Royal Adventures in London

Our trip to London was, well, unforgettable. It ended up being Kelsey, Julia and I that went. John's parents were visiting and Brian's friend was coming to Dublin, so they were ruled out. Gillian and KC booked it after we told them we were going, so they were meeting up with us the next day. I had heard so much about London, I was so excited to finally see it in person.

Thursday afternoon we headed to the airport, excited for our first trip outside of the country. In the airport, we actually ran into Sean who was on his way to Barcelona, and he gave us some pointers on London as he'd gone a couple of weeks before. I was in for my first Ryan Air experience, which was quite amusing. The seats were very close together, and they tried to sell us things the entire flight from food to makeup to who knows what! By the time the flight planed out and stopped ascending, it started descending to land in London. Apparently people commute back and forth quite often for work because the flights are so short. We arrived on Thursday night, and absolutely loved the ease of the transportation system. We bought a ticket and after two trains we were right down the street from our hostel, which was a good distance from the city center. The train was so crowded, and when it lurched forward everyone fell on top of everyone. Mom wouldn't have done well, the claustrophobia would've certainly taken over on that one! The signs were so clear, however, and we were very happy with it. The hostel had great reviews, and was located above a bar and restaurant. We checked in, and headed up to the room. That was significantly less pleasant. It was around 11 when we got back, and the room we were sharing with strangers was dark, so we had to tiptoe around and lock our stuff up. We were really tired, so we headed down to the "chill out room" to plan out our walking for the next day. It was located in the basement, slightly dingy and crowded with a range of around 20 to 50 year old guys. This was nothing like our last hostel, we missed that one already. We found a spot on the couch in the corner and took out our map to begin planning. It wasn't long before one of the more obnoxious ones came over and started asking us questions in a way that was trying to be funny, but was too drunk to do so successfully. We gave up on that venture and went up to get ready for bed. There were two co-ed bathrooms for the entire hostel, which consisted of quite a few rooms. We tiptoed back into the room with 8 bunks and went to bed, but texted each other laughing about the hostel. Who were those reviews from? We woke up early for breakfast and looked around. The room we were sharing was with Armenian men, who looked as if they'd been camped out there for months. We headed down to breakfast, and I ate so much food, mostly toast and cereal. We got a day pass for all transit forms in London, and headed to the city center.

We went to the London Bridge, where Sean had said there was a really cool market. We walked on the London Bridge, which was actually just a boring average bridge. I can also promise, it wasn't falling down. Expectations were not met. The food market made up for it though, naturally it would be food that would make me happy. There was a massive food market, probably the biggest one I've ever seen in my life that stretched on forever. They had everything from fish to cheese to vinegars to desserts and meats. Literally anything you could've thought of. Best part- free samples everywhere. We were stuffed by the time we left: without having to buy anything. Perfect! The market ran underneath the train tracks, and the backdrop was a very old church, which was beautiful. We were there for a while, before heading out. 

The cookies that caught my attention

Our next stop was the Tower Bridge, which is the iconic one we had pictured. Next to the bridge was a massive new building, with KPMG labeled on it, which made me laugh. The tower bridge was a very impressive structure, and we walked across it to the other side of the river. We walked along the river for a while, admiring an old castle-like structure on the river bank. There were so many people walking around. We headed to Trafalgar Square from there, and decided to look for a place to eat. Julia and Kelsey heard that there was a Chipolte nearby, and they decided that they had to go there. Chipolte was expensive in the states, and I was in London. I told them that I'd meet them in the square after they ate, I was going to find somewhere else. I ended up finding a small place and got a takeaway fish and chips meal. I took it down and sat in Trafalgar Square and ate there. Eating fish in chips in Trafalgar Square? Check. I laughed as I watched a little run around for what must've been at least 45 minutes chasing pigeons around the square, and he was happier than ever. While waiting for Julia and Kelsey, I climbed up on the monument where a bunch of other people were sitting, and relaxed looking around the square. It was an awesome place to be. Julia and Kelsey were back soon after, and joined me on the statue. We got pictures with one of the lion figures, and headed off to see Big Ben and the London Eye which were

visible from Trafalgar Square. I was texting Chris Sutton, who was in London for the semester and wanted to meet up, figuring we'd make something work. The transportation salesman said that our passes were good until 4 am, so we decided to go out with all the Siena kids later. (Chris, Derek, Chloe, Christina, Brenna). We walked around, and took our classic pictures of Big Ben and walked around there for a while.

After visiting Big Ben and the London Eye, we then went to the Times Square of London- which was 

not really anything close to Times Square at all, with one side only of electronic displays and advertising. It was funny though. We went into the Cool Britannia gift shop though, and spent a while in there. They had one of the Mini Coopers that was characteristic, painted like the British flag. It reminded me of the Italian Job. One of our last stops was a huge church, where we walked around before sitting for a while. We were exhausted again, as we'd walked miles. We decided to go back to the hostel for a break and to get ready to go out with the Siena London kids.

