hey kids, i'm in london!

ok, i lied. i'm actually staying with my cousin belinda about 1hr and a half outside of london. we're in maidenhead, berkshire, about 5 mins from windsor, where the queen lives...and Eaton, where prince william and prince henry went to school! we're actually going to get ready to go sightseeing around windsor today, and then before we leave tonight, head back to london to see westminister abbey.

i'm still reeling from taking in yesterday's sights. we went to buckingham palace to see the changing of the guard...unfortunately, there was so many people gathered around, amelia, grace and i went across to the park and i stood on the gate surrounding the park. afterwards we went to see the tower of london, where the crown jewels were being displayed. they are simply breathtaking, the amount of jewels on these crowns and sceptres and even the gold plates....incredible.

and then in the afternoon, we went back to london, to st. pauls cathedrale where princess diana was married, and then we walked around the picadilly, the strand, and regent st. in the evening after my sister and i came out of "the phantom of the opera." let me take this moment to say how glad i am that we caught a show in london. we've seen phantom of the opera before in toronto, and we've even seen the movie when it came out, but it just seems 10 times more fantastic in the london showing. the girl singing as christine was incredible, as was the guy who sang as raoul. i think amelia and i have decided that the role of the phantom is really hard, because the guy who sang for him wasn't and won't ever be as good as the original, michael crawford.

we even went to this crazy multiplex centre, the trocadero, where we were able to shop until almost 11:30pm, where afterwards when we were on our way out of london, we passed by harrods, which was lit up in bright white lights, and i was able to snap a photo literally 30 seconds before midnight when they turned off all the lights!

karina is also currently in london, and we've been trying to meet up. since i only have today left, i suppose it's now or never! hahaha. london is very nice, i like it...but i think i like france a lot more...i think i like their style and culture a lot more!

oh yes, incase you all haven't gathered, my whole plan to meet up with my sister in paris, gare du nord station was a complete success! i really did worry about her friday morning in class, and the amount of relief i felt (as well as her, because she thought we'd be there by 1:30pm but we showed up about an hour later) when i spotted her in the station was just unbelivable. she brought with her my hair dryer!! yay, now i can have straight hair again, hahaha. i brought my hair gel for the specific purpose of when i didn't have time to blow dry my hair...but seeing as i had forgotten it at home, i pretty much had crazy wavy hair for most of the trip. hahahaha.

belinda is the best hostess ever. i haven't had to look at a map since i've come here. we get up in the mornings, pile into her car, and she takes us into london and drops us off infront of a landmark and waits for us to finish (she entertains a lot of people in london so she does this often.) since she's lived here for 15 years, she knows all the streets to take, and she's very informed with the sightseeing in london. and she does this all with a british accent! when i have more time, i will list a bunch of cultural difference i see in london from north america. as for now, i need to get dressed to see the queen! ;p