We got back on Wednesday from London, and we had a great time! We spent the night before in Santiago de Compostela, where we flew out of. The cathedral and the plaza were lit up for Christmas, and there was a nativity scene set up as well.
We flew into London on Friday night. We had the idea of staying at 5 different hostels for 5 different nights, so we went searching for our first hostel, which was in Picadilly, right in the middle of a really touristy area. The hostel reception area was in the basement, where the owners also owned a dark, mildly creepy Russian restaurant. Other than the creepy reception area, we took an elevator up to our room. We had picked a 10 person dorm, but fortunately we shared it was only one other Italian girl, so we got lucky because we had plenty of space and quiet. We went out searching for a good English dinner, and found a little pub where I got a burger with chips (fries) and a cider. It was very refreshing to order in English, and to be able to ask questions about the menu without it all the translations. We walked around a bit, and we were near Chinatown so we explored that. There were TONS of tourists, I was surprised by the massive amounts of Asians, Germans, Italians, and French people.
The next day, we met up with two girls I knew from my semester at URI who live right outside of London, so they came into the city to see us! We all went to a really delicious crepe place! I guess they're really popular in England. It was rainy and dreary, but we still walked around Oxford Street, which was insane! There were tons of people out and about, and even going into stores was packed. There were Christmas lights still up, so we took some pictures with them! It was as constantly confusing process looking out for what directions cars were coming from, because they drive on the wrong side of the road. There are also the double-decker red buses that London is famous for EVERYWHERE!
Our next hostel was pretty crowded. They were bunk beds, and we both had top bunks. They give you your sheets, then you have to make your own bed, which is an ordeal when you're in a really small top bunk jammed next to other beds. We went downstairs and there was a really big common area with tables set up, and soda and snack machines. So we stayed in and made friends with some nice German people! There were a ton of people down there socializing, so it was a good place to meet other travelers.
Then next day, the hostels provided free breakfast, which consisted of corn flakes, whole milk, and toast with butter & jelly, pretty basic. We then ventured off to the tube (the underground/ metro) and found Chipotle! It was delicious, and almost exactly like American Chipotles! It also wasn't very crowded, I guess the Brits haven't realized how awesome Chipotle is yet.
We found our next hostel, and set our stuff down, then ventured off to the London Eye! It's a really cool giant ferris wheel (the tallest in Europe) where you step inside a clear capsule, and it get a really cool 30 minute ride and view of all of London!
Massive amounts of people waiting
Big Ben & Palace of Westminster
View of the River Thames and what the capsules looked like- full of people
We got there around 2 in the afternoon, and we were told we couldn't even purchase tickets to the London Eye until 3. But, we got really lucky and a young British couple overheard us asking to buy tickets, and they sold us their tickets because they had to catch their bus. They sold us the tickets for half-price, which was great and saved us time! We ended up getting on at about dusk.
We went to our hostel, which was probably the worst one we stayed at. It was really crowded with people, and the bathrooms were really gross. The shower was lukewarm and for some unknown reason, shut off every 15 seconds, so that was not enjoyable. However, we met some awesome American girls in our room. They are from California, and had bought a Eurail pass, and are traveling Europe until April.
The next day, we decided to walk around and hit up all the touristy spots of London with the American girls.
We saw the Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, House of Parliament Square, and then checked out the Museum of London. All museums in London are free. It rained all day while we walked around, so it was also nice to get inside and be warm.
No comments:
Post a Comment