So
it would be very difficult to cram a whole week in London into a short blog
post, therefore I will just give a brief overview and then some highlights!
I was able to bear wearing jeans
for the short ride to the airport, and it’s a good thing I did! It was roughly
45 degrees when we landed in London Thursday morning and I was wearing jeans,
Birkenstocks and a light button up shirt. Needless to say I was cold. So after
we checked into our hostel we walked across the street to the mall (not without
being stopped by 4 different people selling things) and got warm clothes from
H&M.
From there we did all of the
touristy things. Our first day we did a bus tour, saw the tower of London, the
crown jewels, did a jack the ripper walking tour (creepy) and went on the
London Eye. The next day we saw Westminster, Big Ben (where Peter Pan himself
stood), went on a cruise along the Thames and landed in Greenwich. There we
wandered around the market and had coffee in an adorable café to escape the
rain. We came back early and got ready to see none other than the Lion King!
Connecting Africa to London in a lovely setting.
Day three we started our day with
our first big breakfast in months (it was delicious). We followed it up with a
walk through Harrods, admiring all of the things we would never be able to buy.
Made an appointment for tea on the terrace (so very fancy) and went to the
Victoria and Albert museum. The museum was incredible and much larger than any
museum I have been to before. I loved every minute of it and wish my dad was
with me or it! We went back and had extremely expensive tea and soup. Normally
I would never pay $40 for a bowl of soup and a pot of tea, but hey, it’s the
experience right? It was a bank holiday on Monday, so that Sunday night we went
downstairs where the bar we lived over was having a full moon party. We met
some nice Australians, danced and realized we really missed the good dancing
back in Accra.
The following day we took the train
all the way to Windsor. It was so incredibly beautiful there. We asked the man
at the train station to direct us to the castle, he kindly told us to turn
right and walk up the hill. It wasn’t until we stepped outside that we realized
how silly the question was because as soon as you walked outside, there’s no
way you could miss the giant castle right in front of you. We walked to a
nearby café and had fish and chips before we headed for the castle. We took the
walking tour and I was so amazed at how incredibly beautiful this castle was.
It was like a dream. When we were leaving the castle we saw the changing of the
guards and they walked right by us and yelled at a lady for being in the way.
Very entertaining and, in my opinion, cooler than the one at Buckingham. We
walked around Windsor for a while before we got back on the train and went
home.
Our final day we decided to go to
Buckingham palace and see part of the changing of the guard. Though it was
incredible crowded and after seeing it in Windsor we decided to walk through
the park instead. We went to china town and got short massages (MUCH needed),
then went to Notting Hill for the market. We got dressed up and went to a jazz
club for our final dinner.
Favorite
moments:
-
Getting off the river ferry in Greenwich and
stumbling upon a market. Then getting a free sample of lemon ginger tea before escaping
the rain and finding a perfect little café and enjoying hot coffee and warm
soup.
-
Finding my family crest in a gift shop
-
Getting ready for the lion king. I put on my
dress only to have the zipper break. Kendra comes in to see me trying to fix
it, with no luck and offers to lend me her dress, which is of course to small.
I barely fit into it and when I bend over to put stockings on it rips. We are
both dying laughing, but Kendra is determined to make it work. She helps me get
stockings on like I’m a toddler; she then irons the dress while its still on
me. I’m freaking out because it is so short, but Kendra assures me it will
work. We finally walk downstairs and I get a glimpse in a full-length mirror. I
freak out because it is MUCH too short, run back upstairs and put a skirt and
blouse on instead. It was all hysterical.
-
Seeing the lights come on and looking over the
Thames at Big Ben and the city all lit up.
-
All of the Windsor tour. The rooms were
breathtaking. Especially the Banquet room, and the room with all of the
portraits.
-
We were walking around Windsor talking about how
perfect it would be to sit in a park with a view of the river and the castle,
only to turn the corner and find the most beautiful field imaginable with a
view of the river and the castle.
-
All the little things God did to humor us on the
trip. Like When we said “all we want is a full English breakfast God” only to
immediately see a chalkboard sign in the window of a restaurant reading “Full
English Breakfast with Coffee”. Or in Windsor when we said, “Fish and Chips
would be perfect right now”, and then when we looked across the street there
was a restaurant called Fish and Chips. There were tons of moments like that,
and God continued to bless us throughout the trip, making it more enjoyable
than I could have hoped for!
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| Tour Bus |
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| London Eye |
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| Greenwich |
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| Lion King Outfits |
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| Windsor |
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