She Went to London BABY!

Can you believe it? I’m back this early? It’s only been a few days since my last post. I guess that goes to show how productive I am when I don’t have homework all night every night! Well, my roomie Maggie and I met up with Megan Anderson for our 10 day Mid-Term break. For our travels, we decided to explore London, Dublin, and Galway. Oooo how excited we are. First stop: London! Man was she a beaut! It’s one of those places you must go. My, my it was so much fun! And, I couldn’t have had a better travel crew. I’m stuffed with Fish and Chips, my head is full of Mama Mia songs, and I never want to see a London Tube sign again. Our adventures have been full of so many memories both good and also ones that will make up laugh hysterically in the future (they already are). I’m so excited to share this adventure with you:). And now friends, I present to you three days of extremely fun travel in London BABY!

Day One:

Maggie and I got in early morning/late evening Friday, and met up with Megan early Friday morning so we could spend the rest of the day exploring. Stuff was dropped off at our cute Airbnb (thanks to Maggie’s awesome planning) and we headed out. We spent some time exploring the small markets and looking at all the handmade goods and jewelry. We meandered our way to a cozy restaurant and the lovely ladies had a candlelit dinner: exactly what we needed. I had my first plate of fish and chips…definitely wouldn’t be my last:)

And our big stop for the night: MAMA MIA LIVE! Now, I know a lot of you will be upset with me…but I’ve never seen Mama Mia before. So, the musical production was my first time and I’m glad I saw it. This show was truly incredible featuring some great actors and actresses who really loved what they were doing. They even had an encore! If you can only go to one musical while in London, definitely choose this one. It was incredible, worth the three-hour hassle to get our tickets fixed, and kept us three singing the songs all weekend long. Here we go again:)

Day Two:

We three, being the college students that we are, decided to give ourselves some time to sleep and started off the morning a little later. It was so nice to catch up on rest because we all were exhausted! We had a lovely start to the day: went to Candella! This is a cozy and very well decorated tea room close to our Airbnb. We wanted to share some tea over tea;) I had a red berry hibiscus tea and a bagel with salmon, cream cheese, dill, lemon and black pepper. It had been such a long time since I’d had a bagel and cream cheese and it was so tasty! The other ladies got some breakfast items and we enjoyed each other’s company while watching the busy London streets.

The clouds came rolling in as soon as we left but that didn’t stop us from walking to Buckingham palace, Kensington palace, and finding more cute cafés. Mags also got a hot chocolate and free* cookie…hmmm this is the third time this has happened to her. I think we get the trend pretty lady:)

Of course, we had some more foodie experiences:) It was very cold outside so we went into a warm café and I got a milkshake. Ha, ha yeah you heard right…I was cold so I got a milkshake. It was super tasty and very overpriced. After our tummies were full, we hopped in an Uber and got right back out as we got into a tiny little accident. The driver said, “If you don’t get back in the car then I will not get paid.” Yeah bud, we ain’t getting back into any car with you, especially when you drive with headphones. Everything happens for a reason though because we found out we were close to a donut shop…KRISPY KREME! My goodness it’s been so long since I’ve had a Krispy Kreme donut. So many years since 9 yr-old me went with Dad to get a fresh glazed one anytime we were in Maple Grove. Such sweet memories!

We were tired, but not tired enough to miss out on going to a cute little pub. For the remainder of our evening we headed to a little pub and finished our day with some sweet cider and a game of pool. What a lovely end to such a lovely day.

Day Three:

Thanks to daylight savings, we got an extra hour of shut eye so we were ready for our day. Being the adventurous travel girls that we are, we decided to tackle public transportation. We got some fancy “Oyster Card” thingy and then took the train to the city center. That morning we went to a coffee shop called Black Shepard Coffee. I, once again, spent another 3.80 Euro on hot chocolate and this time got a blueberry muffin to compliment it. Then we headed to mass at Westminster Abbey Chapel.

