I have to say it, I LOVE London.  I know that doesn’t exactly mean that I was born into the wrong nationality, but regardless – it is incredible!  I think this post will focus mainly on that trip and my other planning – there is just too much to include since the last time I’ve posted (my fault, for not posting sooner).

I will try to keep it brief-ish, but that’s always a challenge, so bear with me dear readers.  Not too much happened since my last post, other than my trip to London.  That trip was another first for me.  Not just my first time being in London, but my first time traveling alone to a big city.  A success, I think.  This might be because the trip is insanely cheap and easy.  A coach bus leaves from Canterbury every hour for London, and you can book your ticket online or just get it at the station.  The bus company (National Express) will even send you an text message that acts as your ticket; what could be easier?

The bus ride was about 2 hours, not bad all things considered.  I think the best way to describe my trip would be through a rundown of the life-lessons I learned over the weekend…

1.) Never. Ever. Use the bathroom on a coach bus.
This is for multiple reasons.  The first- the smell.  As clean as the bus was, the bathroom was disgusting, smelly, and had a faulty lock.  Reason number two – you never know when the bus will speed away from a stop sign or traffic light and leave you clinging to the sink so you don’t fly out of the door.  Yes, this did happen, repeatedly I might add.

2.) Public transit is genius. 
I cannot believe how smooth my trip was as a result of the tube (underground train system for those who don’t speak British-ese).  I was given an Oyster Card (THANK YOU JENNY) before I left for England, and merely had to swipe it each time I entered the train station.  It saved my so much money, and the tube is SO quick and efficient.  Sure, riding a double decker would have been cool, but also more time consuming and expensive.  I now feel that the U.S. should invest all of it’s money into an underground train system.

3.) British people do not generate trash. 
Ok, so that’s a lie – but I was shocked to discover that there are no trash bins ANYWHERE in the train stations or on the streets really.  I mean none, zero, nada, zilch.  Apparently this is because it is too easy for terrorists to chuck bombs into them and run away, which makes perfect sense; I was just surprised.  Even more shocking might have been the cleanliness of the stations.  New York is full of trash bins, and also trash.  I’m not sure how they keep London so clean, but I plan on finding out. 

4.) England is expensive, not London.
The cost of living in London is not as astronomical as I initially imagined.  I mean sure, I spent quite a bit of money, but I was also shopping/not living like a real Londoner.  Prices in London were comparable to Canterbury, and some things were even cheaper.  This may be because of the increased competition between stores and markets, but I wasn’t complaining.  The big-name grocery stores are located everywhere, and goods are priced pretty similarly.  I think I may have made the wrong choice in location…

5.) Camden Market is incredible.
Camden Market = a huge outdoor market in London, where they sell everything for insanely cheap prices.  A sub-lesson here: if you say you are from New York, you get crazy street cred.  And it’s not technically a lie if I didn’t mention that I am from upstate, New York is New York after all.  Prices can be brought down so easily, which is semi-dangerous if you are not looking to spend all of your money. 

6.) Every day is Black Friday.
At least in Primark.  Did I say that Camden Market was cheap?  Well, Primark is about 10x cheaper.  It is a giant clothing store on Oxford Street (also a dangerous street for the budget-conscious) that is like Macy’s in the city on Black Friday…every single day.  People were pushing and shoving and grabbing random items of clothing and goods, it was brilliant.  I, for one, cannot wait to go back. 

7.) It’s a small world.
This lesson I already knew, it was just reinforced during my trip.  The second night I was there, I stayed with a friend from high school who goes to George Washington University and is studying at University College London.  We went out to dinner with a bunch of her friends at UCL who also go to GW.  During dinner, I was chatting with one of the GW girls and she happened to mention that she had a good friend at Penn State.  Who doesn’t?  As I was thinking “44,000 undergrads, yeah right…” in my head, she said the name of the girl.  Not only did I know the name, but I had taken a class with and was friends with this girl!  What are the odds?  Slim, at best.  I am always amazed how small the world really is. 

8.) London has real coffee.
This may be because we stopped at chain coffee shops (aka, Starbucks and Cafe Nero), but the coffee sizes were normal, and wonderful.  The prices were not atrocious either, which made me (and my wallet) very happy. 

9.) A little terrorist threat is no reason to stay indoors.
I can just see my parents and advisers cringing at that one.  It’s true, Erica, Jaclyn and I did everything tourists were NOT supposed to do in the major European cities.  We went to most of the monuments (Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye), as well as Trafalgar Square, Starbucks, and Subway.  We also went to see a show at the West End, ‘Chicago’ (maybe a little too American…), which was incredible!  And all on a beautiful, sunny English day.  And what do I have to say for myself?  It was a great decision.  We took the chance, and had an awesome day.  The sights were AMAZING, and we couldn’t have asked for better weather.  I can’t wait to go back and see the rest of them!  And for your viewing pleasure…

10.) London is HUGE.
I mean, I’m used to New York, I guess I just wasn’t anticipating how spread out it would be.  There are so many different/awesome things in each section of the city, it was a bit overwhelming.  Much to my dismay, I did not see Daniel Radcliffe casually meandering down Oxford Street for some afternoon shopping.  But I will not give up hope, I plan on visiting London frequently, so I will keep searching. 

Location: London, UK