Before heading back to Florence for my second semester, I decided to go on a small adventure to the oh so beautiful London.
Soaring before dawn. Glimmers of orange twinkling through the mist of clouds. A picturesque image appearing like the northern lights. A sense of home settled within me. I fell in love, and that was just the beginning.
Day 1: Finally the day has arrived, my dream has come true, I am now in London!
Day 2: Esther, her daughter, Aaron, and I decided to start off the day right and go out to a pub. We went to the Wellington where I had my first London brewed beer. We continued our journey to see the London Eye and London Aquarium.
Day 3: The official start to my sight seeing. Esther and I started off with a 45 minute journey to Nottinghill. Such a pretty area! We walked down Portobello Road checking out all the markets and ended up talking to an owner of an antique shop who had been around since the film Nottinghill was shot and gave us the DL on the movie. Of course being a tourist, we had to go check out all the spots. We ended up going to the bookstore where part of the film was shot, which is actually a shoe store now. We then went to the bookstore in which the store from the movie was based off of. And across from there was the blue door, which in fact isn't the original blue door. The original one is now somewhere in the middle east. After Portobello Road, Esther left me to my travels and on I went. Now, side note, I am used to Florence where, on a map, everything looks far away yet in reality it is all extremely close. London however is not like that, and this girl did not take the tube once during the day. From Portobello Road, I headed out to Kensington Palace and garden area where I had a little picnic by the lake. I came across Royal Albert Hall and after snapping a few shots, carried on to the Victoria and Albert Museum. By far my favorite museum out of all the ones I went to, and trust me, I would know considering I meandered around six of them! I went at the perfect time because they had a temporary exhibition on the decades of fashion. They also had a amazing jewelry collection. After the museum, I headed down Brompton Road. I decided to take a "short cut" in order to get to Buckingham Palace and failed miserably. Coming to realize I was at the backside and had to walk around the entire palace area. As much as the palace is a hot spot for tourists, the architecture is, no offense, lame. The best part is the gold fencing on the front part. It is though a cool view from the large fountain in front of it. From Buckingham Palace, I walked through Saint James Park. I ended my days taking some great pictures of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey during the evening skies.
Day 4: As you can probably tell from Day 3, I was a tad bit exhausted from walking everywhere but that did not stop me from walking everywhere yet again. Honestly though, it is the best way to get to know a city. You happen upon so many un-expecting sights and getting lost is the fun of it. I started my day where they change the guards although, I did not get a chance to see it. From there I walked up to Trafalgar Square, which is a cool area with a fountain and arch. One of my favorite things about London is how they built the new buildings around the old architecture and really adapted to the surroundings of history. The National Galley is also in that area and is where I headed to next. There, I saw some paintings by Monet as well as other impressionists. I also ate lunch there and had delicious pumpkin soup and quiche, of course with a cup of English tea. After my lunch date for one, I headed back out to Trafalgar Square and checked out a church called St. Martins in the Field, turns out though they were having a service while I was trying to sight see. At this point, I decided to head to the south side of the river. I walked across the Waterloo Bridge where I snap a kick ass selfie of me and the London Eye. It was a really pretty view from there, I could also see Big Ben. I took a little stroll down the river and ended up at the Tate Modern Museum. After the museum I journeyed across the Millennium bridge which gave me another gorgeous view of the London Tower Bridge as well as St. Paul's Cathedral.
Day 5: Esther re-joined me today for my first true English Breakfast at Fox & Anchor. I highly recommend this. It was a chill little hide away pub. The breakfast was strange, beans & toast, eggs, black pudding, sausage, tomato, mushroom, and ham. As strange as it sounds it was delightful! Due to cold weather, we came to the conclusion that we would warm ourselves up with a shot of Rum. Today was my day of museums; I needed about three more of those shots. I started at the British Museum. Don't go. For all my Kansas people out there, it is exactly like the Nelson Art Gallery. They only interesting part for me was seeing architecture from the Parthenon and archeology from different parts of the UK. The main reason why I enjoyed it was because Freshman year of college, I took History of Architecture both semesters. It is one thing to learn about things, but its another to actually see it in person. That's what was amazing, having the knowledge and then seeing it first hand, and that's practically with everything I have gotten to see traveling. I then went to another museum called Sir John Soan's. This I would recommend because it's not your a-typical museum, it's a guys house. I would however do some background research on it though because I was a little lost in the matter and didn't want to pay 5 pounds for a brochure. After two museums, I was in need of some coffee. Ended up at this cute little café and had another good quiche. I bet you can't guess where I went next! Ding ding ding... The Courtyard Gallery. I was a little disappointed in the gallery. It was a very small and many of the exhibits were closed off. My favorite part was the free photography exhibition that was being showed, they were all portrait shots of famous actors and actresses. Came across an interesting question that I'll share as some food for thought for you today " Do you think we choose the times into which we are born? Or do we fit the times we are born into?"
Day 6: As much as it pains me to say this, I went no where and it was wonderful! That night, Esther, Aaron, and I ventured out to a Lebanese restaurant for dinner where we watched some belly dancers preform. Following dinner we went to a shisha bar and smoked for awhile. Met an interesting fellow there who was a professional when it came to the cause. Brilliant on the shisha matter, he turned us on to an apple and mint mixture. For any that do smoke shisha, you will not regret it. We ended our night at a bar playing pool.
Day 7: Esther and I decided to make our way back to Portobello Road to do a little shopping. While there, we happened upon an Organic Café. Amazing fish & chips as well as salmon cakes (yep salmon, not crab). Later on that night we got dressed up and spent a night on the town in Leister Square. Pub then club.
Day 8: Saturday. We had all these plans to actually make it out of bed, however, it didn't go as smoothly as we anticipated. Fast forward to dinner at Nandos. This place is brilliant! I wish they were in America. Its a grilled chicken place where you can order a 1/4, 1/2, full, sandwich, wrap, pita, salad. You also get to pick your sauce for your chicken which they specialize in. Great, easy, simple and healthy option when you don't want to cook at home. Popping a little champagne to start the night, we decided to head out to Essex to do a little partying. Needless to say it was an interesting scene. To give you an idea, Essex is to London as New Jersey/Jersey Shore is to New York City. Ended up enjoying ourselves anyways though.
Day 9: Sunday is the time to go to the Camden Markets and that is exactly what we did. As soon as we go there we hit up a little Pub that was real chill. Had yet again some good sweet potatoes & salmon cakes. After some much needed energy, off we went to the markets. Camden Markets were HUGE! I was not expecting it to be as much as it was. It is hard to explain, you just need to go and see for yourself. Overall fun day just walking around!
Day 10: Flight back to Florence =(
10 days in London was far too little for me. I could spend a lifetime there and it still wouldn't be enough. By far my favorite place I have been to and a bit of that could have to do with the fact that i had such great company! I want to say how grateful I am to have met Esther in Florence last semester. We met walking about the city one night, both looking for a club to head to. We hung out for two nights in Florence and hit it off, ending it with a come visit me in London. I can now say I have a new amazing friend!
I was sad to leave London but know I will be back again soon.
My apologize for the long post but I hope you all feel like you have experienced a sliver of London while reading!
Next to come: New Semester, New Roommates, New Adventures.
