Journal-Week Four
July 4th, 2009
Wow...I'm in my last week in Europe. Wait...isn't there something important happening in the USA?? What is it?? Oh right...Happy 4th of July! It's weird being in Beligum. We woke up this morning and went to breakfast in the breakfast room at the hotel. Then we went to some shops we saw last night that looked neat. Then we walked around Brugge for awhile then went to the Chocolate Muesum! It wasn't quite as interesting as it sounds. We walked around the rooms full of signs with facts about when chocolate was brought certain places and other stuff like that. At the end of the muesum there was a man showing how they make chocolate with things in the middle. After the muesum my mom and sister wanted to get dressed up for a boat ride. So we went back to the hotel and then went out to the docks where we had seen some boat tours. The boats had already done their last tour for the night and so we went to look for somewhere to eat. We stumbled upon a little place with a neat fountain in the front. As we were eating a marching band marched by. We finished dinner then went to where we thought they had gone. On our way, we saw some street performers who would do something if you put some money in a bucket. We let another person do it first then my mom put some money in. It was weird. Then we went to the place where the concert was last night. There were alot of bands there. After the bands played a few songs went back to the hotel. Then we hit the hay.
July 5th, 2009
We got up again this morning and went to have breakfast. After breakfast we went back to the dock and got on a boat. After the boat we went to a little market that had some cool stuff. After we looked around for a while we went through a beautiful garden. After that we walked around the middle of Brugge before getting on a train to Brussels. After we got to Brussels we got on a train going back to London. It was pretty late when we got home and we went to bed pretty soon after we got back. Sorry today wasn't very exciting.
July 6th, 2009
Today we're going tower seeing! We're going to the Tower of London (known from chopping of people's heads) and the Tower Bridge (often confused with the London Bridge). The Tower of London is really a huge castle. There are guided tours for free that show you around the grounds of the castle. Then we went to the Tower Bridge, which oddly enough is a bridge with towers on it. Never would have guessed that would you? There's a muesum in the towers that we went in. We learned alot about the Tower Bridge. After the bridge we went to St. Paul's Cathedral which is even bigger than Westminster Abbey. We walked up to the very top of the cathedral. I didn't feel very good when we got to the top because all the stairs were in a narrow spiral staircase and I had an empty stomach. Once we got down we went to Pizza Express which is across the street. Catherine and I ate part of a pizza and my mom ate part of her own. The extra slices we gave to my dad when he got home from work. After Pizza Express we went home on the tube. I workedon the blog a bit then read in my room.
July 7th, 2009
Today is offically our Harry Potter Day. I worked on the blog alot this morning then we went to King's Cross Station. We wanted to see Platform 9 and 3/4 from the books and movies. For non-Harry Potter fans-Harry and his friends go through a pole to get to Platform 9 and 3/4 where they take the train to Hogwarts (their wizard school). There's actually a trolley (cart) crashed into the wall below the sign. You can put your stuff in it and then act like you're pushing it in. It makes more sense if you look at the pictures. It was really fun. We went home and chilled before getting ready for the World Premiere of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Movie. Not that we were getting to watch it or anything. This was the premiere with the stars. Emma Watson (Hermione), Rupert Grint (Ron) and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) were all there with the rest of the cast and author J.K. Rowling. There was a huge screen outside the gates of the red carpet that you could watch the interviews on. It was amazing. I saw the guys that play Hagrid and Dumbledore! My sister was getting bored so she and my dad went and sat down at a Ben & Jerry's (Ben & Jerry's is really popular here) while my mum and I stayed around hoping to catch another glimpse of someone famous. We went to one place to look at something and who comes up on the red carpet one yard away from us? Daniel Radcliffe! As in the person who plays Harry Potter in all the movies! I could have thrown a rock at him and hit him. I didn't do that though. I think I would be sitting in jail now if I did. It was amazing. We walked over to Ben & Jerry's and got some ice cream as Mum and I shared our experiences with Dad and sis.
I'm still amazed at the dedication fans have for Harry Potter. I and loads of other fans stood in the pouring rain to see the stars walk in the theartre. There's something special about Harry Potter that makes people want to do something like that. That's the true magic of Harry Potter.
Anyway...we walked to the tube station and took the tube home. By the time we climbed the stairs up to our flat our feet were soaked and our brains were still trying to let what just happened soak into our minds. It was an amazing day, like all my days in London, amazing...
July 8th, 2009
Today we are going to...drumroll please...boom, boom, boom...Stongehenge! You know, the ancient (actually 3,000 years Before Christ) rocks that are huge and on top of each other. My mum, sister and I are taking the train from London to Salisbury which is a town 30 minutes away from Stonehenge. We arrived in the Salisbury train station in good time and took a tour bus to Stonehenge. The bus was a double decker and we sat in front at the top. As we moved closer to the mysterios rocks the driver told us more about how the rocks came to be. No knows exactly how because they were there before machinary, electricity or Christ! The heaviest rocks weighs in at 45 tons, the weight of 7 elephants! I really can't put into words how amazing m first look at the rocks was. We got out of the bus and our bus ticket also included addmission to Stonehenge. We got these audio guides that were free and went up the path way to the amazing stones.
A Quick Guide to Stonehenge! We took tons of pics so take a minute to look at them! We stayed there for about 45 minutes then got back on the bus and went back into town. We found a place to eat then after we finished we went to the train station and got on the train going back to London. We got home, had dinner, and told my dad about all our adventures. Today I took lots of pics so check them out!
July 9th, 2009
Today is my last full day here! This morning my mum, sister and I went to Betty Blythe like we did our first morning. Then we went back to Leicester Square (where the Harry Potter premiere was) to get tickets for my mum and Catherine to see Grease tonight. We got the tickets from one of those little booths that are all over London. Then we went back to Harrod's to get some things and soak in the magic of Harrod's once again. After Harrod's we went to Trafalga (did I spell that right?) Square to see this living art display. 2,400 people were chosen to stay on a concrete block in the Square for an hour. They can do what ever they want. The guy we saw was in a gorilla suit with a bubble machine and throwing banana peels at people. It was strange. They have enough people for 24 hours a day for 100 days, which is happening. It started last Monday and they did a newspaper article in the London Evening Standard about the woman that did the first hour. After we watched for awhile we went to Hammersmith station to get some McDonald's. Hammersmith tube station is huge! It was like 15 stores and a Tesco Express (smaller Tesco). After that we went to a little store to get some stuff...then we went home and chilled. My dad came home then went to get himself and my mum some Indian take away. After dinner my sis and Mum went to the show and Dad and I just hung out around the flat. I turned on the telly and watched a show called How the Celts saved Britain. The show didn't really have an ending...I think it's a series. Then my dad went out to Olympia Mini-Super and got a little tub of Ben & Jerry's and brought it home. I struggled to scoop some ice cream out of the tub. It was delicoioso! Then I watched a little more TV . Then Mum and Cath came home and we went to bed.
July 10th, 2009
TODAY I'M LEAVING!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I'm sad that I'm leaving...but I'm happy I'm coming back to Richmond. Anyway, I woke up this morning and came and I'm writing the blog. Our flight is at 4:00pm tonight. Well nothing else to write about now...I'll tell you all about my flight once I'm in Richmond...
Well thanks for reading about my life in England! I loved getting messages and e-mails from you! Well this is really it...I won't be writing any more about London. But check in on the website every few years. You may find something new that I've added or an old picture of London I found. I'm excited to see you guys again and trust me, I'll have many more stories to tell.
-Kenna Brady
This journal was finished at 10:21:10 Greenwich
Mean Time on July 10th, 2009.