London

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Had a quick weekend in London with a friend who I met in Barcelona, Blake. (Don't worry everyone he's just a friend)

I feel every young girl needs to see London when beginning traveling Europe, so a quick weekend was perfect.

As we all know, the pound is not beneficial at all for Americans, at about roughly 1.20 USD for every pound. So, there was no way to get around that. With that being said, we didn't want to spend too much money, so we walked most of the time. We walked all the way to London eye, Big Ben, and the Westminster Abbey area. We hung out around there, skipped the London eye, (it's just as beautiful to hang out around there). We saw all the buildings and got classic fish and chips. That were also expensive haha! What I loved about London was just how massive everything is. The city is just humongous!!! I thought Chicago was big, but London is mind blowing huge. Stuff is very far from each other, but we walked and saw all the historical buildings like St. Paul's Cathedral. What we did spend money on was the London Dungeon Saturday afternoon. The London Dungeon is located alongside the river next to the London eye, and it is essentially a museum about all the history of the city of London, with a twist. The twist being that it is live actors as every exhibit. This made it so fun. Think of it like a haunted house, only historical and funny. I was so impressed with the acting and at the same time how much I learned about the city and what it actually was like in the olden days. People accused of treason, how it was during the plague, every rulers differences, and more. The actors portrayed every era with a humorous tone and this made it so fun!!

The first thing we did Saturday morning was the Harry Potter store at Platform 9 3/4! It looked just like in the movie, the station and everything. Loved the store😊

We spent a lot of time in Trafalgar square, which is beautiful. What I also loved about London was the tea. I got the best english breakfast tea that was just so delicious that I know wouldn't taste as good anywhere else. Another thing we spent our money on was London's Famous Duck tour. This was great! These are ducks, A car/bus thing, that also floats in the river. It had a fancy conductor man, very knowledgeable of the city and all it's history. There was a driver, and then him. Every spot he talked about as we passed, he would send around old pictures of how that spot looked 100 years ago. I loved seeing that because it's interesting to see how much things changed over the years and later improved. While we were on the road, we actually witnessed someone royal being escorted on the roads, with cops and motorcycles around them. Our conductor explained that everyone royal gets that treatment! The tour then went in the river! The duck just drives right into the water. I guess that's why they call it a duck haha! Anyways, the duck was very fun and a unique way to see the city rather than a normal bus tour. The conductor was very funny and a smart english man, making it a great time. I learned a lot!





Some things I noticed:



1. Every bathroom was absolutely disgusting!

We didn't go into any fancy restaurants, mostly just cafe's, and every bathroom was disgusting and not cleaned! I thought this was weird

2. Service was not very good.

Again, we didn't go to the fanciest places, but the service was so bad!!! A lot of the people working in cafe's were just messing around and not paying attention to customers.

3. THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!!!

It blow's my mind that they drive on the wrong side of the road, and since we walked everywhere we had to be extra careful about what ways to look when crossing. Thankfully, every street on its pavement says "Look right" and "Look left", for people who aren't from the U.K. This saved me!!!!! Thank God.





I loved this city! Massive and so exciting. Seems as if there are so many things to do there and I'm glad I went for a quick weekend, it was just enough. Back in warm Spain and couldn't be happier 😊

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Comments

[Janet Mawicke]

Hi Natalie- In 2002 when 8 of my pals here in Vero Beach turned 70, we decided to fly to LONDON and spend a week ther to celebrate our longevity, we should actually do it again, because WE had such a terrific time. So I know just what you are talking about, So happy you are experiencing such a great time.

[nattyobrien]

Thanks
Thats amazing, yes we should go back :) Cool!!!

[Grandma Ev]

Loved your blog as always. I felt like I was experiencing it with you. ?

[nattyobrien]

Love you!
I hope so :) great to hear