Harrods, Last Day

Today's my last day in London. I can't believe 6 weeks have already passed. It's been a great experience and I will really miss London (London's definitely one of my favorite cities!). Even though I've hit up most of the museums and touristy places in London (except for the Science Museum and Tate Britain), I don't think I'll get bored if I were to stay in London for a much longer time. During this last week, I've been mainly walking around LSE and covent garden (somehow wandered to Primark three days in a row!) and hanging out with friends (went to Ciao Bella and The Angel, my favorite, cheap pub...I will miss you). After my final today, for my last touristy stop, I went to Harrods for some good old English Tea and crumpets at The Tea Room!

Inside an elevator. 

Vanilla Excellence (black tea with vanilla) Tea 

Crumpets + Scones (hiding in the background) + clotted cream + jams 

On the bus back to my dorm, I took so many pictures. I'll really miss London.

Dinner at Thai Square!

View from my dorm

Grant Museum of Zoology

Went to Primark today to buy a print backpack for only 9 pounds and an owl necklace for 2 pounds!! Also visited the Grant Museum of Zoology, a part of the University College of London. Only 5% of the total collection was on display at the museum, but I saw some cool specimens of both common and extinct species.

12 Upper Street. Home of Darwin. Now it houses the Darwin Building of UCL

Collection of brains and spinal cords

Elephant Skull

Room filled with microscope slides! 

Dissected cat

Skeleton of an anaconda 

Camden Market

Camden Market is one of the most popular open-air london markets! We planned on spending 3 hours there but ended up staying till 5:30pm! There were vendors who sold clothes, bags, souvenirs, all types of food, and crafts. It was so big and comprehensive that felt like I could have found everything I needed here. I really wish I had discovered this market sooner because I'd like to come again (but I'm leaving in less than a week :( !! )

Ended the night with some birthday drinks at a Mexican restaurant, Desperados, with some friends!

Changing of the guards, Harrods, Natural History Museum, Westfield Stratford City

Finally decided to go see the Changing of the Guards at the Buckingham Palace today. I wasn't really sure what was going on because I could barely see (I didn't even take these pictures - short person problems) but it was cool seeing the guards march with such precision. 

First wave of guards

second

third and on horses!

St. James's Park on the way to the palace. 

From Buckingham Palace, I walked to the Natural History Museum via Harrods. Because it is the summer holidays, many school-aged children were visiting the museum, and the place was packed. I think it was a really good museum for them because the exhibits were very interactive and colorful. But I found it to be too simple and did not enjoy it very much.

On my walk to the museum. According to my GoldenTours tour guide, this glass building is bullet/even nuclear attack proof by shutting itself down (idk how) in the event of an emergency. And the only people who live here are bankers. 

In the grocery hall of Harrods

Natural Science Museum

The Cell

The Darwin Center aka "Cacoon". My favorite exhibit of the museum.

The Darwin Center was 7 floors. The top three floors for open for visitors while the rest of the center contained labs for research! Very cool how these scientists work inside the museum.

For one exhibit in the Darwin Center, a scientist sorts through creatures under his microscope (there's a camera filming so that we can also see what he's looking at) while explaining everything he's doing and how to differentiate between species. There's also a mic for you to talk to the scientist and ask questions.

After the natural history museum, I was too tired to see the science museum. Instead, I went to Westfield Stratford City, a shopping mall, to meet up with my suitemate and her cousin. The mall had 4 floors and felt very open because of the amount of windows everywhere. We had some smoothies and watched The Wolverine. We finished the day off with some good old pizza at Pizza Express. It was a day well spent!

Covent Garden - Laduree

My friend from school visited me yesterday and I had my second fish and chips with her!

Today, during my break, I decided to seek out Laduree, a macaroons store recommended by a friend. I liked the macaroons, but they were 1.7 pounds each! Along the way, I explored Covent Garden.

Sand Rugby Match

Finally found the store!

Coffee and Pistachio

After my section, I saw the Admiralty Arch, walked around central London some more (I bought a Hong Kong waffle in Chinatown), and entered the National Gallery for the second time. Because I went with a friend who likes art history, I actually enjoyed seeing the paintings and learning about them! My new favorite paining is A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning by Rubens.