So begins the JB Lifestlye on OAFA- London

6:30 a.m. flight to London. No sleep. Baggage issues (ohhh Ryanair). Arrive and time to start being a tourist.

After dropping off my huge bags from Dublin, I left with just a backpack on my back and took a train to Liverpool St. Station in central London. First thing I noticed about London: the public transportation system is excellent. Everything is clearly labeled about how to get different places. James and I walked less in London (though there was still LOADS of walking) merely because it was so easy to figure out how to use the Tube. Although I have to say the first day we were there (on a weekend) different lines were closed so we had to be a bit more creative about getting places. The line directly to our hostel was closed so we walked a little more when we first arrived. After dropping our bags off, we headed off to start the tourism



First was Leicester Square to buy tickets for a West End show (Avenue Q!!), then Trafalgar square, followed by Big Ben, the Parliament, Westminster Abby, the London Eye, and Buckingham Palace. Due to lack of time, we didn’t go into any of the buildings. We admired the outside, which for me was enough to appreciate them. London was not as “shocking” as I expected it to be, mostly because I think I’ve seen all of this multiple times in t.v. shows and movies. The buildings were gorgeous, and it was incredible thinking how long they had actually been there. But I don’t think I was blown away by any of them. If I had to pick my favorite, I would probably say I enjoyed the outside of Westminster Abby the most. It also didn’t help that I was literally dragging. Like falling asleep when we sat down anywhere. But we didn’t sit down much, if you can tell by the amount of things we did. We were walking most of the time, taking pictures and then kept on walking. The only places we really sat down was Trafalgar square to eat a sandwich and a nap in the park near Buckingham Palace.



After Buckingham, we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the play that night. I wasn’t sure if I should dress up or not, so I ended up just wearing the black dress you see in 90% of my other going out pictures. For dinner before the show, we went for Indian food. I was told that that was probably one of my best options in London. And it turned out to be very good. We then headed to Leicester where the show was going to take place. After a quick ice cream, we headed in to watch Avenue Q!!



Avenue Q was hilarious, and very enjoyable. I would recommend it to anyone who wanted to see a show in London.

Next was the hostel who was having a going away party for a member of the staff. It was 5 pounds for unlimited drink. Who could complain about that?? James and I decided that while traveling with just the two of us we had to meet some other people. We managed to meet people from Australia, Poland, and Finland all at the hostel!!! It was originally planned to go out, but we were both having such a grand time that we ended up just staying at the hostel.

Late night, woke up early to make it to the Natural History Museum. Why the Natural History Museum, you may ask? James said if there was one thing he wanted to see in London, that was it. Not Big Ben, not Buckingham, the Natural History Museum. So we went. It was free, and turned out to be incredible! They had the dinosaurs with the full skeleton (surprising I had never seen one before) and cool exhibits. I was very glad he dragged me there.



Following that, first we went to see St. Paul’s Cathedral which had a huge dome and was very impressive. We went to see all of the bridges (Millennium, London, and Tower Bridge) and then headed into Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels (sooo much money in that one area of London… ahhh). If there was one spot I wished we had more time, that was it. The Crown Jewels were very nice, but that was honestly the only thing we had time for.



Final thoughts about London: somewhere you have to visit eventually in Europe, and with more than 2 days. We were so rushed to see so many iconic buildings and structures, hardly had any time to relax and enjoy them. But still a great time…

Next stop: Amsterdam!!!!