This weekend my dad came to visit me from Friday until midday Sunday, and it was great to get a small taste of home. He stayed at a hotel within a 5-minute walk from my campus, so it was very easy meeting up with him. I first took him for a walk around Richmond Park, and I realized how I was already accustomed to seeing 100's of deer in a field at once, when it was amazing to him. We went into downtown Richmond so he could withdraw some money and we stopped at a small pub to get appetizers to hold us over until dinner. We decided to head into Central London later in the day, and ended up buying a 24-hour package for The Big Bus double decker tour of London.
It was a fast and convenient way to see as much of London as he could, since he was only here for a few days. The weather was perfect to sit on the open top, and we saw things like Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, and various cathedrals and significant government buildings. I kept the itinerary of the bus route as a souvenir. With this tour, you could get off the bus and walk around at any time, so we did that for Buckingham Palace so he could get a closer view of the guards and the front of the palace. We didn't get to see a changing of the guards, but it was cool to see people touring the palace, as it is open for this during a short period of time in September when the Queen is away. We came back to campus later in the evening and I took him across the street to the Lass to try the infamous England's fish & chips. I enjoyed some cheese croquets, which are like giant mozzerella sticks with onion flavoring in them.
On Saturday I had a full day planned for us, so we took the train to where Madame Tussaud's museum was. We had an appointment between 12 and 12:30, so we ate at a Panera-like cafe called Nero Cafe (it looks like the sign says 'Nerd Cafe' every time I read it.) We got in line shortly after for the museum, and I noticed there was a high population of Indians who did not like giving strangers their personal space in a crowd.
The wax museum was only the first part of Madame Tussaud's. We were able to see various celebrities in these wax sculptures such as Lady Gaga, Adele, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, David and Victoria Beckham, the Royal Family, Shakespeare and even Barack Obama. There was a walk-through haunted mansion afterwards, a short ride that described Britain's history, and finally a really cool 4-D movie. The place was a lot bigger and involved much more than I had expected I paid for, so I was glad.
Since the double decker bus tour was valid for 24 hours, we were able to hop on that right at Madame Tussaud's and take it to the remaining parts of the tour we hadn't had the chance to see on Friday. It worked out perfectly. We saw a lot of shopping plazas, and even drove past Harrod's that I would definitely want to go back to when it's lit up at Christmastime. We saw a park that has a Peter Pan statue in it, and the street where the creator of Peter Pan lived. We also saw Drury Lane, where the Muffin Man lives!
We got off on the stop for the London Eye, as that was the next thing on our to-do list for the day. I had bought the two attractions in a package to save money. We waited in line for that for around an hour, and the ride itself took around 35 minutes. It wasn't a sunny day, so the pictures had no glare, but it was difficult to see too far into the distance with the clouds. There was a wedding happening on the London Eye while we were on it, which is apparently a frequent occurrence. They are married at the top and then come down to have their friends and family on a boat cruise with them. It was pretty sweet to see.
When we headed back into Richmond, I took him to the Pizzeria Rustica that I had loved right outside of the train station. We split a pizza and he said he loved it just as much as I did!
We went for a walk Sunday morning before he had to leave at noon. Dad helped me sign up and pay for a gym membership at his hotel for 2 months, as a chance to get away from campus for a while and use a decent gym. I've figured out the size of the gym at this school is just about 10 lunges lengthwise, and maybe 6 lunges wide. It's not big. It consists of 2 ellipticals, 2 bikes, 2 treadmills, 2 rowing machines, and a few other weights. A bigger gym will definitely help me de-stress a bit better here, so I'm excited that that starts up this Monday, the 30th.
It was weird seeing my dad pack up, as it was comforting knowing a family member was just around the corner if I needed anything. He drove off in the bus to catch his flight, and I returned to studying for my week of quizzes, a final, and a presentation to finish off this first 3-week class. I wouldn't say it's flying by, but my somewhat busy schedule is certainly making it seem faster.
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