I have to say, London wasn’t at the top of my list of places I thought of when I was to study abroad. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I was crazy for not considering it. British accents, tea, Big Ben, and the Queen with her famous corgis how on earth had I not prioritized it more?
I then tried to book the trip in April, but the one person I was going to go with couldn’t go anymore. Discouraged, I stayed in Prague that weekend, though that really isn’t such a bad thing. So again, I tried to book the trip in May with a different group of girls all traveling from various countries. I had my ticket and when I went to look for housing, I came to realize every one of the girls couldn’t go anymore for a different number of reasons. I was in the same situation yet again, but this time with a $200 plane ticket in my name. I went back and forth on if I wanted to go or not as it was also my last weekend of the program and the weekend before finals, but finally decided that I would regret not seeing the city. Since they speak English in the United Kingdom and London seemed fairly easy to navigate, being on my own most the time while there didn’t seem like it would be much of an issue. London was calling and off I was to answer.
I flew to London on a Friday afternoon. Side note: I kept singing “Just touched down in London Town” in my head when I landed thanks to the song American Boy I listened to on repeat in the eighth grade. I thought I would have the rest of the day to explore, but what I didn’t realize is that it would take me about an hour to get through customs with interrogation from the border police and another hour getting public transportation tickets and boarding the Gatwick express to find my ride that was waiting for me at Victoria station. Now let me stop here and say it was so weird to hear English as I was walking around the airport and train station. I typically try to speak the language of a new place, fail, and then speak extremely slow and in plain English to try and communicate. I started to speak slowly in London as well until I realized that people can understand me and I can understand them. The lack of a language barrier was going to be my friend on this trip, I was sure of it.
Finally, I reached where I would stay for the next few days which is the posh area of Chelsea. The houses were beautiful and I felt like I was in Harry Potter world, which I suppose I kind of was.
The rest of the evening consisted of walking around Chelsea and Kensington, around to Hyde park, a fabulous French meal consisting of a beet and goat cheese salad, duck, and apple pie, and meeting with friends I knew studying in London.
When meeting with my friends, I tried and failed to catch a bus, which I found slightly embarrassing as I have recently been bragging about my ability to get around Europe. Eventually I made my way to my friends where we went to a trendy bar. I met a nice English girl who thought that I was the one with the accent. I was so taken aback when she looked at me wide eyed and asked where I was from because of my thick accent. We talked for a bit about where we were from, what our universities are like, what there is to do in London and I really like to think Emse and I are friends now though I may never see her and her cute little flower hairband again.
The next day was to be devoted to sight seeing. I woke up, grabbed a to-go coffee from a chain in London, and headed towards Buckingham Palace.
It was beautiful. With my luck, there was no changing of the guards ceremony that day, but at this point in my life I’m just shocked I’m thriving and surviving as much as I am. Besides, I could still see their fluffy black hats from the gates.
Unfortunately, the Queen nor her corgis made an appearance. I had looked into meeting the corgis before my trip, but it turns out they’re even more rare to see than the Queen herself. Sigh. Guess it was time to see Big Ben.
I learned that the giant clock we call Big Ben isn’t actually Big Ben. It’s some other name along the lines of Westminster clock and the actual Big Ben is simply the clock or gears inside. Regardless, I marveled at Ben, or whatever you want to call the large clock, in Parliament Square for a good amount of time. The wholes scene was perfect as double decker red buses scooted around the circle that held the parliament building, Westminster Abbey, various statues including Winston Churchill, and tons of Telephone Booths.
I had to get a picture with the phone booth so I found the two most American sounding girls who were discussing the requirements for their perfect instagram and asked them to take my photo. I knew I could trust them with my photo shoot.
Turns out, the girls just finished a semester at sea with a ton of students from CU Boulder. We talked about our mutual friends and our experiences. They were shocked I was by myself, but I was already really liking being completely on my own time. I was more observant of what was going on and felt more accomplished with little victories like getting on the right train in the tube system. I knew I loved traveling around the cobblestone streets of Prague alone most of the time, but Prague feels like home and this was all so new.
I had my small photo shoot, headed to see Westminster Abbey, and hopped on a double decker bus that takes people around the whole city. My friend recommended it, so I went ahead and got my ticket in advance and had to take advantage of seeing the sights from the famous tall red buses.
The bus really did take us all around, with commentary I might add. Now when I first got to Europe, I listened so intently to every fact and even took notes but at this point, I’ve gotten a little bit lazy with history. I still learned a thing or two about London though, like how there are 146 parks in the whole city or how Oxford street is over a mile of just shopping with over 40 shoe stores. Whoa.
