What a weekend! I will be honest, the typical touristy stuff was not as great as I thought it would be but everything else was amazing, well besides forgetting to check into my flight before getting to the airport and paying an extra 55 pounds.
Day 1, my friend Eve and I headed out to see Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament, Buckingham Palace, The National Gallery, and the Eye. All of the buildings were amazing and wonderful to look at, well besides Big Ben, he was sick. We did not enter most of the buildings because of the cost that came with each but enjoyed walking around the gallery and some other side shops. The best part of the first day was definitely the food, mainly the food from the Christmas Market we checked out around 5 pm. It had just opened that night and was flooding with people. Most of the stands consisted of food from all over the world along with other stands containing clothing and small household items. The food we ended up ordering was a German hot dog, mac and cheese with bacon, a Mexican burrito, and some Belgium hot chocolate. After sitting by the fire and finishing all of our food, we headed to some of the shops where we found a woman selling homemade house items. There were calendars, pillows, mugs, postcards, etc. I bought four Harry Potter coasters and Eve bought 8 postcards. The night was not over yet. Last thing we did was walk to the West End to see a classic musical called Chicago. Eve only told me it was about a murder so I thought it was going to be more serious but little did I know it was more of a comedy. It was a fantastic ending to a long and exciting day.
In the morning of day 2, both of us headed out to go see St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was huge, and took a look at the London Bridge, Tower of London, and Tower Bridge. Since we slept in, it was around noon when we finished sight seeing and we were right next to the Borough Market so we checked it out. It was located under an overpass and stretched for what seemed like a mile. Goat cheese, breads, jams, sweats, meats, sauces, etc were everywhere and it smelt so good! The first part we walked into included food stands so we both grabbed what we wanted and walked around to see what else there was. Eve wanted goat cheese so we tried a lot of that along with all the samples people provided and it was amazing! If it was not for the fact that I did not have enough room to bring extra stuff back or a check in bag, I would have bought just about everything. The last thing we did for the day that did not include just relaxing was attend a tour of Shakespeare’s Globe where most of his plays were written for. It cost money but it was not super expensive for the price of a student 2 hour tour and the man was very knowledgeable. He explained how the structure was built and rebuilt multiple times, how it is made of all Oak wood, what parts of the building mean and are used for, the split in social class, and so much more! To this day, there are plays that still go on and are relatively cheap but sadly we could not attend one since they only do then during the summer months. Oh well, a reason for me to come back one day. 🙂
The last day, day 3, was very chill and mostly consisted of shopping and walking around some more. Again, we managed to sleep in and headed to a well known underground cafe for breakfast/brunch which was fantastic. It is located under a church near the national gallery and they managed to turn what is usually just used for support into something amazing. Some other places on our list before heading over to the mall included the M&M store and China town. We did not stay in the M&M store very long because of the rich smell the place was giving off and we just wondered around China town. There was basically just food in China town but it was nice to walk around and even meet a man from Wisconsin who was performing the bunny magic trick. The rest of the evening was spent at the mall which was probably the largest mall I have ever been in that we almost got lost. Everything was pretty expensive so neither of us ended up buying anything but it was nice to walk around. Right outside the mall was Wagamama, a restaurant with Asian foods. Eve and I both ordered the Chicken Ramen and it was immensely better than the packaged ramen we get in the states. However, it still had the same effect on my digestive system and went right through me; what a fun night… Buuuuuut the rest of the trip was unforgettable, in more ways than one. One being having to wake up at 2 am and taking separate flights at two different locations. I have to say, taking my first flight alone was not as bad as I thought. And… I remembered to check into my flight this time.
Taking on Ireland 