London Trip (Blog #4 Due April 19th)

(Topic of My Own Choosing)

This weekend trip to London can only be described as a roller coaster of emotions.  It was a mixture of excitement, exhaustion, happiness and stress, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.  Friday, right after class, we had to head straight to the dorms to finish packing for our weekend trip to London.  Our train for Prague left right around 3:45 P.M., and our hectic journey began.  We arrived in Prague and boarded our plane around 9:30 P.M.  Since our flight was arriving in London at around midnight, we decided to be save some money and sleep in the airport for a few hours before our bus picked us up at 5:30 A.M.  We flew with RyanAir (super cheap airline for Europe) into the Stansted airport, which is actually quite far from the city. When we arrived, we went through customs and pulled out some British pounds from an ATM.  For how late it was, the airport was packed with people.  There was a countless number of people sleeping on the floor, which made us feel a little better knowing that we wouldn't be the only ones!  Once we found a somewhat cozy spot, we all sprawled out on the floor to try and get some sleep.  However, the floor was way too cold and the noise level was way too high.  Maddie and Lauren stayed up all night while Erica and I attempted to sleep, but I only ended up dozing off a few times throughout the night. Around 4:00 A.M. we got up to get ready for the day. I was tired, cold, and cranky but the fact that we were seeing London that day was getting me through the exhaustion! After a big cup of coffee and freshening up, it was time to board our bus.  The bus ride took about an hour to get to our stop, which was the Victorian Coach Station. This is where things went a little downhill. We wanted to go straight to our hostel to check our bags in, but little did we know that we were nowhere near where our hostel was.  Somehow we ended up way on the wrong side of London, but thank goodness the locals spoke English and were able to help us find where we were supposed to be. We bought a daily pass for the underground "tube" and headed way out into the direction of Acton Town.  When we walked out of the train station, we realized we were in a very different area of London.  It was not touristy whatsoever, and we knew we were very far from the big attractions we wanted to see. We finally came to our hostel, and it turned out that to be a pub with  hostel rooms upstairs.  No one was there, and we started to panic.

This is a hostel? No thanks!

We knew we did not want to stay there, so we got back onto the tube and went back to the Victorian Station.  Luckily, in the train station we found an information kiosk for hotels, and we booked a hotel right away.  It was a super fancy 4-star hotel for about $55 per person for one night, but we were desperate so we took it.  From there we went to our new fancy hotel and dropped off our backpacks so we could start sightseeing.  We knew we wanted to be in the area of Big Ben and the London Eye, so we started making our way towards those areas.  On the way we walked across the London Bridge, and took some pictures of the Tower Bridge as well.  It started to sleet/rain and we were hungry, so we stopped for lunch at a cute restaurant to get our classic fish-n-chips.  I am not a huge fish fan, but I have to say that it tasted pretty amazing!

Tower Bridge

Fish-n-chips!

After lunch we made the trek towards Big Ben.  After 20 or so more minutes of walking, we found ourselves standing next to the London Eye.  I was once again left speechless at the marvelous views of the Eye and Big Ben.  I was in such awe that I had to keep reminding myself that I was in London, and how lucky I am. Seeing Big Ben in person was something that I have always wanted to do, and I could not believe it was actually happening!  After taking some pictures by Big Ben we walked back over to the London Eye. We had pre-purchased our London Eye tickets online (best decision ever) and all we had to do was find the kiosk to print them off.  Since we had our tickets, we got to skip the huge line of people and go through the "fast track."  It only took a total of maybe five minutes for us to get our tickets and get on the ride.  I would imagine that the people who had to wait to buy their tickets would have been in line for at least an hour or two!  The views from the Eye were incredible, and it was so cool to be able to point out the different buildings we could see.  We were only on the actual ride for about 30 minutes, but I think it was worth it!

Big Ben

On top of the London Eye

After the Eye, we had plenty of time to spare before our scheduled night cruise.  We then decided to walk to Buckingham Palace, and ended up stopping at a couple of gorgeous parks along the way.  When we finally got to Buckingham Palace it was pretty crowded and there wasn't much to see, so we took a few pictures and headed back towards the river.  By this point we were absolutely exhausted, and our feet were hurting.  We had already walked over ten miles at this point, and we needed a break.

Beautiful parks

Buckingham Palace

 Our next stop was at an Italian cafe next to the Eye, and it was pretty pricey. Everything in London is expensive though, especially compared to Olomouc.  After we ate, it was already getting dark, so we headed over to find our boat for the river cruise. While waiting to board our boat I noticed a Ben & Jerry's vending machine, and I just HAD to get some ice cream from it.  I had never seen one before so I was super excited!

Best invention ever

I took the ice cream on the cruise with me, and sat back to enjoy the amazing views of London at night.  Seeing Big Ben and the London Eye all lit up was breathtaking.  We also had a very informative guide telling us about the different buildings along the river, such as the school where Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) attended when he was younger.

When the cruise was finished we were all beyond ready for bed, so we began to walk back. On our way back we noticed a crowd of people around a fenced in building, so we approached them to see what it was all about.  We ended up seeing Shaun Wallace (a guy who won Mastermind and is on the quiz show "The Chase") and although we didn't know who he was at the time, it was still exciting because we knew it was someone famous.

Shaun Wallace

When we got back to our fancy hotel, we all took hot baths and went right to sleep! After breakfast the next day, we headed straight for Kings Cross station to see the famous Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. It took us a while to find our way there, but once we got there it was so exciting! We took a few pictures there, and then realized we were running out of time.

Platform 9 3/4

We needed to get back to the Victorian Coach Station to catch our bus on time, so we headed back in that direction for our last couple of hours in London.  It was a little past lunchtime at that point so we stopped at one last cafe before going to our bus.  I was so sad knowing we had to leave London, but I knew I was returning to the Czech Republic with some unforgettable memories.  As I reflect on this trip, I can't help but think of the quote, "To travel is to take a journey into yourself." I could not think of a better quote to describe my feelings about London.  After experiencing the panic of staying at a creepy hostel, the frustration of endless train rides, and the pain my exhausted body felt after running on little to no sleep, I can truly say that I have learned more about myself on this trip than I have in my entire life.  I tested my limits, and was pleasantly surprised with how much I could handle.  Being in a foreign place can be scary, exciting, emotional, but most importantly-rewarding.  Seeing the amazing things that London had to offer made every bad/uncomfortable moment of travel worth it, and I could not be happier with the way that things turned out.  Overall, though the trip was short it was one that I will never forget. I hope that I can one day return to this wonderful city and visit more places such as the Harry Potter museum and Westminster Abbey.