An extended layover in London

On our trip home, Sam and I planned an extended layover in London so we spent three and a half days there. The last time I was in Europe, London was one of my favourite cities so I was very much looking forward to going again.

Our flight got in at 7 in the morning and after dropping our bags off at our hostel around 9:30, we spent the rest of the day sightseeing and window shopping (with a little bit of actual shopping!). We put 30 pounds on an "Oyster" card which is like a credit card that you scan to get unlimited access to the Tube (London's subway system) and the buses. Public transportation in London is very easy to figure out and it is the perfect place to people watch. I loved it!

Our first stop was Abbey Road to see the famous Beatles crosswalk since it was close to our hostel. However, there really wasn't much to see as it was a busy street full of traffic.

This was the coolest tea shop called Fortnum & Mason. There were hundreds of teas that you could buy and the multi-level store was so beautifully decorated.

We spent some time relaxing in a couple of the beautiful parks in London. This is in Hyde Park.

This was the hostel we stayed at. It's called "Palmer's Lodge - Swiss Cottage" and I'd recommend it if you're looking for a place to stay.

 Our second day we did a walking tour in the morning where we got to see the main attractions in Westmintser (Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, etc.). Our tour guide was from Vancouver and told us lots of interesting stories about past royalty. For the afternoon we just did more sightseeing, went to the National Gallery, and then went back to the hostel to get ready for a nice dinner and a West End show - Matilda!

This is "Canada Gate" right outside Buckingham Palace near the edge of Green Park.

 

This is an piece that is on exhibit in Trafalgar Square. There's some irony in it being there because of where Trafalgar Square got its name (defeating the French in a battle) and the chicken being blue and a chicken (France's colour is blue and it's national bird is a cockerel).

This was so random! Sam and I were watching a street performer in busy Trafalgar Square when a girl comes up to me and says "Are you Whitney?". It was a girl that had visited Amani (where I was volunteering in Jinja) and was now backpacking through Europe. Small world!

This made me happy to see!

We had the worst seats possible but it was still a great show!

 On the third day we decided to watch the "Changing of the Guard" at Buckingham Palace because we forgot what it was like the first time we'd seen it about 5 years earlier. It takes place at 11:30 each morning and we got there around 9:45 and there was already a large crowd forming so we decided to stake out a decent spot and wait. While it was cool to see, it was long and I didn't really understand what was going on. The highlight was when the band started playing the theme song from James Bond. After that, we took a double decker bus to St. Paul's Cathedral where we grabbed some lunch and people watched and then we went to the other side of the Thames River to see the Globe Theater and walked down to the London Tower Bridge. That night we went to a pub near our hostel with our new friend Kayleigh and watched the London-Uruguay soccer game. That was a fun experience (even if London lost)!

 

St. Paul's Cathedral - it was so huge!

In the pub, "The North Star", watching the soccer match.

 Our last day we had half a day to sightsee before we needed to head to the airport. I had the nerdy urge to go to Platform 9 3/4 to see the Harry Potter attraction where you could  take a picture pushing a trolley through the wall. The wait in line for that was quite long so it took about 45 minutes but I think it was worth it. Unfortunately my camera died just before we got there so I was only able to snap a couple pictures on my phone. After that we sat in Green Park for a while before heading to our hostel to retrieve our bags and head to Heathrow Airport.

Just getting in some quick exercises before doing a LOT of walking for the day.



Us leaving our hostel - Sam is happy to leave and see Mike and I am sad I have to go back to the "real world".

 So that was our quick trip to London! One of my favourite cities. If it weren't for the astronomical cost of living, I would be on the next plane back to London looking for a job there.