So Spring Break is over, and I'm really sad about it. It went by way too quickly. It seemed like I was planning it for so long, and just like that it came and went. In the course of about 10 days I traveled to London and Paris, and it was pretty crazy and awesome. I still don't think it has hit me. But so much happened I'll split my week into a few posts so I can be as detailed as possible.
So here's what happened in London:
DAY 1
I left Rome the Thursday before the full Spring Break week, since I only had class until Wednesday. And might I add that was midterm week, which were probably the hardest midterms of my life. This is supposed to be a vacation right? Just kidding.
So I got to London Thursday afternoon. I flew in with my roommate, but we were staying in separate places. We landed in an airport about an hour from the city (because RyanAir is a cheap airline), so we took a shuttle in to the center. I seriously could not believe I was in London. That was probably the city on the top of my list that I've always wanted to visit. It was a dream come true.
We arrived at a metro station. Well actually their metro is called the Underground or the tube. I honestly wasn't sure which one was right to say. I just call everything a metro if it's underground. We had to buy an Oyster card to use it, which was actually pretty handy because it was actually card you just pass through. Better than my flimsy Rome metro pass.
Their whole tube system was a little overwhelming, because there are so many lines going different ways, and you'd have to transfer to get from one place to another. Unlike Rome which is only 2 lines making an X. Me and my roommate had to split up, because we were staying at different hostels. I'll admit that I was a little panicked to go off on my own in this unknown city, but luckily I found my way thanks to those handy Underground maps. And the fact that they speak English in England. I only stayed at a hostel my first night, and I was staying with a friend abroad for the rest of my time in London.
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| The Underground |
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| Tube Station |
I literally got to my hostel and had to leave, because we were going to a concert that night. My friend met me at my hostel, and luckily she knew her way around, because I had no clue. We took the bus, which was a double decker! It was cool that their public buses are actually double deckers. Who knew.
The show was at some kind of college. We went to see Lewis Watson, who is a British singer/songwriter. His music is similar to Ed Sheeran, but he's actually pretty cute. It was a pretty small venue, full of young British people. He was really good live. One thing I did notice was nobody really moved during the show. Like no head bobbing or knee bending/music swaying. They all just stood there. I think I was the only one movin and groovin.
Also I really liked their style. First of all, all of the guys dress really nice. Some blazers, collared button-ups, boots, sweaters, cardigans...I was sold. Most of the girls had skirts, tights, or knee high socks, and sweaters. Converse and Doc Martins seemed to be pretty popular as well. It was kind of cool to see the different style. I wish Americans dressed like this.
After the show we got to meet Lewis! Well really just get a picture, because he took one with everyone! Luckily we were right by the door so we got to be some of the first. He was just so precious.
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| Me and Lewis! |
DAY 2
The next day I met my roommate, since my friend had class. We went through Trafalgar Square, and walked to the Royal Mall, which is the long street leading up to Buckingham Palace, where William and Kate drove down after their wedding. We happened upon some kind of procession. There was an army of guards playing instruments on horses. I don't even know what it was, but it was cool to see.
We walked down to Buckingham Palace, which seemed a little smaller than I thought. But it was gorgeous with the gardens surrounding it. And the guards were inside of the gate, and not outside like you see in movies. You can't even try to make them laugh. Those movies lie.
From there we walked to Hyde Park, which was quite a ways. And Hyde Park in gigantic! I really wanted to see the Peter Pan statue, which is in Hyde Park. My roommate was going to Kensington Palace, so I decided to just go there. It's where William and Kate live. We had tea at The Orangery, which is right next to the palace. The tea I got was called "Afternoon at the Palace". The best tea I've ever had. They brought it in an individual teapot, so I got about 4 cups of it. At the palace gift shop they were selling that tea, so I had to buy it. And the cashier told me it is specially blended for them. I'll be saving that for a special occasion. And I really wish "having tea" was a thing in the US. It's quite lovely.
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| Tea Time |
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| Kensington Palace |
After tea we split up and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum. I realized that I'm really just not a museum person. The only reason I went was because they were free. They were interesting of course, but I would walk through them within 30 minutes.
Then I met up with my friend and we got fish and chips for dinner. They were literally the best fish and chips I have ever tasted in my life. The fish tasted so fresh and it was perfectly fried, not all breaded and gross like American fish and chips. But the tartar sauce was a little strange, and I preferred it without the sauce. But the steak fries were glorious. I really needed a break from pizza and pasta. Luckily water is free at restaurants in London, unlike in Italy. But you have to pay for tax and tip, which you don't in Italy. So it kind of balances out I guess. Except using British pounds in London is way more expensive than the Euro.
