Just a Jaunt...to London!

So now my big trips begin. If you know me, you know that I can't resist trying new things. I decided to visit my friend Maddie who is living in London! by the time I post this however, she will be back in the US and starting school again, its amazing how time flies!

I arrived in London on a Friday early afternoon and was ready to hit the ground running! It was so shocking to be in a country where English is the first language, however I quickly got over that because I still couldn't understand people. Maddie and I had a wonderful first day of wandering around the city, checking out Camden shopping area, getting a snack of mini pancakes and doing some wonderful bargaining.

Despite what I have heard about British food I decided, what the heck, I should go for it!
So for the opening dinner I had, what else but fish and chips! Yes, English food is very heavy, but oddly comforting. We scoped out the local pub that she and her friends usually frequent and hit the sack early to prepare for a big day of touristing!

Rise and shine! Started off the day with scrambled eggs on toast and then we hit the sights! After walking over 7 miles we checked these and more sights off of our list:

The London Eye

 

Big Ben

The Mall, British style

Westminster Abby

Millenium Bridge with St. Paul's in the background

National Gallery, Olympic countdown

Tower Bridge

What a great day for ice cream

What is this??

Gates at Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

Monument to the great fire of London

Wow! We did all of that and then decided to get some tea.

What a nice break

This tea was called "clotted cream" which sounds horrid, but really its just tea and a scone, much nicer!






















Then we realized that we had extra time, so we decided to go to the Bourogh market and sample all of the locally made and fresh cheeses, chocolates, olive oil etc. This was a fun outdoor market, London style!
I had a hard time understanding that everyone could speak English so whenever I wanted to ask something I always asked Maddie first because I thought that I needed someone to translate for me, whoops! I guess coming back to the US will be much harder then I thought!
After a long and fruitfull day, we went out to get Indian food, a must for going to London. Delicious!

Indian food in London, can't go wrong

On Sunday I ate another hearty English breakfast consisting of eggs, toast, bacon, sausage, potatoes...so much food!
This came in handy as my goal for the day was to tackle the British Museum! This didn't go quite as I had planned, as I hadn't figured in exactly how massive the museum actually is.

Don't let the entrance fool you

Once I arrived there and took one look at the inside map, I realized that this museum was really just a monster that had swallowed several museums. So I ran through taking as many pictures as I could, checking out the Exhibits I knew I didn't want to miss (Egyptian and the Rosetta Stone, who am I kidding) and then just wandering around from there.
Several times I got very lost and finding the exit took me to a dead end in the Greek section where I stood stupidly at an ancient fresco wondering why I didn't see an exit sign.

What a lovely trip

Then it was goodbye oasis of English and Hallo Vienna! I arrived safely back later that night, exhausted but exhilarated by my first independent trip to London! Special thanks goes to Maddie for hosting me and showing me a wonderful time in London!