I have just returned from a fabulous long weekend in London with Mimi. We are well over the half-way point of our program and missing the English language, so London was the perfect destination. We arrived late Thursday evening and stayed at the Central Hostel which was located in the Notting Hill area of London. While we loved the area, the hostel was a bit of a disappointment as there were many loud people and it was quite dirty. Fortunately, we had lots to see in London and didn't need to spend much time in the filth with our rather interesting roommates.
We had quite the busy day on Friday, seeing famous places such as Hyde Park, Harrods, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey Cathedral, the London Eye, Westminster Bridge, and more. Although we thoroughly enjoyed visiting all of these places, the highlight of our afternoon had to be our lunch at Pret a Manger. Brent recommended this restaurant to us, describing it as "cheap, delicious, and everywhere." Pret a Manger was definitely cheap and on every street of London, but describing it as delicious did not do it justice! I was able to enjoy many things that we don't have in Barcelona, including DIET Coke (verses Coca Cola Light), a Jalapeno Chicken Wrap (I swear the Spaniards don't believe in anything hot or spicy), Sweet Potato Chips (non-existent here!), and SeedLESS grapes. The lunch was absolutely phenomenal and we returned for a second time on Saturday.
Buckingham Palace
The London Eye
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
On Friday night, Mimi and I met up with her family friend Andreas and his girlfriend, Jessica. Mimi's mom works as a publicist in Spartanburg, and has worked with Andreas, a pianist, for many years. The couple took us to a posh restaurant and bar in Piccadilly Circus for drinks and then to a local restaurant for a tapas-style dinner. We concluded the evening getting frozen yogurt, which about did Mimi and me in! We were so spoiled by Andreas, and it was really nice spending time with a local who had so much to tell us about London.
I could NOT train my brain to look right first. Thank goodness for these reminders on every street.
Our not-so-posh hostel
We started off Saturday by visiting the world-famous Portobello Market. There were thousands and thousands of people looking to find antiques, clothes, foods, etc, but it was a bit overwhelming so we didn't stay for too long. Later in the day, we visited the London Bridge, Tower Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, and visited popular stores on Oxford and Regent Street. The highlight of day two had to be our stop at Big Ben's, which was a local cookie store. We escaped from the cold for a while and indulged in enormous Chai Tea Lattes and warm Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies. Mmmm!
On the London Bridge
The Tower Bridge
We had a low key evening on Saturday night in preparation for our 5 a.m. wake-up call. Mimi and I chose Bella Italia, which was a delicious Italian restaurant in the Oxford Circus area. All in all, we had a fabulous trip and have had a hard time adjusting back to speaking Spanish with such regularity. Life was so simple in London!
St. Paul's Cathedral
Fortnum and Mason, one of my personal faves.
The food here was a lot like Dean and Deluca and the store also had gifts and restaurants.
Mimi and I indulged in some delicious samples followed by some tasty custard and cheesecake.
I could get used to living in London!
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