Can you Czech the fridge, I'm Hungary : 10. Mind the Gap Please!

London, England, where to even start. We arrived in London at 1:00 am Saturday morning, and took a bus to the train station at 5:00 am. We had four hours to kill in the airport, all tried to take naps, but the cold hard ground was not an ideal place. There were so many other people who had the same thought process of napping. Our bus ride from the airport to the train station took about an hour and a half. We then got an underground tube pass at the train station and started to navigate our way through London. The underground tube seemed to be the main transportation throughout London. Before and after every stop, the intercom would announce, "Mind the gap please", which was the gap between the tube and the sidewalk. That saying was also on many t-shirts and key chains. We probably heard it about 100 times in the day and a half we were London. Our first mission for us four girls, Anna, Maddie, Erica, and I, was to find The Windmill Hostel. After a couple different stops in the tube and a 10 minute walk we arrived at our hostel. But to our dismay, the doors were locked, the lights were off, and it was in the sketchy part of town. We decided to head back to Victoria’s train station and find another sleeping arrangement for one night. We ended up founding a really nice hotel near the train station that was close to our bus stop. By this time it was already noon, so we decided to make our way to Queen Elizabeth’s Tower and The London Eye. We didn't really have a strict schedule, we just wandered throughout the city. Many times we were questioned every turn we were making, but it was all part of the experience. I wasn't too worried about where we were going, so I enjoyed getting semi-lost in London. On our way to the London Eye we came across the Tower Bridge, St. James’s Park, Buckingham Palace, and Shakespeare’s Globe. We walked a total of 14 miles that day! I only know that because my phone has an app that tells you:) We also stopped for fish and chips, because you can’t go to London and not have that! I’m not normally a fan of fish, but this was really good.

We girls were able to ride in the London Eye, the view was so awesome from above! We asked a couple people before if the ride was truly worth it, some thought no, but I think it really is. It was kind of a dreary day, but all the parks we saw were still very pretty and had colorful bloomed flowers. After a long day of wandering we slept in our fancy hotel. The next day we only had about five hours to kill, so of course we decided to go to King’s Cross Station and take a picture with Platform 9 ¾. This was used in Harry Potter, it was their platform into Hogwarts. It took about 30 minutes to ride the tube to get there and 30 minutes to wait in line for a picture. We also walked through the train station that was used in the Harry Potter films. I love Harry Potter so it was really cool for me to see all this.

Flying into Hogwarts!

By the time we got back Victoria’s train station we only had about two hours left. We decided to play it safe and just walk around the near streets. London was a quick trip, but I think it was worth it. I enjoyed walking around, I definitely would go back and spend more time there. I think our group only just skimmed the top of it all. The whole time I was in London I still couldn't believe that I was actually there! For our first personal excursion planned all by ourselves, it went alright. The only thing I am disappointed about is not seeing Hogwarts Studio tour, we looked into buying tickets, but they were sold out for the weekend unfortunately. Tomorrow we head to Vienna, Austria for two days, Venice, Italy for three days. And then after, our 10 day spring break begins. A group of four of us are headed to Naples, Italy and Barcelona, Spain! We’re hoping for nice, warm weather!!