Friday night Kieran, Nikki, Gabby, and I went to Dublin Airport on air coach (recommended) and arrived in London really late that night. Friday also happened to be the 1 year anniversary of my passport and I was a little sad that no one stamped it for me when we arrived. Then, we got in a taxi, arrived at the Royal Hyde Park Hotel, and checked in.
We booked our stay at hotel through expedia. It was a decently priced hotel (one of the cheapest for the area of London we were in) and I found that I liked it. The rooms were what some people may consider small but, after living in a dorm room for the last month, it seemed big to me. Also, I got a double sized bed. I shared, but it was a luxury nonetheless. We were served breakfast every morning which is a minimum requirement for me when I stay somewhere. Also, the shower had real life doors... it's the small things in life. I was satisfied.
Saturday, we started off the day early after getting our Original Tour Bus pass situation situated. I love tour buses. You get history and a ride around the city. Hop-on hop-off tours are truly the best. Our first stop was Buckingham palace for the changing of the Guards. I was most excited that the orchestra played the James Bond theme song during the ceremony. Unfortunately, I did not meet the queen, nor did I make Prince Harry fall madly in love with me.
We bought some discounted tickets for the London Dungeons and the London Eye from the lovely workers of "The original tour." Afterwards we headed directly to the London Eye. Much to our surprise though (only slight sarcasm), when we got there, the line was ridiculously long. Instead we decided to cash in our fast lane, discounted tickets for the London Dungeons which was not disappointing. It was so much fun, I just wish that more people jumped out and tried to scare you. I MISS NJ/PA HAUNTED HOUSES =( =(. After that we took the long route back to the city centre on the tour bus and made our way to the Jack the Ripper tour. I loved it. I managed to get a good amount of halloween/ fall satisfaction that afternoon.
On Sunday, we woke up early and took a very circuitous route to the London eye, due to a marathon that was going on in the city. The third largest ferris wheel in the world (135 m tall) is really quite impressive. It was fun to ride on and the weather was sunny, clear, and warm which made for some good picture opportunities. Once we got off we headed on to the river cruise (that was free with our bus pass ticket) and walked around for a bit before heading back to the airport to go home.
The weekend was a really good one. The weather was fantastic all weekend. There are so many nice cars in London that are fun to look at. Overall, there is simply too much to see in London and it is impossible to squeeze it all in a two day period. But, I think we did our best.
This picture belongs by itself. That statue was majestic. What I did may or may not have been completely legal.
Note to self: Don't trust hot dogs outside of the US... I shouldn't really trust hotdogs anywhere... but they're especially disappointing away from home.
No comments:
Post a Comment