London!

Oh we made it! Booking, traveling, and planning a trip all on our own, this London weekend was great to meet up with Michael from high school, Jenner from DG and my roommate last semester, and my cousin Ben who has been living in London for a few years now. Abby, Kim, and I packed our backpacks and headed for the airport on Thursday, ready to take on a new city :) the flight led us to some Irish brothers who have a club in London.. Conveniently in the neighborhood where Ben lives so... Friday night plans, check!

We made it to a hostel for the first night to get ready for a big day touring Windsor caste with Michael in the morning. Let's just say, hostels are not my idea of traveling.. We thought staying in a 9 person mixed dorm would be fine for a night but boy was it interesting. Coming in at 2 am to a room full of people from random countries to climb up a triple bunk with my massive backpack was a challenge! Needless to say i slept with my purse around my neck, we woke up and snagged the shower before getting the "free continental breakfast" of white bread and plain corn flakes.. couldn't wait to find Bens flat in Notting Hill after that night...

We (more like I...) figured out the tube system to get to Michaels where we dropped off our bags and grabbed him to get us to Windsor castle. Before getting on another train to take us out there, the mcdonalds had real bacon egg and cheese biscuits. I was not about to pass that up! There was also starbucks! Something we do not have in Alicante except past security at the airport..bummer. Windsor was incredible. It was massive, beautiful, and where the Queen actually lives!

train ride out to Windsor

That is crazy to me that it is her home.. And Will and Kate probably go there alllll the time :) so even better. We had a tour and explored the state rooms to see the elaborate gold-leafed walls, ceilings, artwork, and like 4 huge dining rooms. It is the only working castle in the world!

looks a lot like Scotland I thought too

There are workshops where people repair furniture, gild all of the gold, and sew the draperies and linens-how cool! They were raking the driveway because The Queen was coming and they have to get rid of any tire marks in the pebbles so her rolls Royce can drive in on a perfectly pebbled lane.. Must be nice. If we had a monarchy in the US, there is no way people would be ok with it.. We already complain when presidents take vacations to exotic places or seem to have an "elaborate" lifestyle. It is pretty cool to me that the entire country respects someone so much that they would never think to argue.. Must be the American attitude I guess.

The clan-me, Abby, and Kim

Michael and me outside of a church on Windsor Castle grounds

And pizza with rocket :) yummy!

the "long walk" that we made about 1/10 of the way down..

yummy ice cream! almost like bake nights, but not quite the same

Got to bens, got ready and got ourselves some good Mexican and yummy drinks. Chicken nachos!!! So good.

Met up with Ben and his friends at a great pub in the center of Notting Hill before going to more of a Spanish-type discoteca later. Jenner met us there and I was soo excited to see her!

Ben and me!

London would be such an amazing place to live. Every single place we walked by or pub we went in is like the coolest cafe or place from home. Like the most trendy or cutest decorated, that's what every single place is like in London. I'm obsessed. My second trip there was definitely a confirmation that I will be living there at some point in my life for more than a vacation.

Jenner!! My roommate from DG studying in London this semester-ohh how i missed her!

Saturday found is meeting up with abbys friend to explore the city. We walked through beautiful Hyde park to buckingham palace, saw big ben, the eye, etc.

At the Queen Victoria fountain outside of Buckingham Palace

our walking tour of Big Ben

We made it up to leicester square, the Camden gardens, soho and the theater district before heading back to Bens to get groceries for a homemade enchilada dinner! They were real good. We couldn't find shredded cheddar cheese anywhere though! I couldn't find it in Spain either when I make Green Lake potatoes for an American dinner we had. So we got this nice artisan cheese and just sliced it rally thin. That may have been better.

Aunt Holly- you would be happy to know we used two of your christmas gift to Ben for our dinner! The cloth napkins AND the wine bobbles :)

Dinner was just what we needed before another trendy night out at a pub off of gossip girl. I was waiting to see someone famous..

Moore cousins!

We made a quick stop at Abbey road on Sunday before heading to the airport because Kim is obsessed with the Beatles.. It was cool to see everyone walking across the crosswalk to take pictures like the album cover. There was a surprising amount of traffic so cars had to stop and seemed annoyed when people would just stop in the middle of the street..

the famous Beatles crosswalk

The street sign was so high so people couldn't write all over it...

What a great weekend full of the joys of life in America :) English speaking people, a city where blondes aren't harassed, the ability to read street signs and ask for directions to strangers, and the comforts of being with family and close friends. As my dad always says, "it's always good to know someone", we definitely took advantage of knowing people in London. The stresses of traveling with three girls who aren't experts at this yet was only doable because we had people to tell us how to get places.. It is also nice to have a safe and nice place to sleep-thank you, Ben, for putting up with our crazy 21 year old selves :)

Off to researching what to do now in Budapest, Hungary for this weekend! Never thought I would head there but, you only live once, right? I'm not about to miss an opportunity.

-k