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| The BEST fish and chips! |
After dinner we went to Topshop, which is one place I needed to go in London. It's a clothing store that was started in London, and they just opened one in LA actually. But it's so expensive! I was really sad, because I wanted to buy something. But the place was HUGE! 3 or 4 stories, and they had so many cute clothes. They even had a map to the store. And of course there was a cupcake bar and salon inside. I ended up buying a headband for 6 pounds, which is actually very overpriced, but it's the only thing I could afford that I actually liked.
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| Topshop Oxford Circus |
Also it was raining, and freezing cold. I think the temperature was in the 30s, but it definitely could have been colder.
DAY 3
On Saturday I woke up to snow!! It was actually snowing! I got really excited, because I've been in the snow, but never experienced the act of the snowing weather. Although my excitement slowly faded away as the day went on.
We went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard, which is a big deal. Unfortunately is was cancelled due to the snow. I was pretty bummed since they only do it every other day, and that was the only day I could have gone. So I'll just have to go back to London.
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| Got a pic with a constable this time |
With that being cancelled, we went to Hyde Park to find the Peter Pan statue, because I needed to see it. After a very long walk, we found it! Okay I'll admit I only knew about it from the Mary-Kate and Ashley movie Winning London. But I love Peter Pan, and he was in London and flew on Big Ben, so obviously he is important. But it's a cool statue!
I also might add that it was snowing basically the whole day, so it was freezing cold plus the wind, and I was walking everywhere. And for some reason my left foot started to hurt unusually. But I trudged through the pain!
So after Peter we went to Harrod's, which is a famous department store. And it is ginormous!!! First of all, because of the cold weather everyone decided to go there since it is inside. So that was kind of annoying. But it's about 7 stories , and each floor is practically a maze. I think the whole store takes up about a whole block or even more. They have literally everything I'm sure. From food, to designer brands, toys, electronics, and a pet store. It's basically its own mall. It can get very fancy with the personal shopping section and some fancy restaurants. There were balconies around the escalators, and there was even an opera singer inside. You definitely needed a map to find your way around. We got lost very easily.
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| Part of Harrod's |
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| A glorious sundae |
After Harrod's my friend took me to Primark, which is another fashion store, and it was heaven. It was basically an affordable version of Topshop, or like a giant clothing section of Target. I loved everything in there, and it was so much cheaper! And it wasn't cheesy clothing, it was good quality. I ended up getting a sweater for 5 pounds and a top for 3 pounds. It was such a good deal. I was disappointed though, because all I wanted was a shirt with a British flag on it that wasn't a tourist-y shirt. And all of their shirts had either Los Angeles or Las Vegas on it. It really made no sense.
Then we went to King's Cross Station to go to Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. I know I'm not a big Harry Potter fan, because I've never seen them all or even read them. But I've seen enough to understand what Platform 9 3/4 is. It was actually pretty cool. There was a line of course, but they have it set up all cool. And they have scarves for you to wear and you just go and basically pose with the trolley like you're going to Hogwarts. I thought it was fun.
To end the day we ate dinner at Nando's. I'm not going to tell you why I know about it, because it's a little embarrassing. But it's a popular food place. There's only 3 in the US, of course not in California. I guess that's what we get for having In N Out. Anyways, it's a chicken place that's a step up from Chick fil A. You basically choose how you want your chicken and it comes with side. It's not fast food and it's not a full restaurant. You go in and they seat you, then you go up to order and they bring it to your table. I got a chicken burger (sandwich) with fries. It was so stankin good! I wish we had Nando's. Also it was great to have a refillable fountain drink, because those definitely don't exist in Italy.
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| Nando's! |
DAY 4
Sunday was basically my last full day in London to see things I missed. We started with breakfast at this super cute place. It was basically the epitome of Pinterest on the inside. But I really wanted a full English breakfast, and this was the place to go. It was called Bill's. The English breakfast was 2 pieces of toast on the bottom, with over easy eggs and bacon on top with a tomato and sausage. It was really good! I don't usually eat over easy eggs, but I really liked it. I just needed a proper breakfast, because Italians only eat bread for breakfast.
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| English Breakfast (not the tea) |
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| Abbey Road |
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| And me trying to cross haha |
Then we went to the London Eye, the big ferris wheel if you didn't know. There were a lot of people, but we actually got on surprisingly fast. You go in to these big capsules, and there were maybe about 20 people in ours. It takes about half an hour to go all the way around. It doesn't even feel like you're moving, since it is so smooth. I did get a little freaked out when we got to the top, because it was a bit windy, and our capsule started to shake. But don't worry, I survived.
