This weekend, Lainey, Vaughn and I took our very first solo international trip to London. We were all so excited to go because London was on all of our travel bucket lists. Since we were in Rome during the week, we decided to take advantage of being in a city with a major airport and use the weekend to fly international. I am so glad that we did. Although it was one of the most exhausting weeks so far due to all the travel time and planned outings, I wouldn’t change a thing. Well, I would have us stay in London for longer but I guess we’ll all just have to come back some day.
After a very early morning and some flight delays, we finally arrived in London on Friday afternoon. We quickly learned to navigate the tube system and eventually went back to speaking English. I was surprised by how natural it had become for me to greet people and order food in Italian. Our waiters must’ve thought we were crazy because we couldn’t pick a language to speak in and stick to it. By the end of Friday, we’d reverted back to English and it was such a relief to be able to speak and read with ease.
On Saturday, we had quite a full day. In total, we walked over 26,000 steps and 12.5 miles. Our feet were killing us by the time we made it back to our Airbnb at midnight. We spent the day visiting as many sights as we could including The Palace of Westminster, Big Ben (it was under construction so it may not really count), the Tate Modern Museum, Tower of London, Kensington Palace, and many more. In Westminster Abbey, we were able to see the tombs of Great Britain’s elite and most famous citizens including royalty like Queen Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, and Edward the Confessor. Charles Darwin, Issac Newton, Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, and Steven Hawking, among many more, are all buried here as well. Another favorite of mine was the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. Getting to see all the crowns, scepters, and coronation items in person was breathtaking. I still can’t believe they’re real. After watching The Crown and the recent royal wedding, it was surreal to see some of the pieces in real life.
Overall, I had an incredible weekend in London. One weekend just isn’t enough to see the whole city, but I don’t regret it one bit. With so much more to see, I can't wait to go back!
