn’t get a hold of anyone. Not even when we tried the French lines or the ones to complain about the clubbing of baby seals. We had been trying to get a hold of someone because we had been seeing reports about people stuck outside of Heathrow and we were wondering if there was anything we could do to help.
Just before I headed out for the day, I went to pick up some groceries for the corner store so that we could start making our Christmas dinner. Then I got on the tube and headed to Harrods because I wanted to see it. I went in for all of about 3 minutes before I decided that I couldn’t stand it (there was a bit of a Christmas shopping rush), so I left right away. I looked around a few other stores and then went towards Piccadilly Circus.
Looking towards Harrods.
I found a Cinnabon there (it was nice to have a cinnamon bun that reminded me of home), and a little Panda shop where I bought a cute little button for my backpack. Then I just started walking. I got all the way to Oxford Street, and walked up and down it, popping into lots of different shops and hoping I could find myself a Christmas present because I thought the only present I would be getting would be whatever I bought for myself. I didn’t find anything I wanted though.
The panda shop!
My backpack buttons!
As I was walking around, I ended up talking to one of my English friends on the phone, and he apologized on behalf of his country for me not being able to get home. After that I decided that I really needed to find some food, so I kept walking and eventually grabbed a sandwich at a grocery store. I also happened upon the Canadian High Commission, so I made sure to hop up on the step so that I could say that I went to Canada over Christmas (because the building is technically Canadian soil). I took the tube home and I was lucky enough to get a ride from the station to the house from G. By that time it was fairly late, and the rest of the night I just took it easy.
The Canadian High Commission (it was hard to take a photo in the dark!).
The next morning (December 23), I decided I needed to do something touristy, so I got up and headed towards the Tower of London. I had a hard time deciding whether or not I wanted to go in because it was pretty expensive, but in the end I decided that I needed to go in since I was already there, and I had to do something touristy while I was in London. First I got some fish and chips though, then I got my ticket and went in.
Entrance to the Tower.
I really enjoyed it. I saw displays of what the Tower would have been like in medieval times and I thought it was really neat to see the rooms where the prisoners had carved graffiti into the walls (some of which was very elaborate). I also saw the crown jewels, and read the story about the biggest diamond in the world.
View of the bridge from the Tower.
Some of the graffiti carved into one of the walls.
I was sure that the huge black crows (ravens?) were going to eat the tiny little bird in the bottom right corner.
Some of the armour on display.
After the Tower of London (and the view of the Tower Bridge), I got back on the tube and headed off to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. It was just starting to get dark as I got there, but I got a pretty great view of the parliament buildings, the London Eye, Big Ben and Westminster. The Abbey was really expensive (and I think it may have been closed at that point anyway), so I only went into their gift shop.
The London Eye.
Parliament.
Big Ben.
Back of Westminster.
I had to hurry home since there wasn’t much time before we were supposed to leave to go to the concert we had tickets to, but I made sure to quickly buy myself a Christmas stocking on the way home. I got changed quickly, and D, her parents and I headed off to Barbican Hall.
We had to drive to the tube station, and the traffic was horrendous! D had to let us out and then turn around to get out of the traffic while we waited for the train. When we finally got onto the train, it went just past the first station, and then it came to a full stop and just sat there for ages because of “delays”. It was infuriating, and we were sure we would be late for the concert.
Luckily, we got to Barbican Hall on time, and we had good seats. The concert was splendid. The orchestra was lovely, and the choir sang beautifully. All of the songs they did were Christmas songs, and for some of the carols, the audience was able to join in as well. It was really fun to sing the Christmas carols, and the sound of all the hundreds of people singing the songs was quite powerful. The children’s choir sang beautifully, but I thought they deserved a little more solo time, and the tenor had a brilliant voice. It was a great concert.
The concert hall had fantastic acoustics and felt very open and spacious.
In the lobby.
Next - an unexpected very Merry Christmas!
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