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| The Eye |
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| Riding the Eye |
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| View from the top |
After the Eye we walked around a little park behind it and across the bridge to Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. I couldn't go inside either of them, but it was cool to see them from the outside, since they are so monumental. After that we went to the Tower Bridge and walked across it. I mean it's no Golden Gate, but it's actually a pretty bridge, and thank goodness not as long as the Golden Gate. I wish I could have seen the Olympic rings on it.
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| Big Ben and Parliament |
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| Westminster Abbey |
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| Tower Bridge |
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| On the Tower Bridge |
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| St. Paul's Cathedral |
That night I went to Hillsong, which if you didn't know, is a church that started in Australia and there's one in London! It was awesome! They didn't actually have their own building, so it took place in a theatre that has plays and such. I guess the "We Will Rock You" show is playing there, because there was a big statue of Freddie Mercury on top. Besides that fact, the inside was really nice. I went and sat by myself, which was no problem. And then this lady comes up and introduces herself (unfortunately I forgot her name sadly) and asks if I want to sit with her and the people she was with. So I was like "sure!" She was really friendly and we just had a casual conversation. And she was Filipino of course. They're everywhere. But everyone there was super nice and easy to talk to. Although even with the English accent sometimes I couldn't understand what they were saying. But the service was so good. Praise and worship was incredible, and the message talked about destiny. It felt good to be in church again, and I realized how much I miss it.
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| Outside the theatre |
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| Inside the church |
After, the same lady asked me if I wanted to go to the bar with her and her friends. I thought that was a little strange since we just met, but I guess it's a normal thing. And going to the bar after church seemed strange as well...so it's probably different than we think. But I kindly refused, because it seemed strange, and I was actually really tired. And then I thought I lost my phone there, because it wasn't where I usually put it. So I was freaking out, and the lady helped me look and then took me to lost and found. It was kind of chaotic, until I found it in a pocket of my purse that I don't usually put it in. Talk about embarrassing.
DAY 5
On Monday I had a tour booked with my roommate to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford. We started bright and early, and were on a big bus. I learned to accept the fact that I was a tourist.
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| Tour bus |
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| Windsor and the Queen's flag! |
The first room we saw was a giant dollhouse made for Queen Elizabeth and her sister when they were young. It was beautiful! It even had running water. It was so detailed, and the best dollhouse I've ever seen in my life. Way better than Barbie's dream house. The next room was an exhibit of her portraits, which was cool.
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| This is a picture of the dollhouse thanks to Google |
Then we went through the apartments and rooms throughout the palace. They were all gorgeous, detailed, and full of gold. After the main section there was a chapel that was gorgeous on the inside, as chapels usually are. And there was a guard not blocked by a fence unlike Buckingham. So I obviously had to get a picture with him.
After Windsor we made our way to Stonehenge. I didn't have too many expectations for it, since I already knew what it looked like. It was actually a little smaller than I expected. It was basically in the middle of nowhere. Just some stones on a hill. The stones were huge of course, but the entire layout of it was a smaller than I thought. The mystery of Stonehenge is so strange, and it's crazy how long people have been studying it. One theory is that it was a burial ground. On the way there, there were these giant mounds that were once burials.
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| Stonehenge |
When you get there you just walk in a big circle around it and you have these audio guides. As you walk along you just listen to different parts about the stones and its history. There were randomly sheep around the area, and they all started walking in a line. It was funny. We actually spent a longer time there than I thought. I expected to just see the thing and be on our way. But it was a cool thing to see once in my life.
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| Sheep |
Our last stop was Oxford. I didn't know that Oxford was actually a town, and not just the university. Oxford is made up of 38 colleges, which is massive. I mean the town can basically just be the university. But it's a really nice place. It was more peaceful and calm compared to a city. All of the buildings were so pretty and the streets were lined with small shops. So quaint.
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| Lewis Carroll's Cottage |
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| Streets of Oxford |
Overall I really did like London. It was all that I had imagined and more. It was more modern and "big city" compared to Rome. And so much cleaner. And the British people seemed so nice, unlike some of these Romans. It was a nice change. Except it's really an expensive place. The exchange rate for British pounds is so much higher than the euro. And the weather is just a little depressing. Apparently the sun only comes out on rare occasions. It was freezing cold the entire time I was there, which was kind of a bummer, and definitely a change from California weather. At least the sun comes out in Rome. But I miss London, and I'll definitely have to go back again!
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| I'll leave you with me in a phone booth. Typical. |
The next day I was off to Paris for the rest of the week!
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