Fall Break Part 1: England

DAY 1

The first part of our fall break trip, we spent in London, England. We planned to stay in London for 3 nights. As soon as we landed, we took the TRAM to central London, near where our hostel was. We decided to eat first, and found a very fancy restaurant to eat at. TACO BELL! I'd tell you what I got, but the list is too long. After we ate, my friend Caroline and I needed to get ready to go to a show. We were going to see Moulin Rouge at the Piccadilly Theatre. Moulin Rouge was being preformed by the West End, which in like the UK version of Broadway! We were able to get good seats, despite buying tickets very late. The best part about this production was that the theatre is set up so that you feel like you are in the story. The stage comes out into the crowd, and some of the decorations were right next to us. Some of the cast members would also come into the crowd. It was a very immersive experience and all the actors were perfect! I don't want to spoil the show, but it is a combination of love stories, friendships, devastation, comedy, heart-break, and self-discovery. Despite it being centered around a love story, even the guys in the audience enjoyed the show. After seeing the best performance of a lifetime, we met our other friends at a bar downtown. We got some drinks, talked with the locals, and danced for a little bit. Since we knew we had an early morning the next day, we didn't stay long. We then went out and got a late dinner at Five Guys. P.S. UK Five Guys DO NOT have peanuts!

DAY 2

The 2nd day we woke up early and went to the Portobello Market Square. The Portobello Market is London's most famous street market. This market is about a mile long and it is home to one of the UK’s most diverse communities. It has a rich history dating back to the 19th century when millions of visitors would come to see the market each year. Whether you are just out for a stroll, people watch, looking for a bargain or out to grab a bite to eat, Portobello Road has it all. While there we saw all kinds of vendors from stamps, jewelry, furniture, vintage clothing, fresh produce, street food, and baked goods. While there a got a beautiful gold ring with various color stones on it, as well as a permanent bracelet. My friends and I saw a vendor doing permanent jewelry, so we all decided to get matching ones. This was such a cool experience to do with the people I love most in Italy!

After the street market, we went to see Big Ben also known as the Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben is a huge clock tower located in the Palace of Westminster. After Big Ben we went to see another main attraction, the London Eye. The London Eye is a Millennium Wheel that looks over the river in London. It was so fun to see all the different attractions in London that I'm used to seeing on TV or online.

We then went to another famous market that is famous for its street food, organic produce, and artisan food. Here it is easy to find locally sources cheese, mean, fruits, vegetables, breads, sauces, and more. We didn't buy anything to bring back with us, since we didn't have the room for it, but we did try many foods! I got some famous organic strawberries that are covered in rich milk chocolate. Then for lunch I got a Thai rice bowl, but I'm not too sure what was in it. After we all got our meals, we went back to the hostel to get ready for tonight's pub crawl.

At 7:00PM our pub crawl started. We had multiple group leaders, who kept track of all of us, and guided us through all the different clubs. We went to 5 different clubs during that night and got free shots at each one. A lot of the clubs we went to had a lot of locals and not as many tourists. We got the opportunity to meet so many interesting people from all over the world. It was really late by the time the pub crawl was over, and all the restaurants were closed except for McDonalds, so that's what we had for dinner.

DAY 3 On the last day, my friend Emily was talking about going to Buckingham Palace and seeing the Changing of the Guards (she really wanted to see the tall fuzzy black hats). The Changing of the Guards is a huge ceremony that lasts about 45 minutes, but it is better to get there earlier. It occurs Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 10:45AM. During the ceremony you will see the old and new guards "present arms" before the captains and hand over the palace keys. There is also a march during the ceremony to music, along with police and guards on horses. We then got a quick breakfast and went to stroll the street for a while. Eventually, that evening, we went to the London Bridge. It was so cold and windy on the bridge but it had a beautiful view. We all stayed up there just looking at the skyline as the sun started setting. We then headed back to the hostel after exploring more of the streets. Next on the itinerary was to go to Sketch!

Sketch is located in Mayfair London and is a fine dining restaurant that apparently Harry Style's goes to a lot. It was a super cute restaurant with different rooms you can reserve a table in. We stayed in the Parlor, which had a cocktail bar and live music. Everything was very expensive so I only bought one drink but it was SOOOOO GOOD! I got a passionfruit martini, which was so yummy and tasked like a smoothie. We stayed there for a while just talking and enjoying the music. This was our last night in London and I was so sad to leave. But in the following hours we would be having new adventures in Scotland!