London

This was a special trip for me; it marks the halfway trip for my journey abroad and I spent half of it touring around London by myself!

I am writing this from the Radisson Blu on Bloomsbury Street, my home for the past week! Since this trip was a little bit longer, I decided to split it up by each day:

First, I wanted to briefly note that the transportation in London is the best. The tube or the underground subway is the easiest thing to navigate. It takes you from one side of London to the other side and any part in between in about 20 minutes. It makes being a tourist very easy. For someone who is not a big fan of using public transportation, I really enjoyed it here.

Thursday

We arrived late Thursday night, which was Doyle’s birthday.
I instantly knew I was going to love London. I was first thrown off because there was no mask restriction, and I didn’t have to wear it at the airport. Then, I was confused by all the English-speaking people around me. For the first time in 2 months, I was surrounded by people whose first language was that of my own. Lastly, as we got in the car to take us to the airport, I was surprised by the steering wheel and side of the road that the cars drove on.
We got to our hotel and settled around 1:00am, and by that time, he was pretty drunk and decided to meet us. We had been given a complimentary bottle of champagne and drank that to toast him!

Friday

Friday morning, we had a slow start to the day (mainly Doyle). We decided to head down the road for a cup of coffee at the cutest shop.
After the caffeine gave everyone some energy, we headed right to the touristy part – Westminster! Here we saw Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. To get to Buckingham Palace, we walked through a park that felt so much like New York.
Buckingham palace looked exactly like it does in the movies or, for Friends attacks like myself, it looked a lot like it did in the episode of Friends where they went to London. I was honestly surprised by the lack of security around it. There was not much security besides the guards that didn’t move or show an ounce of emotion. You could basically go right up to the gate close to the palace itself.
After being a tourist in Westminster, we took the tube over to Brick Lane. We went to this massive vintage market which was an underground clothing store with many different vintage retail shops. If I wanted to blow more money, I probably could’ve spent all day in there. We loved it so much that Hunter and I actually went back on Sunday before her flight out.
After shopping for about an hour or so we took the tube back to our hotel to get ready for dinner and Les Miserables that night.
Before dinner we grabbed a drink, like real adults, at the hotel bar.
We spent the rest of the night in Soho, which was such a fun area. It’s definitely more of a hipster area and one that is mainly populated by people in their 20s. It is lively with bars and restaurants lined up throughout the entirety of it.
For dinner, we went to this incredible burger/chicken place. It was an amazing burger and I also had wings (for the first time in 8 weeks!) which I had with Buffalo sauce.
After dinner and a couple drinks that we had at dinner, we decided to go to a pub down the road where I had my first Guinness!
Also, a very important feature of this bar was that it was the first place where my ID was checked since I had turned 21. I felt badass, to say the least (even though I would’ve gotten in as an 18-year-old).
Les Miserables was set up at a venue that only had that musical for the season. I am not sure if this is typical in London, but I thought it was cool that London had enough people to attend the same performance at one venue for an entire season! It definitely says a lot about the culture here, or around SoHo.
The musical was absolutely incredible! I haven’t been to a musical in a couple years and totally forgot how much I love and enjoy them. I feel that every musical leaves you feeling so good and so energized and off of a high of what you had just seen. Which was perfect for us because we were heading right to the club.
The club, Tiger Tiger, basically ran a whole TSA pre check to enter the bar. They weren’t messing around. But the club was a blast, and Hunter, and I made friends with a guy from the Netherlands, whose birthday it was, and his group of friends!
On our way home, I found Sea Salt and Vinegar Pringle’s, which are basically my holy grail, so personally, that was my high point of the night.

