Endless Bliss | Happy Lifestyle Blog: Woke Up In London Yesterday.

Woke Up In London Yesterday.

I never thought the day would come when I would finally cross the UK border, but thanks to the dwindling of my savings account (plus saving up for over a year) and EF College Break, my travel dreams finally came true. Even when I was on the plane flying to London, it didn't really feel like happening, but low and behold, I made it through my 9 1/2 hour flight. Even with my head pounding, I was so freaking excited!

Waiting to cross the border! UK customs wasn't nearly as bad as US customs.

If you think we look rough here, you should see the picture I took while we were waiting to board the plane. Except you won't because that picture will never see the light of day.
I won't bore you with my day-to-day activities, because that could literally take a million years, and it would take forever for that blog post to load, so I'll just share some of the highlights.

Everything Harry Potter
Even though I already blogged about it yesterday, everything Harry Potter was a major highlight of this trip. So so amazing. There aren't enough words. It's like a Harry Potter nerd's dream land. 

The sights
We had both a walking tour and a bus tour of London. Unfortunately, our bus tour wasn't on a double decker, which would have been ideal, but our tour guide was so wonderful that it didn't even matter. We got to see all of the major things that people come to London to see plus a few more interesting things that I had a lot of fun learning about.

What people call the London Bridge, but apparently it's not actually the London Bridge, just a pretty bridge that happens to be in London.

Charles Darwin is buried at the church to the left.

Tallest building in London.

Shakespeare's Globe. We didn't get to go inside, but it was still neat to visit.

Funny story about Abbey Road. We got about maybe a fourth to where the actual crosswalk is before we started dying of thirst. Not to mention our feet were dying. I had been walking the HP studios in those blasted sandals. So we decided to find a random street sign and take a picture and call it a day. That counts, right? No? K.

We visited Tate Modern and saw lots of awesome artwork. This was a photograph taken by Henry Wessel.

Picasso!

Another painting by Picasso

Salvador Dali

The London Eye. I didn't ride it, but it was still pretty to look at. You could see it from so many places in Central London.

The Covent Garden! We did a little window shopping, but then got depressed because we couldn't actually afford anything.

We walked through the little market though.

And saw these guys pelvic thrusting in tutus. The little boy included. The ring leader (the guy with the hat on) was trying to start em young, I suppose.

The National Gallery...

...and the blue rooster in front of it.

I had to.


I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier.

It's not Buckingham Palace, but we did get to see this changing of the guards.



Oh hey Big Ben - the bell, not the building.

Sister trip. Loved sharing this experience with her.


Changing of the guards
While we didn't get to go up to Buckingham Palace and harass the guards, we did get to see the mini parade leading up to the changing of the guards. It lasted all of 20 seconds, but it was still neat to see.




But first, lemme take a selfie...with the band.

Pub crawl
On our second night, a few of us joined a pub crawl with 1 Big Night Out. It was an absolute blast. We visited five pubs, got a shot at each plus discounted drinks, a t-shirt, glow sticks and super fun company. We met people from all over the world and started dance parties everywhere we went.

We looked so cute before we started drinking...




...then these happened. Bad iPhone selfies for days.

The food
London wasn't my favorite place to eat compared to Paris and Rome, but the food wasn't bad. It could have used some Tony's though. All of my southern friends understand. 

First taste of London food! The cashier was so nice!

We got a free sample of something. Of what? No idea.

This burger was so delicious!

Ate at the Sherlock Holmes pub! Wish I would've had time to visit the museum too.

The cashier made fun of how I said "hello." When I asked if they had toilets (trying to speak the lingo here), he said no and acted like he was going to get me a bucket. Funny fella. 

Chicken and "bacon" sandwich. The quotations are there because it wasn't like our American bacon. It comes from a different part of the pig and is less fattening. Similar to Canadian bacon. It was still really good though!

A few of us had dinner here. It's right in Covent Garden.


Fish and chips. They were pretty delicious, but nothing to write home about.

These lovely folks though.
Getting to know my EF family! 
Seriously, it's amazing how much you can have in common with people who live on opposite sides of the country. There were lots of laughs, awkward moments and good conversation with these people, and I already miss seeing them every day.

On a casual stroll through the gardens at Buckingham Palace.

On our bus tour. All the cool kids sit in the back.

Monopod selfie because we're tourists.

Lunch buddies!

Welcome mixer at Ye Olde London Pub.
Things I learned in London:
- They have English accents, not British accents. They don't call themselves Brits. They're English.
- Water comes from bottles, and most English people drink their water sparkling. Ask for still.
- Drinks don't come with ice. If you request ice, you'll only get up to three cubes.
- There are fast trains and slow trains, and if you get on the fast train, it won't stop at the smaller stations.

- They don't have what Americans call "lemonade." If you order lemonade, you'll get Sprite with lemons in it.
- There's no such thing as personal space when you're riding the tube.
- Public transportation actually isn't that bad at all once you learn how to read the tube map. 
- Men in London dress really nice. Most of them have perfectly tailored suits. 
- English people are really nice and super helpful with directions when you're a confused and lost tourist. Most of them are happy to help.
- Motorcycles can drive in the middle of the roads. As in, on the dotted white line. 
- The tube is a good place for a quick nap if you need one.
- If you don't get off the tube fast enough, tough luck. People don't want to move aside for you. My sister and I learned this the hard way. I was able to get off, and she was stuck on. We probably would've panicked if we weren't so sleepy.
- Interracial relationships galore! Not gonna lie - I loved it!
- Sometimes if you get on the wrong train, people will pity you because you're a tourist, and they won't charge you 20 pounds because you don't have a ticket. 
- Baked beans and sauteed mushrooms (separately, not together) are considered breakfast foods.
- Some English people are scared to come to America because they hear about a lot of shootings, particularly school shootings. Fun fact: Police in London don't carry guns, just sticks. If there's resistance, it's just man-to-man.
- English people don't use the term "awkward" like Americas do.

