"The price of greatness is responsibility."
-Winston Churchill
London was a struggle, not gonna lie. As Sam and I discovered two days before we left, our tickets had been cancelled and so we frantically searched for the cheapest way for us to get to London over the weekend. Thankfully, leaving Friday morning was the same price as leaving Thursday night so we ended up being able to book our flight, no problem, and breathed a sigh of relief. Or so we thought. We had been invited by this guy to CouchSurf with him- which we were really excited about. What a legit experience, ya know?! After the ticket debacle, I messaged our host and explained the situation.
"Well, the reason I invited you was because you'd have 3 nights so we could get to know each other. Now that you're only here two nights, you can probably find somewhere else to stay..."
Our disbelief at the fact this guy was flaking on us less than 24 hours before we arrived in London was immense. We scrambled to find a plan B, we considered showing up at his doorstep and telling him to suck it up but seeing as he never gave us his address, that option was out. Thankfully we had an angel of a friend who was studying in London (I actually met her through my friend Alyssa in Paris over Spring Break), agree to let us stay on her floor- we were so grateful. The day dawned and Sam and I headed to London! After a smooth plane ride, an exchanging of money at a horrible rate (about $1.80 to 1 pound) and relatively easy time navigating the subway we finally arrived, dropped our bags off at April's apartment and set out to explore the city!
I'm pretty sure we say everything there was to see. Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, The Eye, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, British History Museum, Hyde Park, the Peter Pan Statue, Camden, MI6, #10 Downing Street, Platform 9 3/4, delicious fish n' chips, and countless other monuments that meant nothing to us...
The second day after eating breakfast in a crypt- great experience- we watched the changing of the guards, and were on our way to Hyde Park when the worst thing happened. Nose buried in Rick Steve's for directions, some little gypsy kid walked by and took my phone out of my pocket. I frantically told Sam that my phone was just stolen, and I stopped the perp... some 12 year old boy. I told him to give me my phone back, stuck my hand in his jacket pocket (yeah, I know. That's kind of harsh but I just wanted my phone back), and came up empty. Little snot had already moved my phone into a different pocket or had passed it off to his dad. So there I watched as my phone and the kid walked off into the London street. Devastated. I tried not to let it ruin the rest of my time, but that's something of a low blow to ones happiness. We met up with our friend Ellis though which was fun, and went on with our trip.
By day 3, Sunday, we were ready to go home. I couldn't walk due to a blister the size of Texas on my foot, so we hobbled our way to Abbey Road (ended up at the WRONG Abbey Road... who puts two in the same city?!) and Olympic Park. Turns out we saw neither as navigation error plagued our last day. Finally, with one look at how defeated Sam was and how defeated I was, we decided to cut our loses and just head to the airport. Afternoon tea, scones and clotted cream made the wait at the airport worthwhile and at 11:30 p.m. we finally arrived in Nice. Another slight oversight on our part- we thought we were smart giving ourselves more time in London but in reality, we booked our flight after the last bus and train came through Nice. A 60 euro cab ride later, we stumbled into our house, sore, exhausted, but a bit more cultured. Despite all that happened to us in London, we had an awesome trip. It was so amazing to see all the history, walk the streets I've seen in so many movies, and hear the amazing accents. It's true. Brits teeth are nothing to write home to mom about, but they make up for it in character I suppose. I recommend everyone to go to London. It's just a fun city to explore, and I would also recommend that you take better shoes...
Check Facebook for more pictures from London! Also, get ready for a guest post from my very own sister in a few days! :) She's more talented than me so I may be out of a blog in not too long!
Until then, mind the gap and straight on!
Jackie
Oh that is horrible about getting pick pocketed :( And the couchsurfer guy sounds awful. If you are ever in a jam like that again, I highly recommend checking out Airbnb.com. I use it all the time and I would say it's a step above couch surfer (as you can get your own room or even apartment to yourself), yet still is great for a tight budget. It's often a better experience than a hotel in my opinion. Glad the rest of the trip was great! I love London!
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