Thou legs shall become jacked.....

I. Love. This. City.

You can never run out of things to do! Everyday, I feel as if I discover totally new places, even after walking in the same areas. Whether you want to enjoy a nice brisk walk, a leisurely stroll through a park, take in a show, or visit historical sites, you will never be disappointed in London. Seriously. Come here. Now. If you don't love it, there is something wrong with you.

I have discovered over the past few days that even if you plan a route and plan to visit specific places, you often wind up visiting 4 times as many places, which you just happen upon along the way! I love my 5 mile walks in London- not only are they great exercise, but I get to see so much!

In order to avoid staying in my flat, reading about "Nature" and "Museums of London" for my classes, I decided to experience them. I spent these two days on my own. While all my friends were reading, I explored. You can learn so much more by doing something, rather than by reading it. So here is my fun-filled weekend, spent with the one, the only, ME!

Saturday:

The mission: Be able to check off the last few destinations in Royal London suggested to me by my Fodor's London book.

The Main Attractions: Walk to Westminster via Golden Jubilee Bridges, tour Banqueting House (aka- £4 for one room and a movie), see the Cenotaph (which honors departed British soldiers), walk towards Buckingham Place via St. James's Park, snap better pictures of the Victoria Monument and the Palace (sans thousands of tourists), walk back to Big Ben via Birdcage Walk and see the Wellington Barracks, then return to the flat via Westminster Bridge and South Bank.

The Outcome: Success!!- with added diversions! I ended up getting near my flat right around sunset, when I realized that if I backtracked to Waterloo Bridge, I could get some great shots!

Banqueting House

Buckingham Palace + Sun + Blue Skys - Tourists Everywhere = Perfect Picture!

Sunset from South Bank side of Waterloo Bridge, right next to my flat

Sunday:

The Mission: Walk South Bank towards the East to Tower Bridge

The Main Attractions: See Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe, walk on Tower Bridge.

The Outcome: Success, and then some!! End up seeing sand art near the National Theater on the banks of the Thames, go inside Southwark Cathedral and discover mass is going on, get treated to a free concert in said Cathedral, see Tate Modern, Millennium Bridge, Shakespeare's Globe, Hay's Galleria, HMS Belfast, walk over Tower Bridge, climb The Monument (A tribute to the Great Fire of 1666), walk along North Bank, walk back to South Bank via Millennium Bridge, see OXO tower up close at night.

Random Sand Art along the Thames, only to be washed away 1 hour later with the incoming tide

Shakespeare's Globe

Iconic

Tower Bridge

"The Monument"- yeah, I climbed EVERY ONE of those 311 dizzying spiral steps... worth it for the view, but I will never do it again!

Me on Millennium Bridge (with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background) attempting to look British....