Saturday

Contrary to Friday morning, Saturday morning was a slow start for Hunter and I.
But we got up, put on some cute outfits, and headed to Starbucks and a good bagel place.
After this we walked over to what we thought was London Bridge. We actually started creating an entire TikTok to the song London Bridge without realizing that the bridge we were on was called Tower Bridge. Quite an American mistake if I do say so myself. At least Doyle thought it was funny.
After seeing the bridge, which was so much more significant and gorgeous, we walked to the borough market and saw all the foods they were making there and then stopped at a small pub to grab a drink.
From then on, we sort of went barhopping, and we walked down the river to another pub and grabbed another couple of drinks.
On the way, Hunter and I saw a man who had a sign that said poet for higher pay what you want. And it was this man who was riding on his typewriter right off of the bridge, writing people poems. So for anyone who knows Hunter and I, we were all over this. We had walked up to him, and a lady was in line waiting for her poem he was writing.
I asked the lady what topic she chose for her poem, and she actually told me a remarkable story instead. She had told me that two years ago her friend had pushed her to get a poem from him. And at the time, this poem was the perfect advice that she had needed in her romantic life. Enough so that she hung it on her wall. The next day she went back to find the poet and thank him for his work and he was gone and then went back a week later, and he was still not there. And that Saturday, she walked down the bridge and saw him for the first time in a while. She went back to thank him and had him write her another poem on how they unexpectedly met. Minor interactions like this hold such meaning in everyone’s lives and is truly the coolest part of life.
When Hunter and I asked for a poem to be written, I had mine written on soulmates, and she had hers written on divine timing. Both are inspirational and theoretical topics that we both talk about a lot. So it was cool to get it in someone else’s words, especially when written down from a typewriter on a bridge and London. Definitely a memory neither of us will forget.
After getting a couple more drinks in our system, we felt compelled to get drunk Chipotle for the first time since we had been in madison. It felt like home!
We came back to the hotel, grabbed a drink at the bar, had dinner in the restaurant (including the best Lobster dish Hunter & I will ever have), and then Doyle met us back in my hotel room to pregame and go out to O’Neills!
O’Neill’s was probably my favorite bar I’ve been to abroad (sorry Lion’s Fountain). It is three stories, and most nights the first two stories have a live band that you can overhang the center and see the band from both floors. But this Saturday night, they had a live band on the third floor and a DJ on the first two. This was a bar that The Beatles and other reputable bands have performed at. The bar felt just like a holy land picnic and played all the same songs you might hear in Mount Calvary. It was so so much fun. Live music: just what Americans needed.

Sunday

Sunday morning, the rain was indeed falling, and we headed over to the World of Banksy, one of the coolest artists of our generations. Banksy is an artist whose museum I also saw in Prague. He is uber-successful and has been creating artwork and graffiti and subways for years, but his identity is completely unknown beyond his artist name of “Banksy.” Now his works are going for 10+ million dollars. He draws and creates things with irony, satire, and controversial humor. All in all, he is iconic.
Then we headed over to ‘The Shard’ which is the highest viewing point in London, similar to the John Hancock building in Chicago.
After this view Hunter and I, as previously mentioned, headed back to Brick Lane and both ended up buying cheap vintage cameras that were being sold on the street. All of Brick Lane feels like a bunch of streets of markets and live music — it is so cool!
Hunter, unfortunately, left for Rome that night, and I stayed in London for the next three days.

Monday

Monday morning, I got up and worked out in the gym. I then took the cable over the river to Greenwich, which was gorgeous.
I saw the Marine Museum, the Old Royal Naval College, the Queen’s House, the Observatory, the Prime Meridian, and the Planetarium at the top.
The Observatory at the top of the hill behind the Queen’s house was gorgeous it completely overlooked the city and the finance district of London. London is so beautiful and large, it was an absolutely breathtaking view.
Before I headed back for my sunset ride on the cable, I stopped at a little tavern to grab some nachos and a drink.
I cabled back over during the sunset and then took the tube back to my hotel, where I ordered room service and watched some TV. I felt like I could relax for the first time since I’ve been in Europe. That’s what spring break is all about anyway, right?

Tuesday

The sun was shining extra bright on Tuesday, so I took tubed back to Westminster and saw big Ben and Westminster Abby again in the sunlight. I then walked over to Piccadilly and visited the Circus/central Square and the National Gallery.
When I returned to the hotel, I got a quick workout in an empty gym which is my absolute favorite. I then came upstairs, showered, and got ready for a nice dinner and show by myself!
I grabbed a burger, fries, and a drink and then headed to see Dirty Dancing the musical!
This musical was such a blast! Everyone was singing and dancing to the songs! And the leading actor was handsome so every time he would come on stage people whistled and cheered.
At the end of every musical, I am always one to tear up. I am not sure why I think I am so overwhelmed by the emotions and finale that each musical ends with that I am just on a high of emotion.

Wednesday

Today is Wednesday and my last day in London. Today I got up and walked out again and then went to the cute little café next door to grab a breakfast sandwich and a piece of lemon bread.
I then walked over to Covent Gardens, where I spent a couple of hours shopping at the markets and walking around the stores within the giant facility.
It is a rainy day today, but I will grab a drink with Doyle in an hour and then dinner at Sky Garden!

London, you are one of my favorite places! I love you and the environment you have. Thank you for the hospitality; I feel like I’ve grown five years in 6 days.

It is crazy that tomorrow I will be in Dublin for St. Patrick’s Day and that this time Friday I will be in Scotland for a fashion show! Life is wild, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Here’s to doing laps around Europe!