This week I got to add London & Oxford to the list of places I've visited in Europe... I'm so spoiled... I know. But I've gotta take advantage of the opportunities of a lifetime and the fact that I don't have to buy a plane ticket over the Atlantic to see these places! It all began when Kristie had the idea of us girls going on a trip for her birthday since we had a break from camp. And London was chosen pretty much because it has Chipotle. And Krispy Kreme. Oh Kristie... she's been out of America for too long and sometimes you just need a taste of home.
So we woke up crazy early Tuesday morning, headed to the ghetto cheap airport of Bucharest, and got in line to check in. But when we went to hand them our passports, Kristie didn't have hers. It was just horrific and she was about to cry. Me and Jenny just stood there and didn't know what to do. But praise God there was another flight out only an hour & a half after ours! So me and Jenny got on our plane, while Kristie got a taxi home, tore the apartment apart looking for her passport, which she left on the scanner after copying it, and then hurried back to the airport to buy another plane ticket. Now if you don't know Kristie, you don't know why this was such a huge deal... She's the designated emailer, texter, and caller to remind everyone to not forget their passports every time we leave the country. She's always on the ball about it. And as we were walking out of our apartment, I even asked all of them, just joking around with Kristie since that's usually her line. And then she forgot her phone and realized when we were in the taxi, so she even was back at the apartment before we made it to the airport. Ioneven know, but it was not a fun experience. And sorry Kristie, but I just had to throw that story in there because I'm sure it will NEVER happen again. :]
This was not the end of our traveling adventures/mistakes. We got to the train station, but there was nothing on the ticket telling you what platform to go to, and there was no one to ask, so we pretty much just got on the train that the most people were waiting for. And it took us into the city, just not to the train station right next to our hostel, so they made us pay for another train ticket & gave us a "fare warning." Which was pretty much a little paper saying we were bad because we weren't on the train our ticket was for. We found it pretty amusing that they had to give us that piece of paper when we clearly would have liked to have gotten on the right train. Anyways, we then easily found our hostel, which was right next to the train station and metro ("The Tube"), checked in and then set out on our 1st adventure... Chipotle, of course. I mean that was our goal in going to London apparently haha. My burrito was yummy, but Kristie says it wasn't as good as in the States, which I wouldn't know since we only have a Moe's in the burg. Then we walked around, went in T.K. Maxx, the European version named after me, checked out Harrods, the massive super expensive mall/department store, then headed to the main center where we could check out Big Ben, the London Eye, & the Houses of Parliament. I got some daylight pics, then we chilled on a bench until the sun went down to get the sweet night shots. I love Kristie and Jenny for letting me have my one request of going to get night pics of the city. :]
The next morning we set out for Krispy Kreme, our #2 reason for going to London! It was just as delicious as I remember, although like 4 times the price than in the States. If you've never lived outside of America for any length of time, you don't know how little tastes of home can make you so happy! After our breakfast of champions, we went to Buckingham Palace, where we caught the changing of the guard. It's apparently a big deal and the guards on horses controlling the crowds and the guards in red suits and the huge hairy hats were pretty entertaining. The queen was in the Palace when we were there because the flag was flying! We then took a stroll along the park to Trafalgar Square, Downing Street where the Prime Minister lives, and then went to Westminster Abbey. We walked on a lot of famous dead peoples' graves, such as Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill, David Livingston, Charles Darwin (why the heck was he buried there?), Isaac Newton, Jane Austen, and a million kings and queens. It was also pretty cool that we were walking in the place where almost all the royal coronations and weddings have taken place. And speaking of royal weddings, the city was still obsessed with William & Kate's wedding in April, and there was an exhibit in Westminster Abbey and souvenirs with their wedding picture everywhere. After this, we got on a boat and rode down the river to the Tower Bridge! I've always wanted to ride the boats places, and with our London Passes it was "free!" We then took the tour of the Tower Bridge and got to walk across the top of it which was pretty legit. We then tried to go to dinner at the original Hard Rock Cafe, but after we walked forever to find it and saw the huge line, we decided to find somewhere we could eat sooner since we were pretty hungry. We ended up eating at some bar and grill kind of place where we watched American ESPN and I ate fish and chips and drank free tap water! Then we headed back to the hostel to crash. Speaking of the hostel, it was my 1st experience and it was an over-all good one. There were 2 girls, Claire from Ireland and a girl from Canada, who had internships and stayed in our room the whole time we were there. We stayed in an all girls hostel on the 4th floor, and the only thing I can really complain about is the fact that it was super hot most nights with no A/C and that it was pretty loud all night long, but I was so tired it didn't really matter!
