12 hours of sleep – 3 nights. That’s what happens when you are a study abroad student. Well, at least, similar stories happen pretty often. There are two parts to the name “study abroad (travel travel fun travel fun fun) student (finals come and you have a slam load of papers)”. AKA, I’ve learned if you’re not doing some homework, errands, or traveling; you’re planning and booking your next week’s trip. Having booked our most recent London tickets I seem to have just believed the papers would somehow find a way to get done. Welp – they did…as I brought along one to London on my laptop. Allocating my time with sightseeing and walking during the day and then dedicating at least 4 hours a night to my paper, I had some sleepless nights showing up to my hostel room at 2 AM with laptop in tow.
But after turning that paper in on Friday, it was time to go to a club. Actually a club ranked the #2 and #1 best club in the entire world for four years. We made our way to Fabric, home to drum and bass DJ’s. We travelled between the three rooms to experience the stellar DJ’s playing and upon entering one room felt the feet shake beneath our feet – literally! The club has a vibrating dance floor attached to, “450 bass transducers which emit bass frequencies,” according to their website. The music was incredible and you could tell that people came here solely for the music.
The employees all wore shirts that said “Is your phone safe?” because apparently there is a high issue with phone thieves in all of London’s clubs. I always am very protective of my belongings (concealing a money belt and a purse in front of my body with my hand glued on the zipper), but it was interesting to see the clubs acknowledgement of the issue. We had so much fun and returned to the hostel by 2:30, slept for an hour, and were up at 3:30 AM to grab our train to the airport and fly home.
I’m now writing this blog on the bus ride home from the Basel, Switzerland airport – in my state of giggle exhaustion and subtle crankiness. But with our great price deals on our flights, you can’t always choose what time you want the plane to fly. A bus, train, plane, bus, tram later and we are home in Freiburg by 1 PM.
Whilst in England – the meat of our trip
“England isn’t known for their food” – true, but I was surprised to find a HUGE ethnic food variety and organic healthy options! We ate at
- Wagamama – a Japanese restaurant and noodle bar I have always heard about
- Pret a Manger – a favorite that I’ve had in NYC; a homemade natural food place similar to Panera Bread Co., but better
- fish and chips stand
- Brick Lane eatery – known as the street of Indian restaurants
- Borough Market (where we bought English tea!!!)
And it was all delicious, one of my favorite cities for food selection – I really miss having so many diverse and endless food options!
Wagamama Dinner!
The hostel we found via TripAdvisor was recently built and very hip – HIGHLY recommend it. The Wombat’s in London had gorgeous interior design, like a hotel, brand new facilities, helpful staff, secure private lockers in our rooms, and great lounge area to meet people. Writing my paper in the lobby for several nights, I really got to use the facilities and ultimately is my favorite hostel thus far.
Wombat’s London – hostel lobby
In all – Loved London: full of edgy, urban-hip and posh-dressed individuals; yummy food; and a great first exposure to Great Britain.
Location: London, England
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