February 28th, 2014 (Friday)
My flight to London was the first time I have ever flown by myself, or traveled anywhere by myself, really. It wasn't bad at all except for when I was boarding the plane at the Luxembourg airport, there were some people behind me talking about how the last few times they have been scheduled to fly into London City Airport, they couldn't land there because there were bomb threats and reports of suspicious activity. Luckily, I didn't encounter anyone with a bomb or any other type of weapon, although security might have seen me as a potential threat considering they asked me if I had any liquids in my bag, and not really listening, I said "no" when I absolutely did. So I got my facewash, moisterizer, and toothpaste thrown away (I actually just got back from the store re-buying what I hope are my lost items, considering I actually have no idea what the labels say). The flight was only an hour and a half, super easy. I met up with my friend Val who is studying in London, and Megan, one of our mutual friends who flew in from Chicago the same weekend, in the airport. One of those slow-motion running things that end in hugs. It was quite romantic. The hour-long ride to Val's house in Camden actually wasn't bad, because we passed by a lot of cool landmarks, including the Tower of London, the O2 (where Beyonce was performing ALL WEEKEND and we didn't know. Never speak to me of this, by the way.), London Bridge, and Liam Payne of One Direction's apartment building. Megan and I (especially Megan) were super tired from traveling, and Val had been at school all day, so we just chilled out at her apartment and ate some Mexican food. It was so great catching up, considering I hadn't seen either of them in over a year.
March 1st, 2014 (Saturday)
Saturday was (unfortunately) the only real day I had in London, and Val had class, so Megan and I woke up early to do as much touristy sightseeing as we could in our limited time. We started out taking the Tube to the London Eye and grabbing food at this place nearby called "Enough to Feed an Elephant." The eggs and croissants were good, but it was the name that sold us. After eating a delicious breakfast, we began the journey of going to the top of the London Eye, an approximately 400-foot high ferris wheel type structure that was only supposed to be there for five years, but its contract was extended because of how popular it was. We had to wait in line for a while to get tickets, and then they showed a five-minute 4-D movie, which was surprisingly pretty cool (and made us wish we were doing it at night). The view was absolutely amazing; I can't even describe how far you could see. And it was actually sunny, so that made the view even more perfect. I wish I could have captured the beauty and massiveness of the city in a picture.
My flight to London was the first time I have ever flown by myself, or traveled anywhere by myself, really. It wasn't bad at all except for when I was boarding the plane at the Luxembourg airport, there were some people behind me talking about how the last few times they have been scheduled to fly into London City Airport, they couldn't land there because there were bomb threats and reports of suspicious activity. Luckily, I didn't encounter anyone with a bomb or any other type of weapon, although security might have seen me as a potential threat considering they asked me if I had any liquids in my bag, and not really listening, I said "no" when I absolutely did. So I got my facewash, moisterizer, and toothpaste thrown away (I actually just got back from the store re-buying what I hope are my lost items, considering I actually have no idea what the labels say). The flight was only an hour and a half, super easy. I met up with my friend Val who is studying in London, and Megan, one of our mutual friends who flew in from Chicago the same weekend, in the airport. One of those slow-motion running things that end in hugs. It was quite romantic. The hour-long ride to Val's house in Camden actually wasn't bad, because we passed by a lot of cool landmarks, including the Tower of London, the O2 (where Beyonce was performing ALL WEEKEND and we didn't know. Never speak to me of this, by the way.), London Bridge, and Liam Payne of One Direction's apartment building. Megan and I (especially Megan) were super tired from traveling, and Val had been at school all day, so we just chilled out at her apartment and ate some Mexican food. It was so great catching up, considering I hadn't seen either of them in over a year.
March 1st, 2014 (Saturday)
Saturday was (unfortunately) the only real day I had in London, and Val had class, so Megan and I woke up early to do as much touristy sightseeing as we could in our limited time. We started out taking the Tube to the London Eye and grabbing food at this place nearby called "Enough to Feed an Elephant." The eggs and croissants were good, but it was the name that sold us. After eating a delicious breakfast, we began the journey of going to the top of the London Eye, an approximately 400-foot high ferris wheel type structure that was only supposed to be there for five years, but its contract was extended because of how popular it was. We had to wait in line for a while to get tickets, and then they showed a five-minute 4-D movie, which was surprisingly pretty cool (and made us wish we were doing it at night). The view was absolutely amazing; I can't even describe how far you could see. And it was actually sunny, so that made the view even more perfect. I wish I could have captured the beauty and massiveness of the city in a picture.
