Two 16-year-olds Return to London, Part II
By Karishma and Kashmira Patel, 11th grade, March 9, 2004

Piccadilly Circus is never dull with the spectacular neon lights and crowded streets due to the great variety of cuisine and shops. The Quadrant is an architectural landmark where Regent Street leads into Piccadilly Circus. A neighbor of Piccadilly, Leicester Square, consists of stores, restaurants, movies, street acts, and of course, more neon signs.

London offers possibly the largest variety of food choices. Just a few are Polish, Asian, Indonesian, Jewish, Middle Eastern and Caribbean. Fish and chips is a favorite of both locals and tourists. A new favorite type of food for us is Lebanese food, which we enjoyed at Maroush, a restaurant in Leicester Square.

Madame Tussaud's wax museum is a very famous attraction, with life-size wax figures of many famous people, including Tom Cruise, Mozart, The Beatles, the British royal family, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., President Bush, and even Saddam Hussein!

Westminster Abbey is a church where royal weddings, funerals (13 kings are buried there), coronations, and other religious events take place. After deciding not to wait in line to go inside the church, we sat down and rested in the peaceful yard surrounding the church.

New York City's Times Square is similar to London's Trafalgar Square because they are both the center of Christmas and New Year's celebrations. Although we visited during the summer, it was still packed.

Almost everyone has heard of Monet and Van Gogh. At the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, there are numerous rooms filled with famous paintings by various artists. Claude-Oscar Monet's Water-Lily Pond and Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night were personal favorites. The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum holds pieces from several time periods, such as Medieval and Renaissance.
Neon lights, fish and chips, new (and somewhat questionable) fashion, and great ethnic diversity can only well-define one great city: London.

When traveling abroad, there's usually a language barrier. Just in case, here's a short list: