London has always been a place I wanted to go. Growing up around Philadelphia and New York, I was always interested in the other side of things. London seemed to be culturally more historic and when I was deciding where to study abroad, proximity to London was certainly a factor.

————-

We arrived at the hostel late Friday night, where we ran into a bit of a mishap with the receptionist. One of the girls with me had booked one bed, but the hostel was charging her for two. After arguing for a bit — and returning to see the manager in the morning — she eventually got it worked out. But after we finally settled into the hostel, it was around midnight. The hostel itself was really nice. It was clean and provided us with bedding, as well as showers. Not to mention the other people in the room where our friends and a random, really nice woman traveling alone. Location-wise it was in the Elephant and Castle part of London. Seeking a pub to go to, we went to the nearest one, suggested by a hostel employee. It was a bit sketchy, however, and seeing how we were being stared at upon walking in, we decided to leave and explore a little more until finally going back to the hostel and meeting up with the others from Leeds.

The next day was far more exciting. We woke up early and did a walking tour around Westminster. We saw all the major tourist attractions, including Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben. The tour guide we had also took us to smaller, historic places and told us really interesting stories I would have never known on my own just walking around. We also got lucky and arrived at Buckingham Palace just as the changing of the guards was occurring — which we learned happens every other day at 11:30 a.m. during the winter.

After that, we ate lunch — and got warm — at a local pub. It was raining on and off all morning, which actually was a blessing in disguise, as we got to experience two beautiful rainbows over Big Ben. 

We spent the afternoon walking around and going to the South Bank area of London, where I got to see the Globe Theatre. As an English major, with a special interest in Shakespeare, it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We also went to the Borough Market where we sampled the most delicious locally grown foods, like cheeses, breads, mulled wine, truffle oils, and brownies. After that we walked back to our hostel. 

By then our feet were killing us, so we all relaxed in the hostel for a bit. We took the tube a lot, but we still seemingly walked miles throughout the morning. (Side note: the tube system in London is far better than the subway system in New York. Not only was it cleaner and easier to navigate, but it was more comfortable.) 

Earlier in the day we purchased tickets to a pub crawl in London, so we returned to the area for that later at night. The pub crawl consisted of four very different pubs and it ended at a nightclub. Each pub gave you a free shot and had special drink deals for those in the pub crawl. It was really fun, but extremely tiring. We started drinking at 7:30 p.m. and by 1:30 a.m. we were extremely exhausted. So, naturally, in typical American fashion, we went to McDonald’s before returning to the bus (the tube shut downs really early, we learned) back to the hostel. Fun fact: I learned that if you order a meal at McDonald’s and show your student ID card you can get free fries or a cheeseburger. Hopefully, that reigns true in the states as well (looking at you, East College Ave McDonald’s).

The next day, we woke up, checked out of the hostel and went to the Camden Markets. It was really cool — probably the coolest part of the trip. We started the journey with crepes from this amazing stand, and went to go shopping in the markets. We ended up in the arts and crafts area where I was enamored with everything I saw. There were so many cool and interesting pieces, ranging from paintings to jewelry, and I wanted to buy it all. (Hi mom, don’t worry, I restrained myself.) After that, we split up and some of the group went to an American-style diner, while another girl and I went to the Camden Village Food market. Basically, it was booths upon booths of various cultural foods…and it was all so cheap. After walking around, we paid 4 pounds (!!!) for a buffet-style plate of thai food and sat on the water to eat it.

After that, we went back to the Westminster area and explored London further and hung out in the Victoria Station for a while, before catching our bus home. (All in all, I loved London. I felt so comfortable there. For me, it is cleaner and more spread out than New York. I liked the old style of the buildings and the variety of things that I saw. I can definitely see myself returning in the future.)    

As we were walking to the coach station to board our bus back to Leeds, one of my friends posed an interesting question. He asked us if we have started to think of Leeds as home yet. He is currently studying at Leeds for a year, and is in his second semester now, so for him Leeds is home.

For me, I’m not so sure yet. 

At the question, I instantly thought, “‘Home’ is covered in a few feet of snow right now.” But then again, as we were rushing to the bus station my mind wasn’t on America, it was on Leeds and my flat, my room, and my bed. 

So, I think maybe after about three weeks being here, I’m finally starting to call this place my own, (even if I’m still hanging onto the food and people from home).

– Kelsey