London was a quick trip! I got back to Brussels from Switzerland around 9:30am on Wednesday and flew to London that same day at 9:30pm with Mackenzie. I was literally home for 12 hours to shower, nap, and pack (and enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather Brussels was having for once). Our flight ended up being delayed and by the time we got through customs, we didn’t get to our hostel until after midnight. Tired was an extreme understatement.
To be honest, we almost didn’t end up going on this trip. We were tired from traveling nonstop for over 2 weeks already (I hadn’t slept in my own bed since the beginning of April) and we were concerned about getting back into Belgium with our visas and the whole having to go through customs/Brexit thing. But ultimately, and obviously, we decided to go since all our flights/bus ride/hostels were already paid for and we went to the airport and asked someone if we’d be all right. We were told yes, so we decided to take the risk and just go. YOLO, amiright!?
We started Thursday bright and early though! We were originally going to see the changing of the guard, but realized it didn’t happen on Thursdays..of course the one day we were going to be in London. But we got breakfast at a cute cafe with really good omelettes and toast.
Mackenzie had already been to London a few times before, so she kinda took charge for the day. After breakfast, we walked through Hyde’s Park to see the Peter Pan statue. It was kinda anticlimactic, but the Park was so pretty that I didn’t mind! From there, we walked to Paddington Station to buy tickets for the tube (metro). It’s so freaking hot in the Underground; it was honestly miserable taking the tube anywhere haha. But we took the tube to see London Eye, then walked across London Bridge to have a good view of the Tower Bridge. From there, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral, West Minister Abbey, and Abby Road for The Beatles. We ended our sightseeing at Buckingham Palace. It’s so beautiful! The detail on the building was crazy, but not too overdone. It was all just very elegant. We walked over 10 miles this day, just enjoying the city and nice weather!
The whole day, especially in the morning, I was surprisingly in culture shock. It was so weird seeing signs/menus/ads/EVERYTHING in English and being able to eavesdrop on others conversations because they spoke English. And people were able to understand me! I actually fully knew and understood everything going on around me!! I didn’t know what to do with myself at first.
Also the weather was so nice. It was rainy that morning (someone was nice enough to share her umbrella with us when it started pouring while we were waiting at a cross walk!), but was nice and sunny for the rest of the afternoon.
We ended the day at Shake Shack for dinner because we both wanted a milkshake. After dinner we headed to the bus station for a 10-hour ride to Edinburg, Scotland that left at 10:30pm.
Check out all my pictures from this trip here.
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