It was my parents who woke us up the next day. Breakfast was included at the hotel, so we had to get a move on if we wanted to make it in time. Claire was quiet, indicating that she wasn't a morning person.
My mother was talking up a storm as she read off of the brochures and told us what we were going to do. "Ms. Hopkins rented us a car to use for the day, but we'll still be walking a whole lot," she told everyone at the table.
She kept going on and on about the monuments and attractions and walking. I was quiet for the most part as I was trying to eat my breakfast as fast as I could. I wanted to see everything, and I wanted to see it now.
"Where do you want to go first?" my mother asked us. Everyone stayed quiet. I turned to Claire who was eating her waffle in silence. "What do you want to do, Claire?" I asked, taking a bite of my bagel.
Claire looked up. She flushed when she realized that everyone was looking at her. "Oh, what is there to offer?" she asked. We all stared her down, especially my mother. She had just gone over almost everything, and Claire was asking for a repeat.
My mother didn't argue even though her face said otherwise. "Well there's the Saint Paul's Cathedral, and there's shops we can scroll through," my mother gave examples. "Oh, we should shop last," I suggested. My parents nodded.
"Anything sound good with you, Claire?" my mother asked. Claire stared down at her breakfast. "You only named one thing," she stated. Silence filled the space. I spoke up, turning to my parents, "I think we should drive around and look at everything first."
"Great idea," my father agreed, "We can walk around after we get a good feel of the place." We all smiled in return.
***
The car was a struggle at first. My mother was on the wheel, and my father's face was white for the first thirty minutes. The United Kingdom's rules of the road was completely opposite from our own. Claire had made small jokes of my mother killing us, but there was no complaining after she got the hang of it.
I kept my eyes to the window. The city was bustling with people from all walks of life, and I couldn't help but smile at all the beauty around me. I wanted to say something, to express the feelings and atmosphere, but no words escaped my lips.
Suddenly, my mother spoke. "Hey look kids, there's Big Ben, and there's Parliament!" I looked to the towering structure before me, awed in silence. My parents laughed together like they were in on some joke. It was then that I realized that we were going in circles. "Hey look kids, there's Big Ben, and there's Parliament!" my mother repeated as we came back to the building. My father and mother laughed again. I gave them a confused look.
"What are you doing?" I asked, but they didn't hear me. I noticed that Claire's arms were folded. The couple laughed for another minute or so before finally stopping the charades on the third go around.
My mother pulled into traffic, leaving Big Ben and Parliament. "Good times," she said, smiling from her work. "When was that, 1985?" my father asked. They laughed together once more. I gave them a confused look, but I decided it was best not to understand.
After about an hour of exploring, we decided to park the car. The streets were alike to the roads. Everyone was everywhere, and I felt like I was pushing through tight corners and spaces to move around the swarm. I became nervous every three seconds when I couldn't find my family over the flow. Thankfully, they weren't too far ahead, and everyone prefered to stay around me as well...you know.
It was almost impossible to look at everything at once. Not only was I fascinated by the structures and monuments, but I was intrigued by the diversity of people and their creativity that showed. The London citizens had every fashion sense from chic to casual. I wanted to go to each and every person and ask them where they bought their attire. Of course, that was also impossible as everyone was in a rush to be somewhere, and I felt like I was bothering them. Tourist were bad enough, right?
When it started raining, I felt like a fool. Umbrellas of all shades covered the population, making it obvious that we were not from around the area. We decided to stop for food as it was dry and comfortable inside.
"Fish, fish, and more fish," I observed. "What did you expect?" my mother asked. I shrugged. "I saw a Chinese place across the street," Claire stated. I admired the cultural variety. "I don't mind fish and chips," I said, "Come on. Let's enjoy London for its roots."
Claire sighed. "Fine. Fish and chips around the table," she said. Her voice was emotionless. I tried not to think about it.
The deep fried food was nothing short of perfect. We chatted at our table for an hour or so before finally finishing our meal. By the time we were done with our lunch, the rain had stopped.
Open markets began their normal pace once more now that the sun was shining brightly on the newly washed pavement. People were rushing to shops and buildings like normal. My legs felt refreshed from the recent break, and I started talking fast.
"Let's go see the Trooping of the Colour!" I practically demanded. "No!" I changed, "Let's go to the Saint Paul's Cathedral! Royals get married there!" I gasped, "I want to get married there!" I held to Claire and my parents. "Let's get married at Saint Paul's Cathedral!" I yelled in excitement.
