Okay, so it's not technically my turn to blog this week but I thought I'd give you guys a quick briefing on my trip to London this past weekend! I've uploaded all the pictures HERE so you can check those out too! London is one of my favorite cities so I thought it'd be the perfect place to take my first trip to. I'd been there twice before and my friends Kelly and Stacey had never been so I told them that we HAD to go because I love it so much and wanted them to be equally obsessed.
THURSDAY
So after a hectic morning on Thursday (Kelly slept through her alarm and then we missed the bus to the airport) we finally arrived at our gate just in time to catch the bus to our plane out on the tarmac. It was a relatively uneventful flight and nice that Kelly, Stacey and I were able to sit together. We landed at London Heathrow at about 4pm and took the Tube for about an hour into Russell Square (One of Stacey's friends from Colgate is studying abroad and lives there). We hung out for a little bit but were quickly informed that Kelly and I would NOT be able to spend the weekend at their apartment because some of the roommates were opposed to the idea of extra guests.... annoying but there wasn't really anything we could do about it. Luckily, there was a hostel close by and we booked the night there Thursday. Kelly and I stayed in a 4 person room with another random girl from Australia who was travelling around England and about to start a new job in London. So we met back up with Stacey and her Colgate friends and went to an authentic British Pub for dinner. It was a delicious dinner and kind of nice to have a menu in English and an idea of what I was ordering :) So everyone was pretty tired so they headed back to their apartment and Kelly and I went back to the hostel to find that it was karaoke night at the bar inside. We hung out for a little bit and laughed at all the funny American songs that people were picking and met some nice guys from Turkey. We finally worked up the courage to sing one ourselves. I have to admit that it was my first time singing karaoke and I think we did an okay job. After thoroughly embarrassing ourselves in front of the entire hostel, we headed upstairs to get a goodnight sleep for the long day we had planned on Friday.
FRIDAY
We woke up early on Friday and were extremely ready to check-out of the hostel. We figured we'd look around for different hotels and check out the prices before booking another night at the "Generator". So we walked over to meet Stacey and her friends Samantha at her apartment and we took a cab to Harrod's. We spent probably an hour or so walking around Harrod's and ooo-ing and ahh-ing at all the things we couldn't afford. After we left we walked down the street and did some more shopping on our way over to Hyde Park/Buckingham Palace. I bought an AWESOME leather jacket for about 40 pounds at TopShop and I am absolutely in love with it! We kept strolling and eventually hit Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey before stopping for lunch at another pub. Luckily it was a beautiful day and not too cold out. Funny enough, we ran into another group of girls from IES Barcelona who were also in London for the weekend. Small world huh? After lunch we headed over to Covent Gardens to wrap up the sightseeing for the day. We sat at a super cute cupcake store and did some more shopping/looking at all the cute things wishing we had money to buy them. After Covent Gardens they headed back to Sam's apartment and Kelly and I went to the hotel we had booked. After a quick lay-down, Kelly and I got up and went to a delicious little Chinese resteraunt for dinner. It was soooo yummy (especially the banana fritter we had for dessert!). Friday night we went out to a couple bars/clubs and met some really cool people from all over. Some girls from Chile, Washington DC and some guys from France. I tried speaking French with them but my head is all jumbled up with Spanish now so I got a little confused but still managed to do quite well :)
SATURDAY
After our long day Friday, it was really nice to sleep in on Saturday. Kelly and I woke up around noon and took our time getting ready and everything in the morning. Stacey and Samantha really wanted to do Portabella Market, so they got up early to go do that while Kelly and I hung out and just chilled for a little. When we finally motivated ourselves to do something, we decided to go checkout Piccadilly Circus. Its AMAZING. The only thing I can compare it to is Time's Square. It's block upon blocks of shopping, restaurants, theaters, clubs and bright lights. So much fun! We pretty much spent the day wandering around until we decided to stop for dinner. After dinner we thought it'd be fun to go see a movie. We looked at a couple theaters until we picked Revolutionary Road. Both of us had wanted to see and so we thought why not? Let me say that the movie theaters in London are nothing like the ones in the States. Rather than little theaters, they are HUGE like auditorium theaters with balconies and a stage in front of the screen. The movie was good, kind of depressing but good, and then we headed back to meet up with Stacey and Samantha at their apartment. We made a game plan for the next day to meet up early and go to the London Eye and headed back to the hotel.
SUNDAY
Sunday morning we work up early (like 9am) and headed straight to the London Eye to get there when it opened at 10 in order to avoid lines. It wasn't very clear out but we were still able to get some amazing views of the city. After the eye we wandered around for a little bit and then headed back to Samantha's apartment to go find some lunch. We went to this cute little crepe place for lunch that was super yummy! While we were eating it started BLIZZARDING outside. I'm sure as you all heard, London got their biggest snowstorm since 1991 on Sunday/Monday. Our flight was at 3:30pm so we headed back to catch the Tube to the airport. We finally arrived back in Barcelona around 8pm and were COMPLETELY exhausted. As much as I wanted to, I wasn't able to make it out to watch the SuperBowl on Sunday though. As much as I love London and traveling, it REALLY is exhausting!
Things here are crazy with the Al-Queda arrests in Barcelona too. Our program keeps sending out emails to everyone trying to keep us all informed and calm about the situation. Well.... next weekend I am headed to Amsterdam so I will keep you all updated when I get home from there too!!! Hope everything is well with everyone! I'm trying to send out some postcards in the next couple weeks so if you want one, make sure to email me your address!!! thorpeme@muohio.edu I would love to hear from you!
