London!

On Thursday, Fran, Cassie, Kayla and I met up at 6:30pm and walked to the bus stop for the Aircoach bus to take us to the airport. We didn't wait long and the bus ride was about 45 minutes to an hour. We got our boarding passes stamped and through security very quickly and then had two hours until our flight departed, so we went to Burger King where Fran got dinner. Then we went to our gate, 103 and waited 45 minutes to board. Cassie and I sat next to each other on the plane, and it was a very short flight from 10pm to 11:15pm. When we landed, we didn't even need to go through customs since we were arriving from the EU. We headed to the National Express counter to buy bus tickets to Paddington Station, which was a close walk to out hotel. The round-trip bus was only £18 compared to a taxi which would have been about £100 since we were about an hour outside the city. We were on the bus from 12am to 1:20am and then walked to the Garden Court Hotel. We checked in, and our room was nice with a double bed and two twin beds. We fell asleep around 2am.

On Friday, I woke up around 6:45am to shower after Cassie. Then I planned out the day on the map and figured what line to take for the Underground. We all went to the free breakfast downstairs at 8:15am, and there was cereals, yogurt, toast, juice, and coffee. I had a bowl of cereal with milk, a piece of toast, and apple juice. Then we walked to Abbey Road to recreate the Beatles Abbey Road album cover. Afterwards, we took the Underground from Paddington to King's Cross train station, so we could get a picture at Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter. We walked in line for about an hour, but it was worth it. After the pictures, we took the Underground to St. Paul's Cathedral and got lunch at EAT, where I got a bowl of chicken pot pie, apple juice, and a bag of chips. Then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral and listened to an audio guide throughout it. We weren't allowed to take any pictures. We also walked up a ton of stairs to the Whispering Gallery and up more stairs to the Stone Gallery and up more stairs to the Golden Gallery, which was the top of the dome. The view was amazing! After we walked down all the stairs, we went down to the crypts and then walked to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and over the Millennium Bridge that was in a Harry Potter movie. Then we took the Underground to the Westminster stop and went to dinner at the Ale & Pie where I got a steak and London pride pie with cabbage and mashed potatoes and gravy. Then we relaxed and went on the London Eye right at sunset, so we could get pictures of Big Ben at sunset and when it was lit up. After Big Ben, we went to get dessert at Cafe Concerto, and I got ice cream. Then we took the Underground back to our hotel, got back at 11:45pm, and went to bed because we were exhausted.

On Saturday, I woke up and took at 6:30am. Then we ate a quick breakfast and took the Underground to Victoria Station to get the bus to Stonehenge and Fran got a bus to Oxford to visit his cousin. We bus departed by 8:30am, and it was about a two-hour bus ride. When we got there, we got audio guides and took a shuttle about a mile and a half to the Stonehenge. We had two hours there, so we walked around it, took lots of pictures, and listened to the audio guide. Then we took the shuttle back, spent some time in the gift shop, and got back on the bus. We got back to London at 2:30pm and then took the Underground to Camden town where we ate at La Patagonia, an Argentinian restaurant where I got Milanesa Clasica, breaded steak, salad, and fries. Then we went to the Camden Street Market where there was various clothes and souvenirs for sale. Then we took the Underground to Piccadilly Circus, walked around SOHO and Chinatown, and got bubble tea at Cuppacha. Afterwards, we took the Underground to the London Bridge, took pictures, relaxed on the pier until sunset and took more pictures. Then we took the Underground to Piccadilly where we got dessert at Jamie Oliver's Diner. I got a small side dish of mac & cheese and a slice of pecan pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert. When we were finished, we took the Underground back to our hotel, got back around 12:30am, and then I went to bed because I had another exhausting day.

On Sunday, we woke up at 7:30am, and I took a shower. Then we checked out and went to breakfast by our hotel at CC Bakery Patisserie & Brasserie where I got a bagel with ham and cheese, a chocolate croissant, and water. Then we took the Underground to Hyde Park and walked through it until 11am when we headed to Buckingham Palace. There was a huge bike race, so there were a ton of people. When we got there, we got our tickets, went through security, checked our bags, and got an audio guide. We started with the entrance and grand staircase and then went through many rooms of Queen Elizabeth's many outfits she wore to jubilees and other major events such as her wedding dress. Then we went through the various state rooms of the palace, and after we were finished, we went to the cafe where I got chocolate ice cream. Then we went to the gift shop, and I got a magnet. Afterwards, we took the Underground to Harrods, a huge high end department store with five floors of stores, restaurants, etc. After walking around for a little, we went to The Bunch of Grapes pub for dinner, and I got fish & chips, an Aspall Suffolk Cider, and a brownie with mint chocolate ice cream for dessert. After we were done eating, we stopped at a gift shop, and I got a couple souvenirs. Then we got the Underground to our National Express bus that took us back to the airport. The ride took about two hours. When we got there, we got our boarding tickets stamped, went through security, and then went to Joe & the Juice to get fresh juice, and I got a pick me up, which had raspberries, bananas, and apples in it. We relaxed there for about an hour because we didn't know about gate number yet, and there were outlets to charge our phones. We got an hour of free airport wifi as well. Our gate was announced at 9:20pm, so we headed to gate 44 right away and waited in line. We started boarding soon after, and Cassie and I were three rows from the back. I had an aisle seat this time and listened to music during the flight. It landed 15 minutes early, and the Aircoach arrived just as we got to the stop. We got back to UCD at 12:20am. It was an amazing trip to London I'll never forget!