London

Sorry for the delay in these posts, it's been a busy week! Last weekend some friends and I headed to London. Overall, it was a great trip, and we had lots of fun! I wish we had had more time there, because it's a really amazing city. It rained Saturday (no surprise), but the weather was beautiful on Sunday. We flew into Heathrow on Friday night and took the tube to our hostel. The start of the trip was a bit stressful, because originally we were staying with our friends from UConn, but at the last minute (literally 20 minutes before we boarded our flight), the program director told our friends they couldn't have guests in the flats...but we were able to quickly book a hostel which ended up being in a perfect location! We had a little trouble finding the hostel when we got into the city, but we eventually found our way and had a great night out on the town with our friends from school! We went to the Piccadilly area which was really great; definitely one of my favorite areas of London. Saturday we had breakfast at our hostel and then hit the sites! First we stopped at  Platform 9 3/4. It's actually kind of cute; they put the cart on the brick wall so it looks just like the scene from the movie! Then we went to Big Ben and then paid the 20 pounds to go inside Westminster Abbey. This church is absolutely beautiful and gigantic! My friends Sydney and Erin (both Thetas :) ) and I did audio guide tours of the church and learned about all the famous people who are buried there, including Charles Darwin (which of course I thought was so cool!). We also pretended to be Kate Middleton as we walked down the aisle just as she had done in her wedding. After spending a few hours at Westminster Abbey we headed to Buckingham Palace and the Borough Market where I got delicious truffles (one of which was filled with champagne), some fudge, and mulled wine. Yum!! The market was huge and full of great vendors. From here we went to a really cool pub and got some more great food! We walked by the Globe, but by then we were exhausted and just headed back to the hostel to chill for a bit. My good friend from UConn, Mike, (who is studying in London) and I took a walk to see the city lit up at night and then went to bed early. 

Sunday was a beautiful day in London!! We started off the day getting lost trying to meet our friends at a breakfast restaurant, but we eventually found our way. It was well worth getting lost for, because the food was amazing!! After breakfast I took a tour of the London Tower, which was really great! I even saw the crown jewels! After getting some delicious ice cream, we tried to ride the London Eye, but the line was unfortunately too long. To end the day, we met our friends for tea and croissants at the National Gallery and then caught our flight back to Paris. It was a great weekend!!