Whirlwind Weekend in London

Last weekend Ben and I hopped an EasyJet flight to London and an incredible couple of days. Here are some of the highlights:

Sometimes you just gotta be a little touristy. #noshame

• Staying with my aunt at her awesome flat in Paddington
• All obligatory sightseeing: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, etc. etc. 
• British Museum: whaddup Rosetta Stone
• Churchill's War Rooms: This was REALLY cool. The exhibit was the actual building (basement) from which Churchill commanded his military during WWII. Lots of rooms were shown exactly as they were left when the cabinet picked up everything and abandoned the war rooms upon the Japanese surrender at the end of August, 1945. For example, oxygen masks that were sitting on tables in the rooms in the exhibit were the same ones that cabinet members carried around during the war and then left in the War Rooms. It was a history major's paradise, especially as it provided an opportunity to explore the ways in which Europe looks at WWII, as compared to the American perspective. One of my courses at the University of Fribourg is also about WWI and WWII (and how Europeans essentially see it as one huge war - a civil war between the European states), so this also brought an interesting perspective to my interpretation of the War Rooms museum.  
• Open air market at Portobello - lots of fun vendors!
• Fish and chips. yum
• Bike tour of the East End - another historical gallery. Biking through the streets that inspired so many authors and filmmakers was REALLY cool. I felt very Oliver Twist-ish. The bike tour also went to Brick Lane, where we at DELICIOUS ethnic foods (very lacking in Switzerland) and walked around.
• Catching up with my cousins at some fun British pubs - shout out to Mats and Patrik. 
• Clubbing with the one and only Ketch Cowan, ski teammate studying in London this semester, and meeting his cool friends
• Double decker buses. Also obligatory.

It was so much fun to see a big city because it was fun and happening while maintaining the European flare. It was definitely refreshing to spend the weekend in an Anglophone culture where shops are open past 7pm - but at the same time this made me appreciate Fribourg and the rolling hills of Switzerland even more. I was very happy to be back at the end of the weekend!

Spark Notes: YOL(ondon)O