London, United Kingdom

November 18, 2011

I have always wanted to come to London. I had a best friend who studied abroad here and has always convinced me to go to London. Well, that day finally came. I arrived in London at night so my friends and I took a taxi straight to our hostel. Once getting into the taxi, I noticed immediately that the cars drive on the left side of the road and the wheel is on the right. How weird!! The taxis were already my favorite. They were so small and vintage compared to the taxis in America. I loved them! To make it even better, the taxi driver had an accent–well of course cause he’s a native! I love the British accent!

Once we got checked into our rooms, we went to bed. The next morning we headed out to do some sightseeing and I couldn’t understand why it looked so dark out. I thought yea, the forecast has something to do with it obviously, but why did it look so dark. It was only noon. About three hours later the sun was already setting. I was so disappointed. I kept asking Judy, why is it so dark–in fear that it was because of time. I felt like most of my day was already gone. For the next day, we knew we needed to get up a lot earlier!

We spent the day in the Parliament Square area along the Westminster Bridge and we spent the night around the London and Tower Bridge.

Getting to the London Bridge was the highlight of our evening. We kept thinking that the London Bridge was the really big blue trimmed bridge. The bridge that everybody thinks is the London Bridge. Every time we asked people where the London Bridge is they kept asking us if we were sure we really wanted to go there. We were like, umm yes, its the London Bridge! Of course. Finally, an officer tells us–you think you want to go to the London Bridge, but actually what you are looking for is the Tower Bridge. Just trust me on that. I was still thinking, is he sure? Well…

The London Bridge versus The Tower Bridge:

The London Bridge:

The Tower Bridge:

Somehow after we left the tower bridge, we ended up at Picadilly Circus. It was hard to appreciate this part of London because it was already nightfall. But it was still very pretty.

The next morning, we went to Buckingham Palace and we were lucky because a whole parade or the changing of the guard was about to happen so we joined in for that. There were so many people but it was a unique experience seeing all the British flags and the horses and the whole sha-bang!

After we watched the changing of the guard, we went to the park next door and played in the leaves. They were really orange and it was that time of the year where you have to jump and play in leaves !! We had our fun and moved on.

We decided to go to back to Piccadilly Circus because it was much more beautiful during the day. It was a lot to see here which we could tell when we first came. We thought it would be worth it go come back during the day. We saw statues, fountains, shops and restaurants. Anything…name it, it was probably here.

We continued our wandering and came across some taxi’s–my favorite! I had to get a photo with the taxi’s and that is exactly what I did! We also saw British who were helping tourists bring their luggage into hotels. The fact that they were dressed in all their “British attire”…I was super excited. Not only was I in London, but I felt like I was in London! We also saw the red telephone booths. I couldn’t wait to go inside of one and take the ever so famous tourist photo.

Later that evening, we decided to go to Harrods. Harrods is a shopping center and its known for its tea room. I had to take this opportunity to be like a local and sip tea with my pinky sticky out. I just had too… And because my friend told me all about the Tea at Harrods, I drank a cup just for her… Then I mailed a post card in one of the “Royal” mailboxes.

The next day was our last day to spend in London. So we got up before dawn to make our last visit to “Tower” Bridge. The sun rising behind the bridge was amazing. Then we went to Abbey Studios where the Beetles recording their albums. Let me tell you–we tried to replicate the album cover of them walking across the street on Abbey Road and it was a totally fail. Cars kept passing by, we couldn’t get our legs correct when the photo was taken. It was a mess. So I said you know what, I want my own picture of me walking by myself. Memories…

Abbey Road and Abbey Studios: