London Trip

Trip

Our Trip to London - Bank Holiday Weekend

During the August Bank Holiday weekend I visited London for the first time.. ever! It was only a brief visit, we only went for a couple of days. But it was super fun and i can't wait to visit again!

We originally planned to go to London for the Notting Hill Carnival. However we decided against this as we figured the crowds would be crazy and unfortunately it has a reputation for violence so we thought it would be best to stay away from that area and just do touristy things instead.

I got to London around 3/4pm and my friends met me at Kings Cross and greeted me with an adorable giraffe teddy. (I love giraffes, okay. And coincidentally it was named Garry - after my dad. Cute or what!). It took us a while to find the hostel we were staying in, and it was raining.. ugh. But we found it in the end where our other friend was waiting for us. 

We were all starving so the first thing we decided to do was to go get food. We decided on a Nandos - which is quite a typical choice for us. Apart from Hannah's order always getting messed up - it was yummy. After we'd fueled ourselves we went to buy snacks and drinks to keep us going while we got ready for our night out.

We decided to go to Dirty Martini's in Convent Garden and had cocktails. Expensive cocktails, mind. But it was fun - I loved the live Jazz musicians putting a twist on different songs, was really cool. We then went for a wander and spent ages deciding if we wanted to go to a club or another bar - or get food and go back to the hostel. When I say we spent ages, we really did spend ages. In the end we got food then went back to the hostel to get some rest.

We all slept in the next day - we planned to wake up around 9/10am but somehow we all slept in until around 1pm. To be fair, I think we all must have needed the sleep. This didn't stop us from getting a lot done though - it's fair to say we did a lot of sight seeing and walking this day.

We started our afternoon getting food (the best way to start any day lets be honest) and then we made our way to the Natural History Museum. Which is something i've always wanted to visit! (I'm a sucker for museums). It was huge though - I don't think we covered all of it. But i'd say we covered about 80% which if you ask me, is a pretty good effort if you're aware of how big it is! 

My favourite part of the museum was definitely the Dinosaur section (other than the giraffes near the entrance, that is). I mean who doesn't look dino's? It was also probably the busiest section. Plus there was a dino that actually moved and roared - which was entertaining to say the least. Also, I get easily distracted so it's fair to say I wandered from my friends a lot. I'm sorry guys, i'm like a lost puppy sometimes.

It was interesting how excited and fascinated we got when looking at all the animals - like we hadn't seen any in real life before. It was fun though. Might as well look at everything a museum has to offer - god forbid I forget to take a picture of something or miss something out! 

One of my favourite parts of the museum was the architecture. Architecture has always fascinated me, I always appreciate the effort people have put into making buildings for people. Not to mention the art and creativity that goes into it! Don't think i've ever been to a prettier or bigger museum. 

After the museum we decided to have a wander around London. My friends took me to see Westminster Abbey (and we got a photo that happened to have one of the classic London red buses in it). We were going to go see Big Ben too but with there being construction work on it at the minute - I think it'd have been anti climatic. 

Next stop was Buckingham Palace. Was super touristy, but actually pretty cool to finally see in real life after seeing it on TV for so long. Katy put her head through the gates - but we won't talk much about that. It was super pretty - despite the classic grey cloudy British weather. 

We thought we deserved some food to give us energy before we go explore more of London. We decided to go to Zizzi's, an Italian restaurant. It was nice to finally relax and rest our feet, and of course, to satisfy our hunger at last. I had Spaghetti & Meatballs, which was tasty (and a classic choice of mine in Italian restaurants).

We went to see the London Eye and came across a carousel - so of course we decided to go on it and be typical tourists. It was surprisingly cheap too! Me and Katy also had some mint ice cream which was a great idea I must say.

We decided to walk all the way to find the London Bridge. And on the way we got some edgy photos - but we're art students. So we're allowed to be extra and take photos for the aesthetic. 

The best part of walking around London at night - definitely the bright lights and the skylines. Super pretty! And surprisingly peaceful - (where we were anyway). Ft. Hannah holding Katy's pizza box. 

And, at last! We finally found the London Bridge. Got this photo just in time before my phone died. After appreciating the view we called it a night so we could get some sleep - as our trip was pretty much, sadly over. 

It was a cute couple of days especially after not seeing my friends for so long due to summer - and I can't wait to go again! 

-x.o, B.E.J