I could live in London. Aside from the fact that I paid 1 buck 80 for a pound, things could not have gone better! I’m a fan of the cold so the weather is ideal, I’m a fan of british men so the dating field is spot on, I’m even a fan of really cool museums and big cities so London may or may not be my perfect place.
The last 4 or 5 days have been some of the most fun in my life and I’m so happy to share my London half of my 9 day vacation!
To start with .. I thought Rome’s public transportation was confusing. Turns out 2 lines are a breeze compared to London’s million. By the end of the trip I can happily identify myself as a master of the tube system. On the first day we were utterly exhausted. Our bus was late pulling in, we struggled to find the apartment, and we were an hour late checking in. During all this time I was messaging my youth minister from Tampa who now lives back in England! 30 minutes after we settled in I had to brave the tube to go meet up with him! It was really great to catch up with him.. over my first English Guinness! It was a great evening and I was happy we were able to meet up.
I got back in the evening and the door to the apartment was locked and nobody was answering – Michelle and Renoli (my roommates) had fallen asleep and left me sitting outside in the freezing cold London air for an hour and a half. I was displeased. However once I finally got in by tailing behind another family staying in the apartment I passed out right alongside them. We woke up at around 2 am and for some reason we were craving some McDonalds. So at 2:30 in the sketchy streets of London we braved the cold to get a 20 nugget pack, fries, and a milkshake. Along the way we saw a drug deal go down, someone snort something at a bus stop, and a fox. Yup – this was my introduction to England!
That big pile of eggs? That quickly became our morning routine. We saved $$$ and got more protein in 4 days in London than we had in a month in Rome.
Our first full day in London was incredible! We stopped at Haagen Dazs for coffee and ice cream at approximately 8 a.m. When in England, amiright?
Then our group of 6 went by the National Gallery and saw some beautiful paintings. I’ve become accustomed to the statues of Italy so it was refreshing to see some paint for the first time in a month. I especially loved the National Gallery because it was heavy on the religious art, which I find to be the most interesting. I loved seeing the same scene depicted differently by different artists and I spent a lot of time just speculating on what must have been going on in the artists’ minds as they managed to convey something so intangible into something captured by paint on a canvas.
Afterward we split up (surprise!) because Michelle and I bought the London pass which granted us access to unlimited public transportation and free entry to all the “big” places in London. First up? Westminister Abbey.
So I’ve been in Rome for the past month. I thought I was immune to stunning churches and breathtaking architecture by now – Good thing I was wrong.T o start with I don’t think I’ve ever seen gothic style architecture and if I have, never like this. The church was incredibly calming to stand in and just be a part of for an hour. At some point there was an hourly prayer and it felt so nice to just take a moment out of all the craziness of this summer to stand in such a holy place and offer up a prayer with people from around the world.
I didn’t get any pictures because I’m super lame and boring but we went to something called the London Bridge Experience which was crazy. Take my word for it – It was one of the scariest haunted house experiences that managed to educate me on the London Bridge history and construction. No big deal.
Afterward Michelle and I stopped at a pub and I’m slowly learning to breathe deeply and just order a stinking drink. I don’t think I’ll ever be completely comfortable in a bar but hopefully there will come a day that I don’t break out in hives when a bartender asks me what I’ll have.
Our first real night in London saw pasta, McDonalds, and a healthy dose of sleep. We were absolutely exhausted.
There was a lot of discussion amongst the three roommates. How could we utilize all of our time in London to see the most attractions? Well of course we decide to visit caves an hour away from where we were staying!
Best. Decision. Ever. For starters, I got to take my first train in Europe which was pretty much a phenomenal experience because I felt a little like Harry Potter. Then we found ourselves in the sweetest town that had homes lining the streets and this tiny pub right next to where we were set to explore caves.
Once in the caves I immediately recognized how freaking cool the whole experience was going to be. It was freezing cold and we all had to carry lanterns to see in the caves since the lighting had been removed after the caves ceased to be used as World War II bunkers. Oh, did I mention the caves were dug out thousands of years ago by the Druids, Saxons, and Romans? No big deal.
They were used as bunkers during the World Wars and at one point housed over 15,000 people. My two favorite parts were touching a stone stage where The Who, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and countless other artists played during the time and sitting on an altar that was previously used to sacrifice children for the sun god as we sat in complete darkness as our guide banged on a druid drum. It was such an amazing trip and I’m happy we went there versus another museum or London-type attraction.
More cave adventures.
Afterward Michelle and I went on a British Navy ship, the BMS Belfast. It was fun to look at what life must have been like on a ship at the period in English history and once again I just mostly enjoyed the fact that I was able to share in another culture’s history after mostly just being exposed to my own culture’s stories and legends.
Since we were on a roll we then went to a small medical museum called the Old Operating Theater and Herb Garret located in an attic above a huge church. It was unique and gave me a whole new appreciation for modern medicine. It was once used as Florence Nightingale’s nursing school and is hundreds of years old!
We were in the neighborhood and heard about a small chapel outside of a medical college so we peeked our heads inside. This was a favorite little random moment of the trip I enjoyed because they had prayer intentions lined up and I was once again reminded of the universality of faith and how it moves people from all backgrounds. We quickly wrote our own prayer intentions and then we were off!
We went on the London Bridge Exhibition! So we got great views from the top of the bridge to end our day and we finished with some Chipotle, because we have our priorities straight.
That right there in the background? That’s McDonalds. Because it became a nightly event. We have been seriously missing our meat supply in Rome.
Those were just the first two days in London.. More to come in a separate post!
Running in Rome 