ENGLAND: LONDON
Ello there loves! I went to London, England this weekend, and it was amazing! We had a late flight on Thursday night, so we didn't end up landing at the London Stansted airport until a little before midnight. Lesson One: Do not book at London Stansted Airport. It was an hour outside the center of London and transportation was limited, and extremely expensive. Lesson Two: Sometimes, booking the cheaper flight isn't always the best option. The flights roundtrip into Stansted were less than £60 so we couldn't pass up the price. But now, looking back on the extra money and time we spent on traveling to and from the airport, it evens out.
We luckily found an Uber and took it to the Airbnb we were staying at for the weekend. There were 7 of us sleeping there, but it was the perfect size. The only downside was there was no hot water, the Wi-Fi wasn't working until our last night there, and there were only 3 working outlets. Lesson Three: Bring the right adapter and charger. I don't know how I slipped up, but I only brought an EU adapter, so I wasn't able to charge anything. We made it work and ended up sharing an adapter together (while blowing a fuse in the process).
It was 2am at this point, and we were starving! Thankfully, there was a pizza delivery place nearby called Top's Pizza, and we ordered 2 Margherita pizzas. I can't decide if these were the best pizzas we've ever had or if we were all starving.
But, 9 minutes later, they were demolished. So, you be the judge!
The next morning, we woke up at 8am to start our packed day of attractions. First on the list, Big Ben and the London Eye! We had a very tight schedule, so we didn't have time to go up it, but, across the river, was Big Ben. When I turned the corner and saw Big Ben, I thought, "That's it?" But, the closer I got, it really was a cool thing to see.
It also chimed a couple times we were walking by it and taking pictures too!
After, we walked to a telephone booth to take a few necessary photos.
We then walked to a nearby coffee shop to get a quick breakfast before we made it to our second attraction, Buckingham Palace! We got there at 10am so we could have a good spot before the Changing of the Guards ceremony.
I guess a lot of people had the same idea that we did because it was extremely crowded. But, by some miracle, we had the perfect spot: front row, right in front of the palace. We couldn't see inside the gates for the physical changing of the guards, but we got to see the soldiers, band, and horses loop around the castle, which was just as good.
Seeing all the horses and soldiers walk by was something that I wasn't used to. It's crazy how you see it a million times in movies and TV shows and then seeing it with your own eyes is a different feeling. This was one of my top favorite moments from the trip!
We left the ceremony a few minutes early, to miss the crowd and started the trek to a well known store in London called Harrods. Since our phones didn't get to charge the night before, we were all in desperate need of portable chargers and plugs. The only good news about buying a new plug is that I can use it again when I visit Ireland in a few weeks! While on the way, we stumbled into a souvenir shop and, of course, I got another pin.
On the way, we kept passing by bakery after bakery. Everything looked so good, I wanted to buy the whole store! I really wanted to try the raspberry macaron, but we kept saying that we would keep passing bakeries, and we could get one later. I should've taken the chance because we never ended up making it to one.
After Harrods, The house where Elizabeth Banks from The Parent Trap lives was nearby and if you know me, you know that I love that movie. So, naturally, I had to see it. As expected, it was underwhelming, but still, I needed to see it with my own eyes.
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This was the only picture I got of the house. But check out my TikTok to see Liv and I recreate the iconic handshake;) |
Once we left the house, we walked past the Victoria & Albert museum and found out it was free admission. We quickly ran inside to walk around and see the different exhibits. I'm not the biggest history person, but it was nice to walk around for a bit and get out of the wind.
Next, we walked through Hyde Park. I think it would've been a lot prettier if it was later in the year. On our way there, we tried to stop somewhere for classic fish and chips, but their credit card machine wasn't working, and we didn't have any pounds to use. Unfortunately, the only other option was pizza... again. After, we walked to Notting Hill.
I've never watched the movie with Julia Roberts, but after walking around the area, it's on my list. On our way out of Notting Hill, we got cinnamon rolls at Buns From Home and they were perfect.
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| Berries and cream cinnamon roll! |
We took the Tube (the metro) to King's Crossing, so Leah could see the 9 3/4 platform from Harry Potter. While she was doing that, I was trying to find an outlet. I was almost out of luck, until an older couple sitting at a booth offered me to sit with them, so I could charge my phone. I took their offer and ended sparking up a conversation with them. They were a Scottish couple who show and judge dogs. Turns out, they have 14 basset hounds, and they live in the house! It was hard to talk about anything else but the dogs, and I'm almost positive I saw a photo of each one. We also discussed Braveheart, the history of Scotland, and Loch Ness (and the monster, of course). They were so sweet and who knew that something so simple could be one of my favorite parts of the trip!
Once Leah and Keaton got their pictures at the platform, we went and did something else Harry Potter inspired: making "potions" at The Cauldron. The Cauldron is a little bar where you make drinks at a table that are supposed to resemble potions. I'm not the biggest Harry Potter fan, but it was a 10/10.
I had the best time making the drinks and I sat and talked with Keaton, Liv, Leah, Claire, and Amelia.
Later, we walked across the street and got more cheap pizza for dinner, before heading home and going to bed after the long day.