The next morning we took a train out to Windsor Castle, the official royal weekend home of the Queen. It was a very luxurious castle, of course, and I'm sure it would have been a lot prettier from the outside if it wasn't raining the whole time. But I feel like we got the full London experience on our day of rain, clouds, and umbrellas! We then met a friend of Kristie's in the city, and while they caught up over coffee, Jenny and I set out on our own adventure. We went to St. Paul's Cathedral, and I climbed all 568 stairs to the very top! My legs were dying but the pictures were worth it! I've decided that my favorite part of seeing the big cities is getting to go to the top of some tall building and taking pictures from the aerial view. It just puts the whole city in perspective too. Then we rode one of the double decker red buses to the London Tower, which is where they keep the crown jewels which we got to see on display. Then we met up with Kristie, walked around forever again to find someplace to eat, then finally ate at an Italian restaurant that probably had better Italian food than the stuff we had in Rome. Then, once again, Kristie and Jenny let me go downtown to get some night pics of the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge which was pretty much gorgeous.
On Friday, we took a bus to Oxford to meet up with Jenny's friend Kendall, who is a missionary in England. He showed us around the quaint city and took us to an awesome Portuguese restaurant where they had yummy chicken and free refill on drinks (this just is unheard of in Europe)! We saw a bunch of the colleges, St. Mary's church where John Wesley preached, Oxford Press, and the Eagle and Child restaurant where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien hung out weekly and wrote their books. We also saw a tiny Baptist church that Kendall helps at and ran into some of his friends there. We walked along this river and it was so pretty and peaceful and quiet, and then we sat in a little shop and drank coffee before we headed back to the city on the bus again. When we got back we hit up the little grocery store for cherry coke & cool ranch doritos for our random meal of things we can't get in Romania.
I woke up at like 5:30 am the next morning, went to the train station, and was once again confused about what train to get on. After asking a couple unhelpful people, I found out I had to take the metro to another station and get on the train to the airport there. So it all went smoothly and I had plenty of time to spare and then I slept the entire 3 hour flight back to Bucharest. I made the journey alone because Jenny & Kristie headed to Dublin for the next couple of days.
So that's what I did... now here's my random thoughts about this trip. It was pretty refreshing being in an English speaking country again, even though I could barely understand their funny accents. We imitated/made fun of them a lot and even spoke Romanian to each other in a British accent which was quite entertaining. It felt like the America of Europe, with such a diverse people group and so many different languages. It was funny how I freaked out whenever I heard Romanian and said "AH! I can understand them!" as if I wasn't in an English speaking country. Another thought... although I've now gotten to visit Paris, Rome, and London, I still would rather live in Bucharest. I have to admit I'm a little biased, but I would hate living in such a tourist city and a place where the pound is worth twice as much as the dollar, but the prices are still the same. Let me tell you, everything was ridiculously expensive and I spent a lot of money on this trip, but I keep telling myself that it was an opportunity of a lifetime and that it was still way cheaper than if I had to buy a plane ticket across the ocean! Another thing that's awesome about living in Bucharest/Europe... all these amazing places are a cheap 3 hour max flight away! So I've definitely taken advantage of that! Anywho, it was an amazing adventure with some amazing friends! The end. :]
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