After mass, we decided to adventure in this part of London more. Went to, of course, another cute café, and I, again, got fish and chips. Holy commas!:) We enjoyed lunch together and then headed to Westminster Abbey. This was perhaps one of my favorite stops as they seemed to just glorify me where-ever I went. They even named a street after me, how cool am I?

And, would it really be a blog post if I didn’t post another picture with another donut? NO!!!! We found an adorable little donut shop were the donuts were not so little. These donuts were GLAMOUROUS! I opted for the classic red velvet, but Maggie went all out and got a chocolate one with many chocolate toppings. Too many things to count. Let’s just say my sweet tooth was definitely satisfied.

Our little feet just kept a carrin’ us on. We walked over to the Tower Bridge (not to be confused with the London Bridge:)). We made it there in perfect timing as on our walk we watched the sunset from the bridge. It was very windy, but it was probably one of the most refreshing feelings I have ever had. After we got our sunset fill, we walked over to a rather new ice cream shop and sat in some awesome hanging chairs as we chowed.

Finally, our day had come to an end and we decided to tackle the transportation home. This was NOT a good idea. We had run out of transportation money on our Oyster card so we had to put more money on it. However, the gates to the station where you normally scan in and pay were wide open. But, we are good Samaritans and decided to scan anyway not knowing it was taking our money. BAD IDEA. It took 5.20 euros, AND didn’t get us into the Underground station we needed to be in. So, we asked someone for help and he said it was our fault and there was nothing he could do. Then we decided we would just turn in our Oyster cards and get refunded the five dollars and use that to Uber home. But, apparently you have to hold those cards for three days before you can get a refund. Why did no one tell us that? Finally, Megan asked another man for help, and he was the “Manager” so he refunded us and was able to get us to the Underground train so we could go home. After an hour of this we finally could take a breath. That was an experience for us, and we don’t ever want to deal with the London Tube system again!

Our travels in London were incredible. I didn’t know that much about London, but was so grateful to have the opportunity to experience it. I enjoyed the scenery, the ENGLISH speaking, and all the food and adventures the city had to offer. I would go back in a heart-beat! Just like always I will end this post with some lessons learned:

1) Lufthansa is a wonderful airline to fly

2) When there are loud, inappropriate men sitting in the row in front of you on the airplane…karma WILL hit them. For instance, when you open up the over-head bin and a BAG OF CONCRETE falls on their head…casual and amusing. Much deserved if you were screaming at others and the flight attendants.

3) Chips indeed are fries

4) Onions are pickles…I still don’t understand what pickles are called in London though.

5) The weather app LIES!

6) Not all of humanity is rude, there are a lot of helpful people in the subway station.

7) If there is an open gate in the train station, don’t question anything and don’t scan anything…just walk through.

8) It is VERY possible to eat more than six Krispy Kreme donuts in one sitting;)

9) Abbey is wayyy more respected in London…why don’t I get shops named after me in the states?

10) Aer Lingus doesn’t open it’s bag check until one hour before boarding…yes, because that makes perfect logical sense?

11) Uber will refund you if you get into a little accident.

12) If you want to travel in London for more than four days, you gotta be a millionaire.

13) The songs from Mama Mia will NEVER leave your head.

14) Look “Left” when you cross the street folks, not right, LEFT!

Thanks for checking in on my current frolicking adventures in London! What a fun time I have had with my gals. Off to Ireland we go. See you later this week with my post about our Ireland travels.

P.S. I have had to quit training for my half marathon. Despite new running shoes, exercises, and stretches I really cannot shake these shin splints. I had this last year when training for a run, and it turned into a stress fracture. Thinking that’s not a good idea for me to have again, or even while abroad. We’ll stick to other forms of exercise for now until I can get to a running coach to figure out what I’m doing wrong. Thanks for all the support!

And with all this said, I am setting down my cup of tea, and eating my last bite of scone. That’s a wrap on this post lovelies (as they say in London). We’ll see you all soon on my Ireland adventures.

Best Wishes always,

Abbey Jean