My weekend on the "tube"

I spent this past weekend exploring London with three other Ball State students. We left Dublin on Friday but not until seven o'clock, therefore we didn't get to do much exploring Friday night. When we got there we focused on finding our way around the "tube," otherwise known as the subway, and getting food, which we did get from subway (see what I did there?).

After eating dinner we went to a few pubs. We just wanted to get a few drinks and explore the area of London we were staying in, it was called Camden. Camden was busy during this time of night. We went to a pub that was playing Jamaican music. One thing we noticed the first night out was that people in London weren't as open to talking to foreigners. I felt as if we socialized more in the other countries than in London. But for the people who did talk to us Friday night, I fell in love with their accents.

So, finally at two in the morning, we made our way back to the hostel. The hostel was pretty clean, for a hostel that is. We had our own bathroom and it was just the four of us in the room which was nice. We didn't have to lock our belongings up in a locker, just had to make sure the room was locked when we left.

On Saturday we did a lot. We started our day off with seeing the guard change at Buckingham Palace. This was probably one of my favorite things. First off, it was packed. I didn't realize how many people come to watch these things. Second, I didn't realize how much there was to it. I expected us to go there, watch them march in and out then be gone in 10 minutes. Instead, they march in, with bands, and play a few songs for the crowd. I absolutely loved it. Especially because the first song played was from Pirates of the Caribbean.

We were lucky enough to get a pretty close spot to watch. We were second row, right next to the gate opening where the old guards and the bands marched out of at the end.

Once we saw the guard change we then made our way to the London Tower. This tower was filled with history. The coolest thing that we saw in there were the Crown Jewels. I loved going through the Crown Jewels museum because it taught so much history about the ceremonies and who was chosen when and also that the jewels had to be remade after the Civil War in the 1600's, when everything was destroyed. The jewels were beautiful. I can't believe that they are used by the queen herself, not often, but she has used them for specific ceremonies. I would be too afraid that I would break them.

After the tower, we made our way back to the London Eye. This was located near Big Ben, which has been one of London's landmarks that I have always wanted to see. This clock is astonishing. It is large and defined. Even though we didn't do any tour of Big Ben, I still enjoyed gazing at it like a typical tourist.

 After we walked a bit we went to the London Eye. This is basically a Ferris wheel looking contraption. It has rooms that you can stand in that take you around this large Ferris wheel where you see almost all of London's skyline. This event made me realize just how big London is. We could see far and wide for miles and yet we still did not see all of London. London is a enormously beautiful city. I enjoyed the London Eye, but I do think it would have been better in the dusk or even night time to see all the lights around the city.

Finally, after a long day of walking and tourism, we made it back to the hostel. The hostel, did not have any towels, so when I showered for the night, I dried off with one of my bed sheets. They were definitely not as absorbent as regular towels, but it got the job done. If I wanted a towel I was going to have to pay 7 pounds for one, which is about 10 dollars. I didn't think one towel was worth it.

That night we went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Wahaca. It was DELICIOUS! It was a Tapas restaurant but I actually got a big burrito meal that was exceptional. My favorite part may have been the two tequila shots we took at the end of our dinner. It was like a little bonding moment because one of the guys with us had never had a tequila shot before, so we had to teach him all the tricks, like the salt, shot, lime.

After dinner one of the girls and I went out to a club downtown London. It was fun for the most part but the music was EXTREMELY loud. Louder than any club I have been to. The club was cool though because it had several rooms you could go into and dance. But the dancing is what got me. I don't know if it's just me but I feel a bit awkward just swaying in the middle of the dance floor. But this is what people in Europe do. I wasn't sure if boys were dancing with me or not because they would look at Laura and I, continue swaying, get a bit closer, but not say a single thing! I wasn't sure if this counted as dancing or not. In the end, Laura and I just ended up walking away each time to go to the bathroom, so we will never know!

On Sunday we wanted to go see West Minister Abbey buttttttt it's closed on Sunday's for service. We should have known that. We were able to walk around it and it is still a beautiful building. The outside is so stunning that I can't imagine what the inside looks like.

After looking around the building we decided to go to the Tower Bridge. This was on another side of the city so we had to take the "tube" to get to it. The tube is the subway (as I mentioned before) and we probably rode it 10 or more times this past weekend. I enjoyed it because I have never rode a subway before. Supposedly, London has an impeccable underground system. It was pretty simple to get around, which I liked.

So, we got to the Tower Bridge and walked across it. It was beautiful. I enjoyed the view from the Tower Bridge but I mainly enjoyed the view once we were across it looking back at the Tower Bridge. It truly is a remarkable bridge that I understand why it is used as a main landmark in London.

Once we were done at the Tower Bridge, we then did not do any more touristy things. We went to Picadilly Circus and found a place to eat. This place was delicious. It was like a Dinosaur Diner that served DELICIOUS burgers. I got mine with cheese, bacon and guacamole on it. Guacamole makes anything and everything better.

After lunch we made our way back to the airport and back to Dublin in general. The weekend was great, yet exhausting. London is a huge city that trying to fit in a lot of it in one weekend just can't happen. Especially when the weekend is one of their hottest of the summer. But nonetheless, I enjoyed every thing we did, no matter how much my feet hurt or how bad my shoulders are peeling right now. This trip had so much history in it and I'm glad I got to witness at least a third of the city. I plan to be back in the future, maybe to live there or maybe just to visit, who knows.

OH! One last thing. On Saturday we were walking down Brick Lane. Here we found a Vintage Market which I fell in love with. It was in the basement of a building and it just had a ton of racks filled with vintage clothing. There were over-sized sweaters, my favorite, high waisted shorts, my favorite, an abundance of flannels, my favorite and much more. I purchased two things from this store, they were SUPER high waisted shorts that have been bleached and designed very cool as well as a awesome Chicago flatbill hat.

The only thing that I will keep in mind for the next time I make it to London is how expensive it is. First off, they use sterling, which is like a 1.6 conversion rate for the dollar. Second, they are a city, so of course everything is a bit more expensive than usual. So, when I come back, I am going to either have to have a solid job to live there or been saving up for a few years to be able to afford what I will want to do.

Sorry this blog is like all over the place, I'm just not too focused because I'm too excited that my family gets here TOMORROW! It's all I can think about and I can't wait. It's been seven weeks too long without them.

I also can't believe that my summer across the pond is coming to an end so soon. Thank you to everyone who has supported me! I can't wait to be back with you all. Love each and every one of you.