"Calm down, Keira. We're going to see everything," my mother assured. "And you're not getting married so long as I'm around," my father declared. We laughed.
"This is the Buckingham Palace, residence of her majesty, the Queen," the tour guide informed, pointing to the building behind her. Everyone looked in awe as they snapped pictures.
The palace reminded me of the White House. It was a horizontal structure that was white, and it had many, many windows. Columns were on the left, right, and center of the Queen's home. The flag of the United Kingdom was on top of the building, waving to us as we watched in the London double decker.
After a few minutes of her adding information, the tour guide finally said, "Next stop is Shakespeare's Globe. First, we take a small break, so you can go to the restroom or do other necessities. If you'd like to stop the tour, please leave the bus at our break."
I leaned over to Claire. "Do you want to ditch this tour?" I asked. "I'd really like to see the Bloody Tower," Claire told me. I took that as a yes. I leaned over to my mother. "Mom," I whispered, "Claire and I want to get off the tour at the stop and see the Bloody Tower."
She nodded. "Okay," she replied, and then she leaned over to my father.
***
The Bloody Tower had an unsettling vibe to it. History of blood and bone seeped through the walls. I dared not to touch the rough brick as we entered. Claire seemed to be fascinated, admiring everything around her.
We took a tour guide around the area. She was full of information, and it was hard to keep up. "Royals were sent here to be executed," I remembered her saying at the beginning, "Talk about Royal Pain." A few people chuckled at her joke. "Thankfully, hanging has been illegal in the UK since 1960," she informed.
I muted out the tour guide since she would go on and on. I leaned over to Claire. "Having fun?" I asked. She shrugged. "It's a great opportunity," she replied coolly. I gave her a frowned face. "You said that already," I told her. She shrugged again.
***
When the tour was over, we walked and drove around London once more. After we ate another round of fish and chips for dinner, we decided to go to Harrods for our final destination as the time was getting late.
Harrods was a mall that belonged to itself. There was no other like it, and when we came upon the mall, I realized that it wasn't called the largest mall in the world for nothing.
The exterior was tall, exceedingly so, that Dr. Helminstein would feel ashamed to even be in its presence. Seven floors did the beast stand, and the brochures added a touch with saying, "The Harrods mall has over 330 departments for the luxury of all people."
Since night was approaching, Harrods was shining brightly from left to right, top to bottom. The mall wanted people to know that it was there, to acknowledge its existence as we were now.
As we entered, I gasped at the interior. Depending on which door one takes, they would experience a completely different design. We entered through Door 2 (on the Ground Floor of course), so we entered the men's department.
The area was spaced out nicely and evenly. Nothing was out of place or from the looks of it, out of stock. The wooden floors shined brightly below us as though they had never experienced a dirty day. Racks of different clothing items were neatly organized, and there was enough room in each aisle that many people could fit in between for their wants and needs.
The space was a brilliant idea as there were so many people inside. Of course, that shouldn't have been a surprise as almost everywhere was bustling. My father came up to a rack with a happy expression, but my mother pulled him away like a child. "We'll come back to it when we're leaving," she promised.
We explored around the stretch of mall. Of course, we couldn't see everything, but we did our best. Claire wanted us to go off, but I kept her near me and my parents. I admired every department, and I was happy to know that my parents were having a great time too. We should have done this sooner.
We stayed all the way to closing time, which was 9:00 p.m. My legs were sore from all the walking even though I had taken breaks every thirty minutes or so. We took the car back home, and I roughed through getting to my bedroom.
I slammed down on the beautiful velvet blankets. I would miss them dearly. "Did you have fun?" I asked. "Sure," Claire said, but she didn't seem convincing. "Can I have some pills now?" she asked. A burning sensation filled me.
I turned to her. "Are you serious?!" I practically yelled at her. Claire gave me a confused expression, but she didn't say anything. "You are in London, Claire. London. Do the pills control your life so much so that you can't enjoy a vacation?!" I asked, clearly expressing my anger.
She turned over, so she wasn't facing me. That increased my rage. "The entire day, you seemed like you didn't care. How does that look on me, to my family? If you didn't want to come, you should have just said so," I told her.
I sighed, rolling over not to face her. The conversation was over, if you would call it that. The anger was still there, but it subsided enough for me to fall asleep.