London was amazing! The city is far different from what I had originally anticipated. It is somewhat similar to a combination of American cities on the outskirts (from my perspective), but changes drastically as you get closer to the inner city with all of the mind-boggling and breathtaking royalty buildings!
Day 1--arrive in London Heathrow around 1145 with no real problems and a short layover in Iceland (an interesting country full of lavender, green meadows, rocks, geysers and lava---I watched the travel video twice in the flight so I'm kinda an expert--doesn't really look like somewhere you guys would like all that much but bet it's cheap!). Head for the tube which was temporarily shut down due to security alerts putting a minor halt in our journey but luckily the excitement of the commencement of our European adventures overcame the extreme hunger and tiredness, which very well could have set us over the edge with this delay. After a couple of trips from terminal to terminal in Heathrow we landed on a very crowded tube ride resulting in an hour of standing with suitcases, backpacks, and stiff legs before reaching our hostel...however we were still in very good spirits. We checked into 33F (the basement) with 8 other girls--Kristen on the top bunk and me on the bottom. The perfect sleeping spot to start our journey. Dr. D (my business policy professor) would be happy to know that a pret a manger is just around the corner, which we visited frequently to rejuice on some caffeine and jack some free wifi. After settling in, we wasted no time and headed to Notting Hill for the Portobello Market (one of my fav spots in London). The market is full of colorful buildings and unique gifts like leather bags, porcelain doorknobs, and European clothing. Mom, you'd absolutely love it here. After exploring the amazing market and taking in the sites, we realized we hadn't eaten in about 12 hours so we stopped at Daylesford for a scrumptious farm to table dinner of eggs Benedict and burgers. We somehow got roped into buying 'still' water but the cost was offset with the awesome staff and delicious food. The waitress ended up taking us on a mini tour and brought us by a local bar called the cow where everyone can drink on the street! We had a couple local London brews and headed back to the tube--we still were very unfamiliar with the area and didn't want to be stumbling home in the darkness. Regrouped at the hostel and checked out a local bar for wifi, snacks and beer before passing out from the exhausting travels.
Day 2-- all of the ladies in our dorm woke up pretty early so Kristen and I joined the crew and headed to our free breakfast at the hostel for carbs, carbs and more carbs and of course coffee. Kristen had studied her Europe book the night before and had the root mapped out for us to head to Camden Market--a market that seriously has the variety to appeal to any person! Far different from Notting hill but awesome in its own unique way. From there we continued our journey by foot (trying to burn off some of this beer) to the tourist sites--Buckingham palace, Westminster abbey, St Paul's church, Shakespeare's globe theater, the London eye, millennium bridge, London bridge, big Ben, trafalgar square, the Thames river..we seriously saw what most see in a week in one day. Our heels and hips hate us for it now but it was worth every blister and sore muscle. Kristen was an awesome tour guide and has a very odd memory when it comes to direction (thank goodness!). We traveled down regent st (stopping for fish and chips at a cool local pub) and also stopped at the swan bar for a drink to rest for a bit next to the globe theater. We took the tube home (couldn't handle another 3+ hr walk back) and regrouped at the hostel for a buy one get one drink to catch the end of a soccer match and some wifi. Headed out into the rain (first time it's really rained the whole time we've been here--don't know how we got so lucky) and had some steak and mash pie. Time for bed! Big day of travels to Prague tomorrow! Love and miss ya!