London

Hello!

So I have decided to finally write about London, since this week I have our first spring break and i'll have a lot more stuff to add afterwards. So here goes!

My trip to London started with a Ryanir flight into Stansted Airport. Stansted is located about 45 minutes by train from London so it took us a while to get into london, plus the train ticket was pretty expensive. When we were finally there, we had to take the tube to this girl's house with whom we were staying, Laura. However, our credit/debit cards weren't working so we had a lot of trouble buying a ticket. We were talking to a supervisor that was in the station we were in and he understood our problem and was like no worry, I know people at the station you're getting off at! So we were able to take two trains (with a connection) to Caledonian Road where another worker was waiting for us so that they could let us through the gates (you have to feed in your ticket to get out of the station). It was so nice of them!

our first tube station

 The next day, we hit the town for a lot of sightseeing. We started off with Big Ben and Parliament, and we were really lucky because the entire morning was gorgeous and sunny! Then we saw the London Eye from across the Thames River. We kept walking and passed by Westminster Abbey, and then made our way to Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace is actually really ugly. You'd think it'd be nice and decorated with gold or something like the castles/palaces in France, but it's not. Just really plain. We had to walk through a park to get to the Palace and that was gorgeous!

Big Ben and Parliament

walking from Laura's house

London Eye and the Thames River

Westminster Abbey

a random park we found by Westminster Abbey. the sun was shining beautifully!

the park near Buckingham Palace

HUGE bird

Buckingham Palace

For lunch, we decided to go for High Tea. We had been told by others to go to Harrods which is the rich swanky department store, but we decided on a place that was half the price and it ended up great! We had an endless supply of scones and pastries and mmmmm they were so good. I didn't think scones could be so good but with a bit of jam on top, they're delicious!

pastries, scones and sandwiches!

 Later that night me and Katie (the friend from Vandy that I was with) went to her friend Maria's school where they were hanging out. Her school has a bar and hangout area in a large area of the school and it's actually really cool! It was a Friday night and it was completely packed with students, it was difficult finding a chair! It was also really different than what you'd ever see at Vandy. It was a nice change! 

The next day, Katie, Laura and I went off to some of the markets. We started off with Camden Market which is in the neighborhood that Laura lives in. There was a lot of clothes there and other little souvenir stuff, but it was super packed with people! It spannes for a few blocks and there were people just everywhere. Pretty cool. 

After Camden Market we went to Borough Market which is pretty much food. I got a duck sandwhich and I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was! Mmmm duck. 

duck sandwich

Afterwards, we went to go see Shrek the Musical because we really wanted to see a West End performance. The musical was good, but I didn't think it was great. I was really bored at parts and I feel like I would've preferred a true musical. 

After that we walked around a bit, including through Chinatown which was all decorated because it was the day before Chinese New Year celebrations. It was awesome!

Afterwards, we went to the British Museum where we saw the Rosetta Stone and other art stuff that I'm not too fond of. We didn't stay there too long. Then we went to a store called Primark where Laura and Katie shopped and shopped. I didn't buy anything though. After that, we headed over to Harrods, the swanky department store. We walked around a bit and spent most of our time in the candy/chocolate room. I bought two chocolate truffles and they were delicious. 

Harrods from the outside

The Sweets room

After that, we headed over to the London Eye. Laura had two free tickets for the London Eye which meant that the three of us just had to split the price of one ticket. It was super nice because a ticket is about 20 pounds. The views were incredible!

Big Ben and Parliament from the London Eye!

 All in all, the trip was great! Thinking about London, I'd really like to study abroad there (since I still have junior year ahead of me) but the one thing stopping me is the weather. When we were there, one of the days was surprisingly nice but the rest of the time it was cold, cloudy, and rainy. It's such a great city otherwise though!

Here's a bonus picture of the front entryway of Laura's house. It's a four story house that's pretty narrow but tall. It was very very nice!

Next blog: Nice.

Til next time!