Harry Potter 9 3/4 platform!Wouldn't cha know on the way to London we had a problem before we even left the airport. Turns out Alisha's boarding pass wouldn't print so we had to wait in the long bagage line 40 minutes before our flight was to leave. Then we had 20 minutes to get through security. We were waiting so impatiently and finally a security guard let us cut to the front of the line, along with a few others who had some trouble as well. We ran all the way to our gate shoes in hand....for no reason at all. The plane was late. I'm just glad we made it, never again will we be cutting the time that close, but it was mostly because Alisha had class that morning so we had to wait to leave for the airport. Customs in London was a hassle too. The guy gave me crap because I didn't have the plane tickets home with me, Alisha had them. So he was like always carry your own tickets blah blah blah. It shouldn't matter as long as I have one. Our hostel was a 30 min train ride outside of London, in this sketchy Indian community that honestly smelled like onions. It was theonly station on the train ride that had to have a sign in another language! I didn't book it so I was upset about having to stay there, I looked around for some places a few days before we left and there was nothing so we were forced to stay there. At least it was really cheap. We did get some good Indian food though on our first night there, I had lamb curry and this mint ice cream dish. The manager gave us a free sample of this dessert carrot dish too, which was kind of like squash. Just okay. We also went on the London Eye (ferris wheel) and got a glimpse of it all at night. Then we walked around looking for a pub to go to, and ended up just chilling and playing cards with a beer.
The second day we went to the British museum. I walked around by myself because I think that's a better way to enjoy a museum. I really enjoyed looking at all the jewelry, antique pottery, and the Rosetta Stone. One really weird thing they had was a squished head with a replica of what it would've looked like. Then we enjoyed lunch at none other than the famous Chipotle. MMMM but the burritos still tasted a little different. We then hopped on a double decker tour bus. It was really enjoyable on our already aching feet. From the bus we saw a very nice chunk of London, like JK Rowlings house, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminister Abbey, Parliament, London Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral and too much more to remember haha! At night we went to the picadilly circus area where there is a lot of nightlife but we didn't really like it because club promoters kept bugging us. It reminded me of Times Square and I haven't even been there yet. We ended up going to this ice bar which is exactly as it sounds, made of ice. They gave us these big coats and gloves to wear, and our drinks were served in ice cube glasses. They give you a 40 min time limit but we booked it out of there after 20 minutes. 
The next day we woke up to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. It was pretty cool but not what I expected. There were so many people and the guards did it behind the gates. You couldn't even go up to them to make them crack a smile like you see in the movies. They basically just stood and yelled stuff while a band played music from ABBA. Then a few of us went to Wimbledon and the other half went to Westminister Abbey to check out the inside. I think Westminister is my favorite church yet, it was breathtaking. You weren't supposed to take pictures so I put my camera in my jacket pocket and slightly pulled it out for a few snapshots to show you guys. Then we went on a river boat cruise which was part of our bus package deal. It was a different view of the city, and I love boat rides. All the tours made a big deal out of this skyscraper they are building called the Shard for the 2012 Olympics which are going to be set there. I think they said this building was going to be the tallest in Europe or something.We then tried to go check out the crown jewels but it was almost closed and even the ticket people were like ARE YOU SURE you want to buy these? So we backed out because it was around 30 pounds if we would only get an hour. Then we headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral to check out the indside, and I attended a little bit of service. Aftwewards, I had traditional english tea and a flapjack (they only serve crumpets in the morning) which was like a oatmealy brownie thing. At night we all met up again and went to the Tate Modern Art museum. I don't really like or understand modern art so wasn't my thing. For dinner we found thing random pub and had fish n chips, shepherds pie, and some ale. It was undescribably good fish and chips (remember I don't like seafood) but my shepherd's pie wasn't as good as my mamas. It was a nice ending to our trip in London.
Overall, London wasn't really what I expected. A lot of my pictures are of the same things. I couldn't imagine studying abroad there or being a tourist for more than a few days. It is definitly a city for residents living there. The Tube (subway) was horribly confusing, and really made me appreciate the Paris Metro system. It was also wickidly expensive! At midnight we checked out of our hostel and headed over to London Luton airport for our 6am flight. We tried sleeping on the cold airport floor and failed miserably. Even the bad hour long RyanAir flight I couldn't catch a wink. Everyone else doesn't remember taking off, and a few including me had upset stomachs. When we arrived in Dublin we stayed at Alisha's friend's apartment. They were nice people and had an amazing apartment set up by their school, but it was like their schools apartments so I guess it is a different situation. Anyways, we walked around Dublin with her friend as our tour guide and saw Trinity College, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church, Dublin Castle, a beautiful park and went to the Guiness factory which I surprisingly find really tasty. It was Halloween night but I was so tired I decided not to go out, instead a few of us just dressed up and went out for dinner. It's crazy how tiring traveling itself can be. I tried to be goldfinger by painting my fingernails gold.
Then in the afternoon Alisha and I were off on a train to Belfast. That night we attended a life changing event: a Lady GaGa concert. It was the best concert I have ever been to. Even though you could tell in the beginning that she was tired from touring for 2 years straight she picked up energy and ended with a bang. She is honestly such an amazing person and I don't even know her personally (obviously). You can just really tell that she wants to help make the world a better place, and truly cares about humanity. Anywho, I am glad that I could attend.All I really wanted to see in Belfast was the Titanic museum but of course it was closed on the day we were there. We were able to walk around and kind of get a feel for the setting of where it was built so it would have to be good enough.
I was actually a little dissappointed with the whole trip. Maybe it was just because I was stressed out with the people I went with though. I noticed that people were really cranky and complaining about the dumbest things, and about what we were doing next on the agenda. Almost as if they didn't want to do the tourist things. Then we started talking about Italy and people were upset with the way the schedule was set up. I of course along with Marcy and Melissa set it up because the other two girls didn't show up that day to do it. Even in London Alisha and I looked up the information on how to get to where and what times things open and close, so I feel like without us and especially Alisha on that trip nothing would have happened. So I decided that going to Italy and spending all that money on a trip that I didn't think would be enjoyable wasn't the best option for me. I am just going to have to come back with a future husband or friend. I was really sad about it before but now I know I made the right choice and can REALLY get to know Paris, my true love. Luckily I was able to email the hostels in Italy for them to change our reservation so I only lost about 100 euro for the flights.
C'est la vie,
L
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