London is calling!!

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I have not written about my trip to London because I thought there was too much to say and I didn't know how to approach it. But I decided to tackle it in a way in which readers could get an idea of what there is to do and how to afford it.

During my backpacking trip this past summer I only got to visit London for two days! For reasons including a time zone change and an emergency stay in the Paris airport for a night, our time in England got cut short.

Upon returning home I knew that I wanted to go back to London and try to recover everything that I had missed. So while working my ass off and saving for the $800 plane ticket (not too bad if you plan far in advance) my cousin Kristen and myself decided to buy a January flight to London.

Using the CouchSurfing.org site is always good, but in this case we unofficially couch surfed with Kristen's sister-in-law Christa and her British husband Ryan. Oh, and their adorable dog Frankie! Christa told me the lovely story about how they met while she was studing abroad in London. While I will skip the details, after being married in Philadelphia they came back to London to live and work.

As an American, Europe is not financially the best place to travel (at the moment). I think the conversion rate is 1 Dollar is equal to 1.40 British Pounds or something close to that number. However, with our frugal ways Kristen and I were able to get by for about $1,000 maybe a little more for those that are more inclined to shop (Kristen) for ten days. We stocked up on snacks at a U.S grocery store before we made the trip and tried to sustain on them for most of the day until dinner. Almost all of the Museums in the city were free such as Tate Modern and the London Museum, so we were able to be tourists all day long for little cost. There were some museums like the Design Museum, Brand Museum, and Sigmund Freud house that did cost some money but very little. Also, most museums and tourist attractions offer student discounts so make sure to bring your student I.D. My favorite thing that we did was go for tea! It was so delicious and fun to have our own personal tea pots and finger sandwhiches. We only got to go for tea twice but I would have done it every day if time had allowed. It depends on where you go and what you get but we got a pretty nice spread for about 10-20 pounds a person.

We really made the trip about sight seeing because both Kristen and I had been to London before but didn't have enough time to see everything that we wanted to. We finally got to go on the Jack the Ripper tour (only 8 pounds)that both of us had previously missed out on, and we got to go shopping in some of the best markets. We got multiple black cab rides, got to travel on a double decker bus, and had some real fish in chips and a pickled onion too!

Staying with Christa and Ryan also had a huge impact on our trip. It is always financially better to stay with someone you know or couch surf with people living there, but staying with locals tends to significantly enhance the experience. We got to hear about their perspective on the recent London riots, the health care and just view a day in the life of people living in London. We met some of their friends, went to some of their favorite bars and even got to watch some of their t.v shows. I think you can always get a better understanding of a place by experiencing it with the people who live and work there every day.

Even after all the time we spent in London jam packing our days with places to visit and things to do we still did not get to see everything! So once again London is on my list of places to visit in the future!

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Photos

Sightseeing
Kristen and I at the Tate Modern museum

Sightseeing
Inside the Museum of London

Touring
Jack the Ripper tour with Donald Rumbelow. Author of a book on the subject

Sightseeing
Inside the British Museum

Sightseeing
Tea Time

Out and about
Kristen, Christa, and I out and about