adventures in london!!!

DAY ONE: too tired to function

The travels all started Saturday, May 14th. (the day after my 21st birthday, so i already was pooped from all the drinking that had ensued the 2 days prior). Our flight was at 3pm, we had a lay over in Boston (ive always wanted to go there! too bad i only saw the airport), and then our flight to London was at 6:25. Well, those hours are kinda wrong cus our flight was delayed like an hour but thats the gist. Our arrival was at 6:20 am, so we were thinking we could stay up and watch a movie or two, and then sleep through the night. Oh wait, we are dumb because those 6 hours we planned to sleep were actually the time change and we got zero hours of sleep :(. 

We couldn't check into our hotel until 2pm, so our plan was to check our luggage and just hang in London till 2. Sounds good right? After seeing the London Eye, House of Parliament, and a long road of government type buildings, and eating at a weird tasting breakfast place, we were so tired we ended up napping in the downstairs of the McDonalds (all the Micky Ds here have at least 2 floors) one at a time. That didn't really suffice, so we went back to our hostel at like 11 and begged to get a room early and the lady finally sympathized and broke the rules for us. So nice!

A few hours later, at like 4ish, we finally left to go hit the town, still pretty tired though. We got off at Charing Cross station and walked around the Soho area to find food. We ate at a chinese restaurant which were everywhere (it was pretty good i guess, nothing amazing). Then we walked around looking a few shops, but everything had closed already because it was passed 6. 

Then we ran into this really cute pub called The Lyric and we had a pint and played cards for a while. On our way home we saw a random band performing on the street (i took a flip video), and the took some night pics of the London Eye, Big Ben, and the Westminister Abbey. 

DAY TWO: why aren't the guys with the black fuzzy hats at the buckingham palace?

We woke up early, and headed straight to the Buckingham Palace. There was a shit ton of people there, which we finally realized was because we had gotten there during the changing of the guards. But it was just boring black/red guards riding horses down the street, thats it haha. Wasn't even the red ones with the giant fuzzy hat. So to avoid the crowd we wondered around and found this amazing pub looking place, but on the inside looked like pottery barn meets anthropologie. And the food was amazing! Then we went back to the palace, took a bunch of pics, and walked around the entire garden (took like 15 minutes). There aren't any tours right now because the Queen is staying there, so we just toured the royal Mews, where they keep the horses and coaches. Pretty interesting, wish we got to see more horse action though and less coaches haha.

After stopping at a random coffee shop, we took the underground to Oxford street where all the main shopping happens. Went to TopShop, New Look, H&M (which had a tiny home store, kinda cool), Zara, and a couple other random ones. Bought a cute new purse! and lace tights. 

When we got hungry, we took the underground out towards Hyde Park to hopefully escape the masses or tourists. We ended up in a pretty residential area. Discovered that Tesco seems to be the grocery store of the town, we went into a Tesco Express. After more walking we found an italian restaurant. Had THE most amazing chianti wine, yum. But the food was just average, along with the service. Before we got our check, our waitor clocked out, changed clothes, and started drinking with his friends! We were super tempted to just ditch the joint without paying, but good morals overcame it and we had to get another waiter to get our check (plus a bad tip).

It was a freezing walk home, and we got lost and had to get directions because we were off our map. We made it though!!

DAY THREE: lets go live in the tower of london

We woke up at 12:30, to our dismay. We hurried to get ready and went straight to the Tower of London. This was by far the coolest part of the trip. The old castle/fortress/tower was so cool! Especially with the bleek london sky in the background. We got a tour from a guide to get a bit of history and then wondered around by ourselves. Every building had been converted into a walk through museum system. I kind wished it had just been set up to look like it used to, but it had been used as so many different things throughout the years and buildings have changed so i get it. Oh, and we saw the royal crowns! They have such big jewels they look fake! But obviously not. The aewsome guards with the fuzzy hats where guarding it (thank goodness, i needed to see one!).

Next stop, Tower Bridge, which is right at the tower of london. Now that is a gorgeous bridge. I could look at it for hours. That whole area was just breathtaking.

Then we were off to Shakepeare's globe theater! It looks exactly hour a pictured it, minus all the fancy modern buildings surrounded it. We managed to get lucky and grab some 5 pound tickets in the pit. Standing for 2.5 hours was so hard cus my legs are in such pain, but it was worth it. The show was As You Like It, done very well. I mean it was not my fav thing ive ever seen, but it was awesome to go see a play done like that. Cus it was a traveling show with an informal feel. They sorta "talk" to the audience and everyone claps when they do something well. Not interactive, but its obvious they we were there kinda thing.

Oh and before the play, we went to this chain called "eats" where its a bunch of premade food (kinda like at the airport) that you get togo or eat it there. Very yummy. 

Then we walked down the harry potter bridge, formally the millenium bridge, and it led to St Pauls cathedral. Lots of pics. Then we popped into the McDonalds cus i wanted to try the onion rings with sweet chili sauce. Quick walk down fleet street (not dark and gloomy btw) then to the underground and home.

Wish we got to see more, but now im off to Paris!!