A few friends and I decided to take advantage of our mini break between our first month intensive course and the start of our full semester to travel to London and Paris within a four-day period– crazy as it seems, one destination wouldn't be enough. But we came back happy to say that while we knew we wouldn't get to see everything to its entirety, we soaked in enough of each city to return with a taste of each, and a sense accomplishment for having navigated our way to so many places on our own. When we landed in London late at night, we exited the plane via air stairs instead of a jet bridge to the terminal, which is one thing I've always wanted to do and have never experienced before. And after our first ride into the city, we of course our next bus was a double-decker, a second experience I've always wanted to have. Mind you, I didn't imagine doing either in chilly London fog in the middle of the night, but it was cool to check them off the bucket list :]
Since our trip was less of a cultural experience and more of a race to sight-see, we had quite the itinerary. Although the hostel we stayed at in London was a bit gnarly, the environment and the few hours of sleep we got there didn't impede our adventures the following day, as we managed to reach all of our intended destinations without any trouble. We were greeted the following morning by abundant sunshine and warm temperatures, obviously a rarity for London at the start of fall. Along our run around the city, we went from Trafalgar Square to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. James' Park, Buckingham Palace, Harrod's and walked through Piccadilly Circus at night. On our second day we crossed Tower Bridge to see London Tower, St Paul's Cathedral, and then crossed the river once more by way of Millennium Bridge to see Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Much of the 36 hours spent in London didn't feel real, it took a while to really believe that we were really there, just because of how little time we allowed ourselves to see so many things. If we had the time I would have liked to explore some museums and take the time to walk through the Palace and the Theatre and churches, but I'm grateful for how much we were able to see regardless.
[slideshow]
Being among the English language again was refreshing, but it was comical because we actually couldn't understand the accent at times.. especially in moments when we needed to, say on the bus trying to figure out which route goes to which street before it stops running. It was kind of bizarre. But it was a nice change in culture, in Spain everything is very relaxed, which I love, but being in London felt a lot more proper and regal. I couldn't even tell you how. In the air I guess.
Another big plus about visiting London was being able to meet up with two friends from home who are studying there this semester, and being able to tour the city a bit with them. Seeing familiar faces in a European city just makes the experience that much more surreal, and it only added to my desire to stay longer! In between sight-seeing our first day we enjoyed a nice break following lunch by lying in the cool grass of Hyde Park, something we apparently missed greatly, having been in the arid center of Spain for a month.
After a day and a half of maneuvering through the city, I still wasn't used to looking the opposite way first before crossing the street, and it slipped my mind to take a telephone booth picture, but hey, couldn't do everything! We didn't even eat real meals, not only because we didn't know of any "specialty" aside from fish and chips, we definitely didn't want to spend a lot, especially since we were in British pounds territory. We also didn't really factor eating into our schedule (oops). But soon I was in Paris, which was another adventure to itself, making London really feel like a figment of my imagination. Good thing I had my camera.. oh wait, my second battery died shortly after our last destination in England, my memory card was full, and I left my charger on my desk in Spain. Photographer fail. So began my month of TGFI (Thank God For iPhone), because it not only saved my camera dilemma for Paris (to an extent), but it made my weeks without a laptop a whole lot easier.
Coming up next: Pahree! (because it felt wrong to squeeze two cities into one blog post, I mean really, how could I).