Return to England!

Well I'm back in Galway! But before I got back, I embarked on the second leg of my Spring Break adventure... London and Bath in England!

I've been to London before and I fell in love with it. It was so exciting to get the chance to go back because this city is absolutely incredible. Luckily I would not have to travel alone because Anne decided to accompany me. What made matters even more interesting was that Anne went with me four years ago as well! This time we got to explore the city without a huge group of students or parental guidance--it was a lot of fun!

Anne on the left, me in the middle. Sophomore year of high school in France.

4 years later in front of the Westminster Abbey, London

Before the fun in London started, I had to spend the night in Dublin airport. I had flown in to Dublin from Madrid at 9pm and my flight to London left at 6am... so there was no point to pay 30 euro to get into town and stay at a hostel for a few hours. Sleeping in an airport was an interesting experience. I don't know if I'd consider it an important life event, but it was necessary in order to save some cash. I wasn't able to check-in until 4am, so I had to hang out in the arrival "lounge" for the night. I began a hunt for an electrical outlet... none. Every outlet I found was completely blocked. It was a long night. I ended up napping for 30 minutes or so on a seat without armrests. Positives? Security took 2 minutes tops and I saved some cash. My early flight was also empty so I got a whole row of seats to myself! That never happens in America.

I met Anne, who also had a 6am flight from Shannon to London, at the Stansted airport.We got some much needed sleep on the coach and tried to rally for the long day exploring London that was ahead of us. Our hostel was super easy to get here and located in an amazing location! We stayed at Astor Quest, which is located near the central, circle, and district tube lines. If you have never been to London, these routes are the  best for getting you to all the popular spots in London. The staff was awesome at Astor.. made me miss the staff at El Cap! The hostel also had Cocoa Crispies. So it was a winner.

Our first stop was Platform 9 3/4. I know you want to laugh, so just do it. Feel better? Okay. Yeah, Anne and I were a little too excited to go. So we went off to King's Cross and found Platform 9 3/4 pretty easily. They were offering photo opportunities where you pushed a trolley into the wall... like you were going to the Hogwart's Express. At first I was like, "Nope, not going to do it". Then I was like, "Okay, I'll do it... but I'm not buying the picture". Finally I was like, "WHAT this picture is so cool TAKE MY MONEY". Potternerd.

I mean come on... this pic is legit.

We also walked through Leicester Square down to Piccadilly Circus. Ate some cupcakes. People watched. It was a pretty relaxing day. We were pooped by 8pm. For dinner we had pizza and beer. Miss you, America.

Anne ruining a nice landscape shot of Piccadilly Circus

The next day we felt 100000x better, had our Cocoa Crispies and hit the tube. Our first stop was Big Ben and the houses of Parliament. So nice to hear that bell ring again! After taking the absolutely necessary touristy pictures, we headed to Westminster Abbey.

Houses of Parliament, London

London Eye, London

Westminster Abbey was amazing and so worth the money. Anne was peeing her pants practically because she was so excited to see Charles Darwin's grave. I'm not kidding. I thought it was crazy to see Sir Issac Newton's grave. The inside of Westminster Abbey was amazing as well. No pictures were allowed inside. I obeyed this rule... one other person in my party didn't. Expect a knock on your door in a few months after they review CCTV, Anne. Juuuuust kidding.

Courtyard of Westminster Abbey, London

Outside of Westminster Abbey, London

Oh noes.. rain. Westminster south entrance, London

Our next stop was my favorite--Tower Bridge! I just love Tower Bridge. Mother nature did not want me to love Tower Bridge because it began to rain like crazy! As you can see, I was in a small jacket and Anne did not have that thick of a jacket either... so we got soaked. It would have been nice to walk across the bridge again, but getting soup at Pret a Manger was way higher on my priority list at that point in time.

Tower Bridge, London

The exact moment the rain began to pour.

After we recovered I needed even more recovery so we went back to Sweet Couture Cupcakes. I'm going to need to be rolled off the plane once I land in California. Dem cupcakes.

