Just Touched Down In London Town

            For the last free weekend of our program London was a must! Although it was a very quick trip I think we saw a lot in the two days that we spent in London. Friday after classes Jess and I were in no rush to get to the train stations like the rest of our classmates were for their weekend travels because our flight didn't leave Prague until later that night! Luckily for us we could come back to our dorm and relax before leaving for another hectic weekend traveling. We got to the train station in Olomouc to catch our train to Prague at what I thought was 6:37 PM.... Turns out that I had booked our train for 6:37 AM instead and so we had to purchase another train to get to Prague. Thankfully there was another train that left to Prague a half hour later and we were still good on time to make it to our flight that night. I had never taken such a late flight to the point that everything in the airport was closed and there were hardly any people there compared to the usual people running to make it to their flights. Especially with all these terrorist threats going on around Europe lately, I felt safer with the airport being empty then its usual chaos. We finally landed in London around midnight and customs took about a half hour to get through until we could purchase a bus ticket to get us from the airport to the location of our hostel. The bus ride took about an hour and we made it to our hostel around 2 am completely exhausted and ready for bed! 

            Lack of sleep was a trend on this trip because we were up at 8AM the next morning ready for the day which began with a full English breakfast that only cost us 5£! We tried our hardest to eat and do everything cheap this weekend due to the fact that London is one of the most expensive cities and our bank accounts have been dwindling down the past few months. British Pounds is the currency in London making 1 British Pound equivalent to $1.5 USD which is VERY expensive on a college budget, luckily only two days were spent in this pricey city. After our English breakfast, on our first day of London we decided to see all the typical tourist sites such as Big Ben, the London Eye, and the London Bridge. To do so we had to figure out how to use the famous "tube" as called in the UK, it was a little confusing at first but eventually we got the hang of it. One of my favorite things to do when in a new city is to just wander around and stumble upon new things that you didn't expect to find, which is exactly what we did up until it was time for our show. We had purchased Wicked tickets in advance so we stayed out the whole day and grabbed dinner before it was time to go! The show was awesome, I had never been to a Broadway musical before so I didn't know what to expect and the show did not disappoint. The actors voices were a absolutely amazing and they made it so comical for the audience. I would highly suggest seeing Wicked to anyone that has not yet seen the performance! After the show and our loooong day of wandering and site seeing, we were pooped and ready for bed. 

English Breakfast

Big Ben

London Eye

London Bridge

London Bridge

Wicked

:)

            Another early morning was in store for us the next day so that we could accomplish all we needed and wanted to. With our flight leaving at 6AM and needing to be at the airport hours before we decided not to book a hostel for our last night in London meaning we had to carry our bags around with us all day. This was definitely a pain carrying around our bags especially when in large crowds and worrying of pick pocketers, but when you're ballin on a budget you do what you gotta do to save money. Our day started off finding our way to Camden Market, which was insane! I could've easily spent all day in this area of London, there were so many shops and booths in the market with clothing, artwork, jewelry and crazy good food and drinks to try. It is a must to come back and visit Camden Market and spend way more time looking around!

Camden Market

            After the market we found our way to a beautiful open park filled with people playing games and laying around enjoying themselves with family and friends. It made me once again realize how laid back everything was compared to back home. Where family time is more precious than work and really living in the moment. Thankfully for us this was a perfect place to set our bags down (use them as pillows) and take a much-needed nap. The weather was absolutely perfect for an outdoor nap in the park. After this we found our way to Buckingham Palace, got some coffee, did some souvenir shopping and I finally got to try the famous London "fish and chips" (fried fish and French fries) didn't disappoint by the way, other then the price of course. All in all it was another perfect day in London! Before we knew it we were headed on a bus back to the airport to spend the night on the airport floor and wait around until it was time for our flight. 

Park where we napped

Buckingham Palace

Fish and Chips

            London definitely is at the top of my list for favorite places I've been! In the short amount of time that we spent in London I honestly haven't felt more comfortable and welcomed in a city. It had a feel of home to it, which could have something to do with a lot of English being spoken (and their beautiful accents) but it was something other than that, the city was a perfect mixture of old and new with something to do wherever you went. I cannot wait to one day come back to London and spend more time wandering the streets and enjoying new things that I didn't have a chance to do this time around. I can't get over how lucky I am to be able to experience all that I have in these past few months. It has made me happier than I ever thought possible!

Over the clouds