Windsor, Stonehenge, and Oxford

This week my friend and sorority sister Jill Molina came to visit me in London! She got in Tuesday night and then Wednesday we woke up at 6:00 in the morning to go on a bus tour of Windsor, Stonehenge, and Oxford. We had arranged the bus to pick us up at the Holiday Inn on Kings Cross Road which was the closest pick up stop to my apartment. The bus was supposed to pick us up at 7:45 and we got there about twenty minutes early. We waited around and when it did not come at 7:45 we called the bus company Evan Evan's bus tours and they told us to wait inside the hotel for our driver. So we went inside and waited 15 minutes past 7:45 and then we called again. They then told us that the bus was behind schedule and would not be able to pick us up so we were then told to take a cab to Victoria Station and they would reimburse us. So we got in cab with a VERY nice cab driver that told us different facts about London. & we got to drive past Buckingham Palace which was nice for Jill to see. We then got to Victoria Station and found where our bus was leaving from. Then Jill went to go get some food and while she was gone our driver came and told everyone to follow him to the bus so I had to go run and find Jill and then we had to search through all the buses to find the right bus. we finally found it and got on the RIGHT bus :) While we were driving up to Windsor our first stop, our driver went over the rules and one of the rules was if you are not back at the bus at the time he says then they will leave you behind. Then he told us how many people he had left behind this past year which was a scary amount of people. This made me very nervous because with my bad luck I figured I would be left behind at some point. haha. Once we got to Windsor we walked to the castle and took pictures and then walked around the town. We bought some candy at a little candy shop in the village and then went in and out of little stores. Lastly we went to the Drury House which is Windsors Oldest restaurant. It was built during the reign of King Charles I in 1645. It was originally built to house staff from Windsor Castle until it became the home of Nell Gwyn, Charles II's favorite mistress. A tunnel was built between the Drury House and the castle so the king could sneak over and have secret rendezvous with his mistress. But the tunnel is now closed for security reasons. The Drury House restaurant is so kute!! It has a homey feel and there was a fire going in the fire place and a little old man was running the restaurant. Jill and I had tea and scones for lunch and they were both amazing!! I recommend this place to anyone who travels to Windsor! After Windsor we drove an hour to Stonehenge. We were very lucky that the whole day it was sunny and blue skies instead of gray and rainy. I took a billion pictures at Stonehenge and it was just as interesting as I had remembered it. The only thing that is annoying about Stonehenge is that you get an audio tour guide but the whole time all the people are saying is no one knows why or how Stonehenge was built it is a mystery...so there is really no point to the audio tour guide. haha. After Stonehenge we went to Oxford. Our tour guide gave us a tour around Oxford and the different colleges in the area. We saw the place where Roweling picked what Harry Potter's scar would look like. She was walking around Oxford and was by the building where Oxford student's graduate. She looked down and there was a lightening bolt. This was the trademark for the architect for the building and she decided that is what Harry Potter's scar would be. It was cool. After the tour we had 40 minutes until we had to be back on the bus so Jill and I decided to go to the pub where C.S. Lewis and Tolkien used to talk and drink. We both got a beer and then sat in their favorite room and just hung out for a little while it was a really cool place! Then we got back to the bus && guess what!! We left two girls behind :( The driver and tour guide waited an extra five minutes for these two Chinese girls who were around Jill and my age and then left them in Oxford it was really scary and I am glad it did not happen to me! I hope they are okay and found a way to get back to London!! Then we drove back to London and the bus dropped us off at Euston train station and we walked back to my apartment. Jill and I cleaned up and then went to the Golden Hind for fish and chips and we met one of Jill's friends Luke who goes to AU and is studying in Brussels. After that we went to a pub in the area and had some brothers cider and hung out and talked. Around 11:00 we went back to my apartment because Jill had to wake up at 5:00 AM to catch her bus to the airport! It was a super fun week and tomorrow Veronica and Helen come to London!! So it should be a great rest of the week and weekend!!