Anyways, that night we met up with two of Anne's friends that go to UCSC with her. The meeting point was the Stratford Mall. This mall was HUGE. I think Anne's friends said it's the biggest mall in Europe or something. It even boasts a view of the 2012 Olympic Stadium. We ate at Nandos. Anne and I decided that we needed to eat at Nando's in Bath because it was bomb. The bomb.

Olympic Stadium, London

The next day was our last in London. We decided to go and find the iconic Abbey Road! It was easier than I thought to take a picture there. Definitely a cool experience. And we didn't get run over so that was a plus.

Abbey Road, London

After leaving some song lyrics on front of the wall at Abbey Studios, we headed to Oxford Circus. Oxford street is a long street full of places to shop at. Most notable was the Top Shop that was five floors! Anne and I got lost inside of it. I'm not kidding. We were on the fourth floor and could not find the stairs or escalator or anything. We would have died if there was a fire. There was a full service salon, a froyo place, and a cupcakery inside. It was like a Top Shop ecosystem. A little overwhelming, actually.

That concluded our time in London! It was bittersweet to leave. But we were excited to head to Bath!

Bath started off very interesting.. mainly because our hostel was a bit sketchy. They changed ownership after I had made the booking, so the place was not what I was expecting. There was no breakfast! I'm a big fan of free breakfast. But it was okay! We made it through... it wasn't like we would be hanging out all day in the hostel anyways.

Bath has some really interesting things to visit. The night before our roommates told us about what they did and gave us some ideas. We first went to find the Royal Crescent. The Royal Crescent is a row of Georgian-style houses that were built during the 1700s. Apparently Nicolas Cage owns #7... well he used to.

Million dollar houses

We also saw the Circus! More fancy houses.

The Circus, Bath

Next stop was the Jane Austen Centre. I'm a fan of Pride & Prejudice, but I didn't know much about Jane Austen before we visited. It was really interesting! I definitely have more of an appreciation for her as an author and for her works. After the tour, we had tea in at the Regency Tea Room. The tea room was right above the Jane Austen Centre. It was so good! I had Darjeeling tea and a savory roll thing with ham, cheese,  caramelized onions, and spicy tomatoes. Yummmmmmmmmy.

Can I please just have all the pretty books?

I am a big fan of tea now after 4 months in Europe

After getting stuffed with food and tea, we headed out to check out the plaza and the main event... the Roman Baths! The Roman Baths is the only hot spring in the UK. The Romans found it when they were expanding the Roman Empire in England.

Architecture in town, Bath

Bath Abbey, Bath

Entrance to Roman Baths, Bath

The Roman Baths were interesting to see! We learned that the baths functioned for a ritual purpose and people would come to cleanse themselves, make offerings, and pay their respects to the gods. People commonly used to Baths to write the gods. They would write on little lead pieces and complain about people and wish death upon their enemies. Some guy even complained about his clothes getting stolen while he was bathing. I bet the dude who stole them had a really good laugh.

The Roman Baths, Bath

Julius Caesar on the far right. Back of Bath Abbey, Bath

Roman engineering, Bath

Anne & I hanging out at the Baths, Bath

Smart duckies, Bath

Showing us how people used the Baths hahahaha

Someone offered a Blockbuster Card

The next day we checked out and I had a lovely Chai Latte at Caffe Nero. We spent the day shopping before we boarded the train and headed to the airport.

Bath, England

What a trip! I was exhausted though once I got back to Galway. Still trying to catch up on a lot of missed sleep...

On a more serious note: I found out about the Boston Marathon bombings before I boarded my plane in Bristol. I felt horrible and I just wanted to be home. It was weird to experience something like this outside of the country, like I just needed to be there. When I got off the plane, the immigration officer and the bus driver both asked me about it. The kindness of people I've met in Ireland never seizes to amaze me. But the way everything was handled this week makes me very proud to call America my home. My heart still goes out to Boston and Texas.

Until next time, sending love x