After we finished that, we grabbed Cornettos, which are basically just really really really good ice cream cones. (For those who are fans of The Inbetweeners -- when Jay asks the ice cream lady in the field trip episode "My Cornetto, do you want to lick it?" Yep, we got to lick it.) We ate our ice cream on the way to see Big Ben, the Parliament building, and Westminster Abbey, which are all right there next to each other across the river. It was so cool to see all these famous landmarks in person. Unfortunately, the Abbey was closed so we couldn't go inside, but at least we got to see it and take a bunch of pictures.
We tried to meet up with Val during her lunch break, but we got a little lost on the Tube and ended up missing her, so we went through a couple of the free exhibits of the British Museum. After that, we walked through Camden Market, which is this huge outdoor shopping area near Val's apartment. They have all kinds of food and clothing shops, so Megan and I got some pizza and crepes (yes, both) and headed back for the apartment to meet Val to get ready for the main reason why Megan and I came: Rizzle Kicks concert. We missed the first two openers, which was fine because we had listened to them on Youtube the night before and weren't particularly impressed. We were still able to get a good spot in the crowd because the floor of the venue was slanted, so you could see pretty much no matter where you were. The concert was absolutely incredible; the crowd and Rizzle Kicks had so much energy it was ridiculous. I was expecting to get pushed around, having to do some pushing, dealing with 14 year olds screaming "Have my babies!!!!!" and getting drinks spilled all over me like American general admission shows are, but this was SO different. Such a better experience; people were so respectful about your place in the crowd and everyone was there for the music, not to get drunk or to mess with anyone else. It was just so much fun, there is no other way to describe it. After the show, we went to Nando's, which is a restaurant that sells chicken, fries (chips, I should say), soups, salads, etc. We destroyed the three huge plates of food we ordered because we had done so much dancing and screaming during the concert. After finishing our super late dinner, we walked by Harry Styles' (my husband in One Direction) house. Now, before you all start drawing conclusions and judging, let me explain: it was NOT creepy. At all. We went to his neighborhood which is less than five minutes away from Val's apartment and stood at the top of the street while Val pointed out which apartment was his. We stood there for a few minutes and complained about him being in LA, then went back to Val's house where we crashed immediately.
March 2nd, 2014 (Sunday)
Sunday was pretty slow. We wanted to wake up early and go to Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross, but we were so tired that we slept in too late and didn't have time. We had reservations at this adorably cheesy tea place called Bea's of Bloomsbury at noon, so we headed out to that as soon as we finished getting ready. I had Earl Grey tea, but they had all different kinds. They also brought us out mini sandwiches and a whole tower of brownies, marshmallows, and cupcakes. I kind of had to hurry through my meal so I could catch a cab to the airport, since my flight left around 3pm. My cab driver was super nice and was asking me about life in the States. He asked where I was from, and when I said Ohio, he asked, "Is that like New York?" I explained to him that Ohio was mostly made up of cornfields and a couple bigger cities that were not like New York at all to which he replied, "Sounds pretty boring." After seeing everything Europe has to offer, I couldn't agree more. He was also pointing out more historic buildings as we drove to the airport, which was super interesting. The flight back home was pretty uneventful, which I guess is a good thing when it comes to flying. I got back to my house in Bettembourg at about 8:00 and got all caught up on The Bachelor and Teen Mom 2. London is my favorite place I have been so far, and I'm already dying to go back. Although we did a lot, there is still so much more I wanted to do, and I feel like I could spend a month there and keep finding things to do. I can honestly see myself living there, and I just absolutely fell in love with it.
Sunday was pretty slow. We wanted to wake up early and go to Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross, but we were so tired that we slept in too late and didn't have time. We had reservations at this adorably cheesy tea place called Bea's of Bloomsbury at noon, so we headed out to that as soon as we finished getting ready. I had Earl Grey tea, but they had all different kinds. They also brought us out mini sandwiches and a whole tower of brownies, marshmallows, and cupcakes. I kind of had to hurry through my meal so I could catch a cab to the airport, since my flight left around 3pm. My cab driver was super nice and was asking me about life in the States. He asked where I was from, and when I said Ohio, he asked, "Is that like New York?" I explained to him that Ohio was mostly made up of cornfields and a couple bigger cities that were not like New York at all to which he replied, "Sounds pretty boring." After seeing everything Europe has to offer, I couldn't agree more. He was also pointing out more historic buildings as we drove to the airport, which was super interesting. The flight back home was pretty uneventful, which I guess is a good thing when it comes to flying. I got back to my house in Bettembourg at about 8:00 and got all caught up on The Bachelor and Teen Mom 2. London is my favorite place I have been so far, and I'm already dying to go back. Although we did a lot, there is still so much more I wanted to do, and I feel like I could spend a month there and keep finding things to do. I can honestly see myself living there, and I just absolutely fell in love with it.