Fun English slang
- A "coffin dodger" is an older person. Get it? They're dodging the coffin. 
- They like to use a lot of slant rhyming. So if you were to say someone doesn't have a "scooby," it would mean they don't have a clue, because clue rhymes with doo, like Scooby Doo. 
- "Randy" means horny, so if you plan on having a child and letting him visit England, you may want to rethink naming him Randy. Our tour guide told us a story of an older gentleman on one of his tours named Randy, and when he went to introduce himself, he would say "Hi, I'm Randy," and there were lots of giggles.

Have you ever visited London? Would ever want to go?

22 comments :

  1. I so want to go here on day. We have no ice here in Germany. Also water come in a bottle and is bubble. Which isn't bad if you add kool aid drops to it.

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  2. AH! So awesome. I loved looking through your photos and reading about the experiences. It's so fun to learn the different things in each country- like "randy", lemonade, and still water!

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  3. I knew Randy was horny, because Austin powers would always say "Do I make you randy, baby??" I love love love London. Did you go to the Elephant House? That's the coffee shop where JK Rowling first wrote her idea for HP on a napkin. If you didn't, I have pictures of it on my blog from when I went to London last year! Also, do you and Jon do a fist pump every time you stumble across interracial relationships like my bf & I do? It's like we're suddenly keenly aware of everyone who is in one and we mentally salute those people.

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  4. I totally want to go there! I will one day.

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  5. It's absolutely amazing! I already want to go back. There's so much that I didn't get to do when I was there. So much to see and do. It's impossible to get bored there.

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  6. Haha. I think everyone should take a visit to London. There's always something to do, and there's literally something for everyone!

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  7. We finally differ on something. I've never seen Austin Powers before haha. I didn't go to the Elephant House. I don't even know what that is! I sure should have. Jon and I don't fist pump, but he tries to give me high fives. I feel like I'm automatically BFFs with everyone in an interracial relationship.

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  8. I love learning about different cultures, and there are so many different cultures within London. It was a blast and a learning experience, and I would love to go again.

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  9. This post made me miss living in England soooo much. I need to do some research on EF College Break, I havent traveled in forever!

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  10. I do so want to visit London! Even more after seeing this post! It looks like you had an amazing trip and have lots of photographic souvenirs to show for it! I especially loved all the little facts at the end. The only one I had known about was the "Randy" one. But I suppose it's about as bad as someone being named Dick in our country, lol.

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  11. Traveling with EF was amazing! They make it so easy because they take care of all the travel and hassle that is such a time waster on vacations.

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  12. London was amazing! I feel like there's something for everyone there. I know you would love it!

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  13. You got so much done in so little time! I'm a little overwhelmed just reading this, haha. I also would probably never actually touch a red phone booth, lol. I also don't have most of these experiences because I don't eat out beyond picking up sandwiches at Costa or something. And Starbucks. I go to Starbucks too much. I've also seen plenty of poorly dressed people, but I guess it depends on the area and what you're looking at... and what you're comparing it to maybe? I don't really notice those things, though I did see a lot of suits when I had to get a bus in Belgravia.

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  14. I did get a lot done, but I wanted to do so much more! Are the phone booths dirty? I'm sure haha. I used some hand sanitizer afterward. There are so many Starbucks everywhere! I wanted to find a little coffee shop, but I didn't have enough time. Just always on the go. Most people that live where I live don't care what they look like and wear a lot of pajamas or workout clothes and camo is everywhere! I was just overwhlemed by the amount of men in suits! You don't see that much here. Maybe khakis and a button-up, but not full on suits. It was refreshing.

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  15. So jealous your in london! are you there with a group? I loved the facts! ill definitely keep that in mind if i ever go :)

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  16. I've always wanted a pen pal! I had one when I was really young, but then we just stopped writing. I wish we had kept up with it! London was such an incredible city to visit. There's so much to do there, and there's a lot of things I didn't get to do that I would love to go back to do. I hope you make it there one day!

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  17. I traveled to London with my sister and a travel group through EF College Break. We visit 3 cities - London, Paris, and Rome. It was an amazing time. I would love to go back for another visit!

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  18. That's so interesting! We have sparkling water here, but I rarely see people drink it. I've had it before, and it's just strange to me, like it should have a flavor to it, but it doesn't. I'm so used to having ice cold drinks. It was a huge adjustment. I was happy to get back to America and enjoy my icy drinks.

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  19. Everything was fun! It's impossible to have a dull moment in such a lively country. I already want to go back. There are so many things I didn't have time to do!

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  20. Oh I loved hearing your stories! So fun! And definitely, England is on my list, especially as I have a penpal there that I really want to visit. Man, you really giving me ideas of things to do...and Randy? Now that was a funny story. ;)

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