The next morning, we woke up early again and started our day at Borough Market. There were little shops and stores everywhere, and they had every type of food you could think of.
One of the stands had strawberries with melted chocolate over it, yes please! My only critique is that I wished we would've stayed there longer. I felt rushed, and we only ended up getting the strawberries. But, the place smelled amazing with all the various foods.
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| Breakfast of champions! |
On our way to Tower Bridge, we saw a cute mural so, once again, I needed a picture.
We walked to Tower Bridge and took even more pictures. If you haven't already noticed, two things occurred repeatedly during this trip: pictures and walking.
It also was a little underwhelming, but I kept thinking about how awesome it must've been to have the Olympic rings on it.
Right next door was the Tower of London! There was also a student discount, so how could we say no? We weren't allowed to take pictures, but we got to see the Crown of Jewels and learned how it gets transported for coronations, and it was absolutely stunning. I wanted to sneak a picture of it so bad.
We spent a little under two hours there, so we grabbed a quick lunch before going to Abbey Road. Good news, we didn't get pizza! The Tower of London and Abbey Road were on the opposite sides of London, so it was going to take about 30 minutes to get there by metro and by double-decker bus. Spoiler alert, that did not happen. Let me paint the scene: we all get on the metro and when the doors close, we realize that Leah is standing outside the metro. Alone. And right as we realize it, it speeds away.
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| My version of fish and chips: chicken strips and chips! |
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| Me, barely hanging on by a thread. |
And yet, we survived, and we were able to meet up with Leah. We thought that that was the end of our transportation nightmare, and we found the bus to take us to Abbey Road.
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| Reunited, and it feels so good! |
Until, we find out that we got on the wrong bus, and it was taking us in the opposite direction. So, to conclude:
- Leah didn't make it on our metro
- We got on the wrong metro line
- I got car sick in the Uber we were never originally supposed to get
- We got on the wrong double-decker bus
Transportation that was supposed to take us 30 minutes, turned into 2 hours. What's worse is that all the directions were in English. How can we navigate the streets of Madrid with Spanish signs but can't navigate with English signs?
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| Jack's visual representation of how we all were feeling. |
Alas, we made it to Abbey Road! I only know 5 Beatles songs, but this was a must-see. We then did a quick run through the gift shop before taking an Uber to Seven Dials Market.
I can't exactly name what area of London we were in, but it was adorable and super busy.
Nearby were other cities like Chinatown, Soho, and Covent Garden but, we were all exhausted and hungry so we settled on finding some dinner. If you've ever been to The Armory in St. Louis, The Seven Dial Market is very similar, just a lot more intense. Just like the Armory, there were lots of different restaurants to choose from, but I got, you guessed it, pizza. After this trip to London, I don't want to eat pizza ever again!
Before we left, Liv and I obviously had to get a sweet treat after the long day we had. I got the Berry Special sundae and she got Lotus Biscoff. Next to the ice cream place was a photo booth, and I'll never say no to doing a photo booth.
After the market, we went back to the Airbnb to pack and start getting ready to go out. Lesson Five: Don't go out the night before 6am flights. Probably a no-brainer, but sometimes, you've got to live a little. We bought the tickets for the club before we fully comprehended that the night we picked was the night before our flight, and we had to pull an all-nighter. It was very poor planning on our part.
I almost didn't go... but my ticket was bought and half of the club was a giant ball pit. How could I pass that up? It was fun for about 20 minutes, and then random people started throwing the balls and I knew it was time to leave.
After the club, we quickly cleaned and packed up the house before we got in our Uber's. We had a little bit of a situation that was pushing us back, but we made it into the cars at 3am to head to the airport. Luckily, I dozed on and off during the drive there, but it was a struggle getting through the rest of the day after that.
We made it to the airport at the perfect time so we could get a coffee and pastry before the flight. I've been really grateful that my flights have gone smoothly. Usually, I have the worst luck when it comes to flights, but it's been great so far. We made it on the flight and landed around 9:30am on Sunday morning. A few of my nursing friends and I had an exam on Monday, so we wanted to get back early so we had most of the day to study. I got back to Marli House around 11 and took an hour nap before I started studying. However, I still feel like I haven't fully caught up on sleep yet.
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| The pin collection is growing! |
Best Part of the Trip:
Either the Changing of the Guards ceremony or the potion making class. I found out that they have a similar class in Chicago, and the girls that I went with want to go again!
Worst Part of the Trip:
Our mess-up's with transportation and the lack of working outlets in the Airbnb. It wasn't the end of the world, but it was still really stressful. My friends and I just laugh about it now, and it never ruined the trip.
Overall Thoughts:
With the limited time that we were in London, we saw so much! On our first day, we walked over 27,000 steps. I would definitely come back to London in a heartbeat. There is so much more that I want to do: take a ride up the London Eye, go to a show at the West End, visit the Stonehenge, and see Westminster Abbey. I also wish I would've branched out more with food. However, most of the time we were in a rush and didn't have enough time to go to a sit down restaurant. Finally, it was really nice to take a break from Spanish and order food or get directions from someone who speaks English. Cheerio, London, I hope to see you again soon!
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