London

Oops, I'm blogging about this WAAAY late, as usual. I sit at a computer all day long, you think I would have time to write a mere blog now and again. Oh well. I want to tell you about my spring break! (Yes, that was back in March...)

This trip was super fun because it was super spontaneous. As our last college spring break approached, Dan and I knew we wanted to do something really fun. We were going to go on a trip with a bunch of friends but that fell through. We had already taken time off of work so we just decided we would go somewhere fun on our own! We knew we wanted to travel internationally because, well, why not? The week before our break we had narrowed down our potential destinations to Paris, London or Dublin but we didn't want to book a hotel or anything until we knew we would for sure make our flights. Finally on the night before we left, after constantly checking the Delta openings we decided that London was our best bet. We got on Price-line and got an awesome deal on a sweet Marriott and packed our bags!

Now, I know that Dan and I are extremely blessed to fly standby and get to fly all over the world for free and discounted rates. But I'm going to rant for a second. Because trying to get London was one of the most exhausting experiences of my life. Basically, there was a flight that was wide open going to London that left from NYC. All we had to do was get to NYC. Well, ten minutes before our flight was supposed to leave for NYC, it got cancelled. Because of that cancelled flight, all the other flights that left to NYC throughout the rest of the day became oversold. So there was no way we were making it there. So instead we went to Atlanta because they had three flights leaving for London that day. Surely we would make it onto one of them, right? Wrong. They were all oversold. So we got stuck overnight in Atlanta and had to deal with some of the rudest customer service I've ever experienced. Sorry Delta, I love you, but it sucked (Except the lady who worked in ticketing that gave me a free coke. You know who you are and I LOVE YOU. Your kindness made me cry). AND both of our bags got sent to London. Without us. Ugh. So anyway, it was awful but it makes for a fun story now. What can you do? So the next day we tried again. We flew from Atlanta to Boston, to LaGuardia and finalllllly to JFK. THEN WE MADE IT ON THE FLIGHT TO LONDON. And we got to watch Frozen on the plane, so I'm not complaining any more.


So excited that we finally made a flight to London

Sunrise on the plane


We flew through the night so we made it to London at 5:30am their time. We retrieved our dearly missed bags, hopped on the tube and headed to our hotel. We were in dire need of a shower and a change of clothes. We gave in and napped for a little while but by midmorning we hit the streets and were ready to explore London! 
Waiting for the tube at 6am. I love to snap pictures when he isn't looking.
Our first day there we really just did all the typical sight seeing. We walked alllll over. We saw the London Bridge, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the Eye of the London. It cost a fortune to go on the Eye and the line was super long so we merely admired it from the ground. Also, because it was a Sunday, Westminster Abbey was closed to the general public and only open for members to worship. So we didn't get to go inside which was kind of a bummer, but we got to walk all around the gardens and stuff.

London Fire Memorial




London Bridge

Big Ben!

The Eye of London


Selfie in front of Parliament


Westminster Abbey
 
Buckingham Palace

I've been lied to my whole life. The guards do not wear red.


London is a really cool place. I've been to a lot of big cities (New York, Chicago, Paris, Rome, Florence) and I think London is at the top of my favorites list. On one side of the Thames is totally normal, urban city life. Huge skyscrapers, lots of modern architecture. And then you cross the river and it's like you're transported back in time. That's where all the old stuff is, like all the churches and castles and stuff. And then, there's just grass and ponds and beautiful parks just sprinkled throughout the city. 

In the middle of downtown...







We ate at pubs for breakfast, lunch and dinner while we were there. Because what else are you supposed to do in England? That night we went on a trek to find the Olympic Park from the 2012 Olympics. Ya know, from when the Fab 5 won all the gymnastics? We found it but there was a stupid fence around it so we couldn't get too close.



The next morning we barely caught a train to Oxford. Like, we were those people that were running through the train station. Ha, so embarrassing. I'm like, the only person in the US that has ridden a passenger train as a semi-normal form of traveling (okay, not really but it seems like it) but these English trains were way cooler. It was just like Harry Potter when they come up and down the aisle with the snack cart. So cool. Eastern US trains, please take note and improve.

Oxford was really neat. It looked a lot older and more studious than London. We went on a tour of of the colleges there, which are set up and ran soooo differently than here in the states. We spent an hour or so browsing this adorable bookstore. Oh, and we went to THE EAGLE AND THE CHILD. I was freaking out. I was where the Inklings met weekly. I sat where C. S. Lewis exchanged ideas with J.R.R. Tolkien about Narnia and theology and stuff that is probably way over my head. Holy moley. But sadly, the kitchen was closed for maintenance. So we just got drinks instead.


KFC in Oxford... Shaking my head

One of the colleges. I have no idea which one it was anymore.

Samies

REAL LIFE.

Geeking out.

We headed back to London in the late afternoon. We found a really cool restaurant district and ate dinner there and found a snazzy place for dessert. We window shopped in a fancy shopping district. And we realized that our tube tickets were good for all the double decker buses. So naturally, we just hopped on and off random buses for over an hour with no agenda or any idea where we were. It was great.

Top of the double decker

More selfies


We headed to the airport the next morning. The flights were wide open so we had no trouble getting home. In fact, they were so wide open that we got to the ride first class! First class on international flights is freaking awesome. I could write a whole blog just on that. 

Seriously, people. It. Is. Awesome.

Our trip to London was short but so much fun! I loved it and hope to go back very soon!




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