Lovely London

I was lucky enough to be able to squeeze one more trip into my semester in Europe and it was to London! I wasn't really planning on going to London but everyone was telling me that I would love it. I stayed with my roommate from last year, Rachael. I took the Eurostar there and back which was extremely easy. After getting in early Friday morning, my friend picked me up at the train station, we dropped my bags off at her place and headed out to tackle everything touristy. We walked to Buckingham Palace then through Green Park. After that I walked through Westminster Abbey. The only thing I could think of as I walked through was the Royal Wedding. After watching it on TV, I pictured it so much bigger than it actually was. I got the audio guide and walked through looking at all the beautiful details in the church. It was breathtaking from every angle. Then we walked across the street to see Big Ben and Parliament. He actually wasn't as big as I thought he was going to be! After that we took the tube to the Tower of London and London Bridge. I walked around the Tower of London for a while, tagging along on the free tours they constantly have going on in there and also saw the Crown Jewels. The Crown Jewels outshone any Swarovski crystaled skating dress I have seen, but then again, it is the biggest jewel in the world. There was a moving sidewalk in front of both sides of the jewels so I obviously went back and forth multiple times looking like a little kid in a candy store.

Buckingham Palace

Typical tourist picture...

Outside Westminster Abbey, couldn't take pics inside :( 

Rachael and I at Big Ben!  

Tower Bridge.

After leaving the Tower of London, we were exhausted from everything we had done in just one morning. For lunch, we went to try out some Indian food. It was a little different than what I usually eat and I can't say I knew exactly what I was eating the whole time, but it was good and pretty cheap for London, nonetheless! That evening we went to Harrod's. Oh. My. God. Amazing! I have never seen department store like this ever before. They didn't have just furs, but an entire section of them with every color and animal you could think of. And not just shoes, but multiple levels of whatever style and designer you could think of. Not to mention the food section! Every inch was as gourmet and perfect as the next. Rachael and I could have walked around for hours getting lost in this massive maze but then it was off to the Christmas Markets! If there is one thing that I've fallen in love with while abroad, it's Christmas Markets. Everyone is always so cheerful and happy and I love stopping by each stand to see what they offer I was especially happy because I was going to be able to skate for the first time in 3 months! I brought my skates to London because Rachael had mentioned something about the rink. It was the perfect skating atmosphere; a little chilly, bright holiday lights, live Christmas music, and being able to just skate with no worries! After grabbing some food at the stands and enjoying a cup of mulled wine, we went back to Rachael's dorm to crash before our next day of touring.

The questionable but GOOD Indian food.

Harrod's! 

The Christian Louboutin area...

Skating in Hyde Park at the Christmas markets! 

The next morning I wanted to get up pretty early to make it to Portobello Market before the chunk of the crowd showed up and also so that we could fit the most sightseeing into our day. Rachael reassured me that the vendors won't even be there until at least 10. We we got there around 11 am, some of them were still setting up! I love the markets in Paris but the London was were like the Paris ones on steroids. There were blocks and blocks of stands with antiques, kitchenware, vintage clothing, leather goods, jewelry, specialty foods...ANYTHING you could think of! We were walking down only looking at one side when we noticed that almost 2 hours had passed so we decided to turn around and walk back to go onto the next thing on our list. Next, we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Its the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design. They had a great fashion exhibit and photography exhibit. I really enjoyed walking through it. The museum was in South Kensington so we walked around that area on our way to afternoon tea. Groupon's are the best. I found one for tea for two at a tea place in Covent Gardens for only 10 pounds! I really wanted to do tea time while I was in London but I always heard it was very expensive so this Groupon worked out perfectly. After our tea time, Rachael and I explored the Covent Gardens area. There was so much going on like live music, more outdoor markets, Christmas celebrations....we had such a great time!

The never-ending Portobello Market.

Tea time at Covent Gardens!

Saturday night was a pretty late night for us exploring the London night life....so we gave ourselves a little longer to sleep in :) . After taking our time on Sunday morning, we went to catch a train to Cambridge. Rachael has a friend of a friend who is in school there so we were lucky enough to be able to meet up with her. She showed us around a large part of the campus. We got to go into different colleges, her dorm room, and meet some of her friends! The campus was so beautiful. Walking around Cambridge really made me miss DU a little bit. There is something about walking around, seeing familiar faces wherever you go, and everyone is around your age. I definitely love living in a big city but it has only made me appreciate the time I have left at DU a little more. That night, her friend pointed us in the direction of a pub in Cambridge where a lot of students go. It was a really cozy pub and we ordered mulled wine and I enjoyed my final night in the UK.

Fish and chips in Cambridge.

Cambridge is beautiful. 

The touristy Harry Potter picture at King's Cross train station. 

London was a great last trip in my European adventure. It was probably my favorite city that I have visited. It could have been that it was a little easier to understand the language...but everyone was also so nice and helpful! After a jam packed weekend visiting a beautiful city, I couldn't wait to begin my last two weeks of living in Paris. My time here has flown by so unbelievably fast. Even though it seems like I landed in Europe yesterday, I look back on the past 4 months and can't believe how much I have done. Writing this post, I have one more week left, so here is to an amazing final week living in the best city in the world!