Adios! Molly
THURSDAY
So after a hectic morning on Thursday (Kelly slept through her alarm and then we missed the bus to the airport) we finally arrived at our gate just in time to catch the bus to our plane out on the tarmac. It was a relatively uneventful flight and nice that Kelly, Stacey and I were able to sit together. We landed at London Heathrow at about 4pm and took the Tube for about an hour into Russell Square (One of Stacey's friends from Colgate is studying abroad and lives there). We hung out for a little bit but were quickly informed that Kelly and I would NOT be able to spend the weekend at their apartment because some of the roommates were opposed to the idea of extra guests.... annoying but there wasn't really anything we could do about it. Luckily, there was a hostel close by and we booked the night there Thursday. Kelly and I stayed in a 4 person room with another random girl from Australia who was travelling around England and about to start a new job in London. So we met back up with Stacey and her Colgate friends and went to an authentic British Pub for dinner. It was a delicious dinner and kind of nice to have a menu in English and an idea of what I was ordering :) So everyone was pretty tired so they headed back to their apartment and Kelly and I went back to the hostel to find that it was karaoke night at the bar inside. We hung out for a little bit and laughed at all the funny American songs that people were picking and met some nice guys from Turkey. We finally worked up the courage to sing one ourselves. I have to admit that it was my first time singing karaoke and I think we did an okay job. After thoroughly embarrassing ourselves in front of the entire hostel, we headed upstairs to get a goodnight sleep for the long day we had planned on Friday.
FRIDAY
We woke up early on Friday and were extremely ready to check-out of the hostel. We figured we'd look around for different hotels and check out the prices before booking another night at the "Generator". So we walked over to meet Stacey and her friends Samantha at her apartment and we took a cab to Harrod's. We spent probably an hour or so walking around Harrod's and ooo-ing and ahh-ing at all the things we couldn't afford. After we left we walked down the street and did some more shopping on our way over to Hyde Park/Buckingham Palace. I bought an AWESOME leather jacket for about 40 pounds at TopShop and I am absolutely in love with it! We kept strolling and eventually hit Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey before stopping for lunch at another pub. Luckily it was a beautiful day and not too cold out. Funny enough, we ran into another group of girls from IES Barcelona who were also in London for the weekend. Small world huh? After lunch we headed over to Covent Gardens to wrap up the sightseeing for the day. We sat at a super cute cupcake store and did some more shopping/looking at all the cute things wishing we had money to buy them. After Covent Gardens they headed back to Sam's apartment and Kelly and I went to the hotel we had booked. After a quick lay-down, Kelly and I got up and went to a delicious little Chinese resteraunt for dinner. It was soooo yummy (especially the banana fritter we had for dessert!). Friday night we went out to a couple bars/clubs and met some really cool people from all over. Some girls from Chile, Washington DC and some guys from France. I tried speaking French with them but my head is all jumbled up with Spanish now so I got a little confused but still managed to do quite well :)
SATURDAY
After our long day Friday, it was really nice to sleep in on Saturday. Kelly and I woke up around noon and took our time getting ready and everything in the morning. Stacey and Samantha really wanted to do Portabella Market, so they got up early to go do that while Kelly and I hung out and just chilled for a little. When we finally motivated ourselves to do something, we decided to go checkout Piccadilly Circus. Its AMAZING. The only thing I can compare it to is Time's Square. It's block upon blocks of shopping, restaurants, theaters, clubs and bright lights. So much fun! We pretty much spent the day wandering around until we decided to stop for dinner. After dinner we thought it'd be fun to go see a movie. We looked at a couple theaters until we picked Revolutionary Road. Both of us had wanted to see and so we thought why not? Let me say that the movie theaters in London are nothing like the ones in the States. Rather than little theaters, they are HUGE like auditorium theaters with balconies and a stage in front of the screen. The movie was good, kind of depressing but good, and then we headed back to meet up with Stacey and Samantha at their apartment. We made a game plan for the next day to meet up early and go to the London Eye and headed back to the hotel.
SUNDAY
Sunday morning we work up early (like 9am) and headed straight to the London Eye to get there when it opened at 10 in order to avoid lines. It wasn't very clear out but we were still able to get some amazing views of the city. After the eye we wandered around for a little bit and then headed back to Samantha's apartment to go find some lunch. We went to this cute little crepe place for lunch that was super yummy! While we were eating it started BLIZZARDING outside. I'm sure as you all heard, London got their biggest snowstorm since 1991 on Sunday/Monday. Our flight was at 3:30pm so we headed back to catch the Tube to the airport. We finally arrived back in Barcelona around 8pm and were COMPLETELY exhausted. As much as I wanted to, I wasn't able to make it out to watch the SuperBowl on Sunday though. As much as I love London and traveling, it REALLY is exhausting!
Things here are crazy with the Al-Queda arrests in Barcelona too. Our program keeps sending out emails to everyone trying to keep us all informed and calm about the situation. Well.... next weekend I am headed to Amsterdam so I will keep you all updated when I get home from there too!!! Hope everything is well with everyone! I'm trying to send out some postcards in the next couple weeks so if you want one, make sure to email me your address!!! thorpeme@muohio.edu I would love to hear from you!
Adios! Molly
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