We got ready, and picked up a couple of lemonade drinks before heading out. We met a kid from the Netherlands, and he was really cool. We talked to him for a while, asking questions as he questioned us as well. Apparently, Amsterdam is the iconic place, but most of the other places were completely different from that. It was really cool making friends with him and learning about the Netherlands. When we finished our lemonades, we were incredibly sugar high and energetic like little kids. They gave us the location of where to meet up with them, apparently some sort of campus bar that turns into a club on certain nights. It was extremely spotty trying to get ahold of them as our phones didn't work except for the limited places where wifi was actually available. When we arrived at the club, we learned that they had closed tonight, but I didn't get Chloe's message until after that. They wanted us to come to their flat, but that was a half hour away and we weren't really up to it at that point. I didn't really want to go in anywhere, because the cover charges were in pounds and I didn't want to spend that money. We ended up going to the city center and found a McDonalds right along the main club route. We were all starving, so we got burgers and fries and just laughed. The guys at the table behind us gave Julia and Kelsey a free apple pie sticker, as it was McDonalds Monopoly time. We were pretty excited, and before we left we ended up with free McFlurrys, Fries, and the apple pie. It was perfect, and we headed to the tube station to go back and go to bed. As it turns out, there was an issue with the tube, and it was shut down. We asked around and took a bus, but that got us to another closed station. When we finally got to the station where our train would head back to our hostel, we leaned that the train had stopped running because of the tube issues. We were so frustrated, and had no option but to take a cab back to the hostel, which cost 30 pounds, which was almost $60 in US currency. We were talking to our cab driver on the way home, and he said "London is a 24 hour city, as long as you don't actually want to get anywhere" - that quote stuck with me. We went to bed, and agreed to get up early the next morning. When reflecting, it was incredible what I saw and experienced in just one day. 

We got up early again the next morning and headed down to breakfast. Again, I ate as much of the buffet style toast and cereal as I could. While waiting for the girls to get ready, I headed over to the train station to figure out how to get to London Gatwick Airport early the next morning for my flight. Luckily for me, they were doing massive line maintenance all morning on both the train and tube, so a variety of lines were closed. After a half hour with him, he suggested I take the 6 am train from the hostel into the city, and a variety of lines from there to get to the airport. He didn't seem too confident, so I got really nervous. I couldn't miss my flight. Setting that aside, we were going to Buckingham Palace and other stops today, and I was really excited to see those. We met up with Gillian and KC, who were doing a bus tour for the day and took the train into the city with them. We took them to the London Bridge Market (Borough Market), where we caved and bought some of the gigantic 1 pound cookies that I'd thought
about all the day before. We decided that instead of going directly to the palace, we'd take another train out and go to Platform 9 3/4, from Harry Potter obviously. We went and each got our pictures with the infamous cart driving into the wall, and visited the Harry Potter shop after, which had a really cool design, and got to see all of the wands and other items that could be purchased. We left there and headed to Buckingham Palace after wandering through the adjacent park. The clear status symbol of the gates alone was striking. It was cool to think about how this was once the power center of the world. We left there and walked down through another park and wound up at Westminster Abbey. We spent a decent amount of time walking around the grounds there and exploring.

As we walked down by the river we saw a huge crowd of people surrounding street performers, so we figured they had to be decent. They were Jamaican men, and let's just say I didn't know the human body could contort like that. One put both of his feet behind his head, and was carried around another

who was being held up by someone else. the other acts were equally as stunning. We must've stayed for at least 20 minutes while they performed. It was so impressive. We went in for lunch near Trafalgar Square to a small place that had almost anything you could've wanted, with one man cooking and one man taking orders and socializing. When we passed the Square, it was apparently International Pillow Fight Day, and the square was packed full of people hitting each other and feathers flying everywhere. My contacts actually got irritated because there was that much debris in the air. We headed to Kensington Palace afterward. It was a long walk, and we took multiple breaks. We stopped at one point and watched as a

pick up street hockey league was going on in the park. On the way, we got the mandatory classic phone booth pictures. We to Kensington Palace, as the girls discussed being part of the Royal Family. The neighborhood around it that we explored, we referred to as "bougie central", in honor of Brian who wasn't with us. On the way, we stopped by a sign that read "The Great Exhibition- Hyde Park 1851". I got really excited, and told them both all about the event, which was the world showcase of science and technology. I had learned about it in AP Euro, literally 5 years before and it apparently stuck somewhere in my memory. It was really cool, and I was excited to see and remember it.

We headed from there back to the hostel. When we got to the train center, I decided to confirm my morning itinerary with another worker. She read my plan, and said that there was no 6 am train, ever. I would've completely missed the flight. I spent about an hour with her, planning routes as she called cab companies and looked into a variety of other ways. She apologized profusely, but said that I might actually have to spend the night in the airport, or pay a ton of money for a cab to get me there early in the morning, like that was even a choice! We met up with Gill and KC in the hostel and had a couple of drinks with them before we headed out to the London kid's flat for a party. KC and Gillian had really funny news from back in Dublin that we all laughed about. They were too sketched out by the hostel, and Gillian's parents booked them a hotel for the last two nights they were there. I guess I wouldn't have to worry about that, as I'd be spending my night in the airport! The tube work had already begun, so we had to take a ridiculous route around to get there, and by the time we got there it was pretty crowded. The London kids were leaving for home the next weekend, which made me feel weird, but it was really good to see them. I appreciated my Dublin experience so much more, because in talking to Derek he said they didn't meet any people from London, and the only people they interacted with were other Americans in their internships and living since they were all together. I thought about how many Irish friends I've made, and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. I left their flat around 1 to head to the airport, and darted from train to train to make it there. Even at 1, the trains were packed, but I'm not sure if that's because of the tube maintenance messing everyone else up too. It was a very long night in the airport which didn't have wifi, and I couldn't wait to get back to Dublin. 

The London Underground

Final London Comments:

1. I felt completely underdressed everywhere we went, despite being in a dress sweater. Everyone walking around was in suits, regardless of what time it was. SO DIFFERENT FROM DUBLIN.

2. London is huge, absolutely massive. We did so much, but when I got back to Dublin I wanted to sleep for a week straight to make up for it.

3. London is really expensive. With an unlimited bank account, it would be an incredible place to be, but it was pretty stressful to try to do it on a budget. I think I did a decent job though.

4. Despite the hostel and transportation struggles, I loved London so much. That should tell you how great of a city it was, that my experiences far outweighed the challenges, and I would go back in a heartbeat.