I left on Thursday with my friend, Lauren, in the afternoon. We started off by taking a train from Sevilla to Málaga, then flying from Málaga to the Stansted airport in London. It was a very long day of traveling (12 hours). The border security in the UK is apparently very thorough in their questioning, so the process took quite a while... I didn't arrive to Hope's apartment until around 2:30 in the morning, but I was just happy I made it!
On Friday, Hope took me on a tour to see the tourist sights like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the London Eye. After we walked around and saw all the monuments, we had lunch at Thai Square. I was craving Thai since my sister likes to tell me every time she eats Thai Thai in Wilkes-Barre (my favorite). After, we went shopping at Primark and ate Ben's Cookies! While we were in line for cookies, a Londoner told Hope she had an "amazing American accent." We don't get that a lot in Europe! All the Londoners I interacted with were super nice! Later that night we had dinner then went to a blues bar called "Ain't Nothin But" and had some drinks and enjoyed live music!
Buckingham Palace
Big Ben
Saturday morning, we woke up and went for a traditional English Breakfast. After eating corn flakes every morning for a month, it tasted fantastic! Hope had scheduled a street art walking tour for us to do that afternoon, so we headed to East London after breakfast. Our tour guide was a street artist, so he was really knowledgable and great to listen to. I absolutely loved the tour because I got to see a part of London and things that tourists don't normally get to see. We had bagels for lunch (which I also miss from America) and explored the markets and vintage shops in East London. For dinner we had sushi at a place where you sit at the counter and you take whatever kind of sushi you like off a conveyor belt that rotates around. It was really cool! Apparently, there are some in America, but I've never seen one.
I love the story behind this work! When the artist was painting this piece, a shop owner came outside to ask him if he was painting a crane. The artist told him no, he was planning on painting a different large bird. The shop owner explained that the crane was an important symbol in Bangladeshi culture, so halfway through the painting, the artist changed it to a crane, to honor the residents of East London and their heritage.
Space Invader! Apparently, he blocked off the whole street to finish this piece illegally and the police had no idea...
How do they do this with spray paint?!
This one was created by chiseling the brick wall.
On Sunday, we walked through Regent Park to get to Camden Markets. We sampled some international food stands and looked at all the art and handmade products. We stopped for lunch to have pie and mash, which was the perfect meal on a cold day of walking outside. Later, we explored Covent Garden and met my two friends from Sevilla, Lauren and Alexis, for fish and chips. Couldn't leave London without eating fish and chips!
Camden Markets
On Monday, Hope had to go to work at her internship, so I met up with my friends from Sevilla to head to the airport. UK airports are intense with security. I got patted down and my bags searched! Maybe I looked suspicious... Unfortunately, I didn't find any celebrities in London. My Mom was hoping I'd catch a glimpse of Prince Harry. Sorry Mom!
Special thanks to Hope for an awesome weekend and letting me enjoy all her favorite things in London!
Check out my friend Hope's travel blog at lovelytravelss.blogspot.com
Next up... Barcelona!
Thanks for reading!
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