The bus took us all over by Hyde Park, Oxford Street, Piccadilly, Victoria Station, and even to Trafalgar Square.
This is where I got off to do a Harry Potter movie tour. I met a girl from Ohio studying in France who’s name escapes me, but the two of us walked along the London streets to see various places young Harry and Ron visited in the movies I love so very much. Our guide was a pleasant English man with such a love for life. I was happy to see where J.K. Rowling got her inspiration for the Diagonal Alley and where the Ministry of Magic was located. It was proven to me here that I wasn’t quite the fan I thought, because some of the people in my tour really knew their stuff. Looks like I’ll be having a movie marathon when I get back to Colorado.
On our tour, I met a guy from Miami who found cheap tickets to London so decided to come to Europe for his first time. We talked a bit and actually sat next to each other on the bus as we continued to ride around London. It’s stuff like this I would never do when traveling with others, but I really do like meeting people and hearing their stories so I was enjoying myself.
The bus took us around by the London Eye, the Shard, St.Paul’s cathedral, and under the Tower Bridge. I got off at the Tower of London and my new Miami friend showed me a place for some good fish and chips.
I hopped on a cruise boat after this that took me back to Westminster. It was great seeing the views of the Tower Bridge and the eye from the water.
I bought some souvenirs and decided to make my way back, but not without a stop at Harrods.
I wondered the many rooms of luxury goods and naturally found myself at the food. Now remember those macaroons I got in Paris that I left in our Air BnB? No? Check out my blog Eiffel in Louvre with Paris to read about that, but anyways, they had a Laduree here. I had to get some macaroons for the cute box I was so sad I had left behind. I bought some other candies and marveled at the famous store.
Back to Chelsea I was where I had a nice late dinner. Exhausted, I went to bed with dreams of Camden Market in the morning which I had heard non stop about.
In the morning, I debated if the trek to Camden was worth it, and finally decided YOLO (You Only London Once) and I’m sure glad I went. It was awesome.
I walked through the hipster streets of Camden Town looking at the shops of leather jackets, shoes, souvenirs, vinyls, and more. The buildings were full of graffiti art and pop-up giant sculptures of people and what they were setting and everything in between. What really caught my eye was the food. Typical. I could have walked around there for hours, and I sure did.
I grabbed a latte from an Ethiopian coffee place and went on a hunt for the Mac N Cheese I was told so much about from The Mac Factory. It may seem a little cheesy, but it was totally worth the hype. Pun definitely intended.
I grabbed a drink and a seat to people watch and wait until it was acceptable to eat another meal. As a foodie, I was in absolute heaven with the street tacos, Indian food, vegan food, smoothies, donuts, bagels, and exquisite cuisine galore. There were too many things to choose from and I couldn’t decide on just one more thing but eventually landed on a pita bread filled with meats and veggies. Mmmm.
People watching here also proved to me that I need to marry a British boy and move to London. Why, you might ask?
- I can understand the language
- The boys are so very cute
- British accents
- Lots of motorcycles and mopeds just waiting for me to hop on the back of
- With my leather jacket I fit right into the hipster scene of Camden
- I love corgis
- I love tea
- I love London
After being sufficiently stuffed from both the food and feasting my eyes on cute British boys, I walked around some more through the narrow, crowded rows of shops with jewelry, clothing, tapestries, and more until I looked at the time. If I wanted to make it to Kensington Palace before my flight that meant I had to make moves.
A stroll through the gardens was wonderful. It was huge and families played while people rode on bikes and more. I sat by the palace for a bit and admired to view of the pond and building. I wish I had more time to ride a bike around the park or sit under a tree for a few hours, but unfortunately I had to make it back to the airport for my flight.
The airport was a complete disaster. The security line was extremely long. I talked to a British woman and her husband who said they have never seen the airport like that and usually just wizz on by. Good thing I had gotten there early, because I got to my gate just minutes before they closed it and we boarded the plane back to Prague.
London has so much to see and I’m hoping I’ll make it back one day to see everything I wasn’t able to this time and maybe enjoy some afternoon tea. Besides, I need to go back to find my British husband. I really enjoyed my time and London is tied with Paris for my second favorite city, Prague being the first of course.
Until my time back in the land of British boys, tea time, and phenomenal public transportation, ta-ta for now!
Czech Megan Out 
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