Honestly, I don't mind the gap so much. It's not so bad.

On June 1st my friends Kelsey, Bianca, and I flew off to London for five days.  Kelsey left for home from there on the 5th and back in April was looking for people to accompany her in England, and I quickly jumped on that trip because I had been planning to go there all semester.  Her parents had given her their hotel points for her birthday, so we got to stay in the Marriott at Gatwick Airport in big comfy hotel beds, a 40-min train ride from the city.  Our first day there was a stereotypical rainy London afternoon.  We walked from Victoria Station past Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and Parliament and did a circuit on the London Eye, a colossal ferris wheel on the Thames that I'm sure would have offered a great view had it not been raining.

This is the London Eye, photo taken on a nicer day:

That night we had fish and chips and beer at a pub just to say we did.  It wasn't great.

We had been advised by the customs officer at the airport to do the classic double-decker bus tour, so the next day we did just that.  Our guides were great and very informative, and despite that touristy vibe I'm sure this has it really was a great way to see the city.

We got off at the Tower of London.  The Tower of London isn't really a tower, but a fortress/castle/jail on the Thames.  I approve!

Inside they had armor and such from all the monarchs that lived there and a few preserved rooms.  The Crown Jewels are also on display there.  Continuing my tendency of being in cities on really important dates, that day (June 2) was the anniversary of the Queen's coronation, and while we were on the bus we'd observed a cannon salute along the river.  Before entering the jewels' vault, we saw the end of the changing of the guards there, and watched a platoon of heavily armed guards enter the building.  While we were inside, we couldn't spot any of them.  Nice job, guys.

Our bus ticket came with a boat ride, so we took a cruise back down the Thames to the Westminster area.  Our guide was great once again.  We ate dinner (London doesn't really have a cuisine proper, so I had a giant plate of nachos), and wandered in Green Park before returning to Gatwick.

The next day we took the train to Greenwich and visited the Maritime Museum and Prime Meridian.  The museum was very interesting, and it was neat to stand on the halfway point of the world, although they could have painted any old line they wanted and we wouldn't have known.

The others wanted to visit Wimbledon in our evening, and while I don't think we ever found the actual tennis courts we had a nice time wandering the park.

The next day we went to Westminster Abbey.  I've seen a lot of churches this semester, as you know, but I was absolutely blown away by the abbey.  Somehow the Anglicans have managed to out-church the Pope.  The abbey is grand and massive with stained glass windows (Italy doesn't do the stained-glass thing so much), and there's a grave or monument to virtually every member of every royal family and every important figure in English history.  The whole church is filled to the point of clutter with statues and tombs and the effect is quite overwhelming.

On the way there we caught the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.  At least I caught it, because there was a substantial crowd and my friends are both rather short.

After putzing around on the banks of the Thames for a few hours and exploring a great nearby market, it was time for the highlight of the trip.  We had reserved tickets to see Macbeth at the Globe Theatre and we were not prepared for the production they had in store for us.  First of all, we had "groundling" tickets, which means we spent the three hours standing in the pit in front of the stage.  Over the pit was a black tarp at about shoulder-level, with holes for the audience to stick their heads through.

Before the play began, the witch-sisters central to the plot- pale-white and covered in cuts and blood for this gruesome interpretation- snuck around underneath creeping up on people and grabbing them, causing quite a commotion as people glanced under the tarp to figure out what was happening.  Throughout the play, actors descending into the trap to exit stage, bloody figures popped out of it wailing, and fake blood/urine/gore was ejected onto it.  The whole production was eerie and hilarious and absolutely amazing.  You can read a review I like here from the Official London Theatre Guide with two good photos.

The next day both my friends left, one for America and the other for Bologna.  My train to Paris was that evening, so I spent theday at the London zoo.  Most zoos are disappointing, and you end up looking for the animal in each habitat Where's-Waldo style (At the DC zoo last fall, I couldn't see the elephants in the elephant area.  How do you hide elephants?), but the animals here were quite social.

Afterwards I went to St. Pancras, the station in honor of the only saint other than St. Kidney of Lungberg to be named after an organ, and took the train through the Channel to Paris.