We left Nice, France relatively early in the morning for our flight to London. We arrived at Heathrow airport in the early afternoon and enjoyed an hour-long ride on their underground system. I was completely under dressed in shorts and a tank top, but I still felt like the extreme heat from Southern France was just radiating from me. I wouldn’t put pants on until that evening when I finally adjusted to the chillier London temperatures.

Our hostel was located on King’s Cross Road, and it was called Clink 78. I loved this hostel SO MUCH. It’s inside an old courthouse; the computer room is literally in the old court room, and the whole place is decorated in bright colors, travel quotes, and the space is just so bright and airy because of the high courthouse ceilings.

We booked a 10-bed deluxe female mixed dorm which was really awesome too. Our beds were big, private, we had big windows, private lights in our bunks & lockers for our valuables above our bed. The room was decorated in vivid pink with dandelion prints. It was grungy and girly all at the same time. I loved the vibe everywhere I went in this place.

The staircase up to the girls’ dormitory

One of my favorite quotes from the reception room

I can’t recommend this hostel enough. Breakfast was included in the price as well, and the hostel has its own travel shop with a fantastic girl ready to help you book things throughout London behind the desk. Although we found out on our first day that there were NO MORE TICKETS FOR HARRY POTTER WB STUDIOS, she still looked for us every single day and was so nice about our insanity over it

Once we arrived at the hostel and unpacked/freshened up, we put on some warmer clothes and began to walk the London streets. We walked, and walked, and walked…. and walked some more. We went all the way to the London Bridge; we took pictures as we went. I REALLY wanted to see the Shakespeare Globe, so we walked along the Thames river enjoying the London vibe.

 
Double Decker buses driving on the opposite side of the street? Definitely London!

The view on London Bridge!

 
Although Shakespeare was never my favorite to read in high school, it was still really cool to get to see the place where one of the most famous playwrights in history got his start.

 
Dinner that night was at the Hard Rock Cafe, of course! I couldn’t go to LONDON and not see this place. Unfortunately we got seated outside & we weren’t adequately dressed for the extreme temperature change, but we still got a really cool tour of London’s *vault* of music history. So many neat things in there!

The following morning after breakfast, we decided to join in on a free walking tour that was beginning at our hostel. We had NO idea why it was free or what it included, but we figured we could just join in and if we didn’t like, we could leave. It ended up being AWESOME. It’s actually hosted by a company called ‘Sandeman’s New Europe’ and it was founded by this guy who hated paying for walking tours and feeling like the tour guides didn’t give it a passionate go because they’d already been paid. His concept is that instead, you get to join in on a tour for free & if you like what you see, you pay your tour guide whatever you think they deserve.

We ended up being placed in a group with Mark (and if you’re ever in London doing this tour, I suggest you keep an eye out for him!) He was totally awesome and knew his history REALLY well. It was actually a “Royal Tour” so he gave us a small history lesson in London royalty as we went to see the changing of the guard and visited all the sights in London’s royal center.

Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (AKA my future home!)

 
Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey

In total, the walking tour lasted about 3 hours and we got to see and learn SO MUCH about London’s history. I had such a good time and with our time constraints in the city, it was perfect. The tour ended at a little pub near St. James Park where we enjoyed some SUPER yummy fish and chips. London’s best!

Afterwards, we met up with one of our friends from Naples. He’s originally from London, but had never done any of the touristy things that we’d been planning on doing with our afternoon. We dragged him along to the London Eye and experienced some of the most gorgeous views the city has to offer.

It took a little while to wait in line for our tickets and do the whole ferris wheel; by the time we got out of our little London Eye bubble thing we were starved! The three of us decided we’d grab some dinner and (upon my request) some much needed ice cream afterwards. Dinner was really yummy! We ate at a traditional little London place where half the things on the menu made no sense to me and I had to ask what it actually WAS. I also seriously practiced my British accent and got really good at saying ‘Bloody ‘ell’ which for some reason is my favorite thing to say

We enjoyed the view of Parliament (and the clock tower) as we ate our ice cream (and as I craved waffles afterwards, but held myself back)

All in all, it was a really lovely day of touring London. I was so immediately in love with everything about this city, and I can honestly say it’s the one place I’ve been in my travels that I can TRULY see myself living in. Not only for the language, but it just has everything I could imagine wanting if I moved away. It’s a city that has it’s own character, and walking around there was amazing.

We ended our night at King’s Cross Station searching for the rumored Platform 9 and 3/4 from Harry Potter. If I couldn’t do the HP tour, dammit I was going to pretend I was getting on the Hogwarts Express!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

The next morning we only had a couple hours in London before we’d be catching the chunnel to Paris. We asked our favorite girl in the travel shop what we could do, and she recommended a nice walk in a nearby district with super cute shops. We spent our time there and absolutely loved it. I swear, there is just hidden charm everywhere you go in London!

I couldn’t leave London without a picture like this! I mean really, what kind of tourist would I be?

I miss London almost every day. I wasn’t there nearly long enough. I can’t wait to go back & next time I fully plan on spending much longer there than the first time around.

Next stop: Paris! Although we’d miss our train due to a hundred little things, we’d get there eventually…