I haven’t been to London since a school trip back in 2011 and was thus more than excited to travel to one of my favorite cities. Since my flight left early morning, I got up at 4.30 am. to catch the first metro to the airport at 5.00 am. However, the ride to the airport took much longer than normal and when I finally arrived there, I was already a bit late. And since the security check and passport control were very crowded at that time too, I lost even more time. Yet, after I passed security and found my gate on the screens, I rushed there and luckily made it in time for boarding. But if this stressful morning was not enough already, the plane was not allowed to depart for nearly 1.5 hours and we all had to wait inside before we finally took off.
Anyways, 2.5 hours later, I finally landed at London-Luton, but since the airport is quite far away from London’s city center, it took me another 1.5 hours to get to the city center. From there, I went straight to Konstanze’s place to drop off my bag, and back to the city to meet Alex for lunch before heading to Oxford Street for some shopping. Later, I crossed Regent Street and walked towards Piccadilly Circus, where I met Konstanze. Together, we walked through Chinatown and then hopped onto one of the many red double-decker buses to Trafalgar Square. By the time we got off there, my heart was filled with joy: the National Gallery lit up all the space around Nelson’s Column, and when looking straight down to the river Thames, you could even spot the Elizabeth Tower, home to the famous clock Big Ben. Because as you might not have known by now, “Big Ben” is only the name of the bell, while the tower itself is called Elizabeth Tower. Anyways, before heading home, we also stopped at Buckingham Palace, which looks even more majestic at night. So, we just sat down at the fountain there and enjoyed this unique atmosphere of London at night.
On Saturday, after a late breakfast, we headed to the city to watch the Changing Of The Guard at Buckingham Palace, which was unfortunately already nearly over when we arrived there. So instead, we went to Hyde Park and walked around there for a while. Later, we went to Harrods, and after lunch at Piccadilly Circus, to Covent Garden and St Paul’s Cathedral. Our sightseeing tour continued by walking across Millennium Bridge to the Shakespeare Globe Theater, passing by Borough Market and London Bridge until we made it to the Monument. We stayed in the city a little longer this time, had a drink next to the Tower of London, and then went to Alex’s place in Shoreditch, where we spent the rest of the evening having drinks at some of the bars there.
We started our last day with brunch at Dalloway Terrace and walked to Westminster Abbey and St Margaret’s Church while passing by Elizabeth Tower. Although I’ve seen most of the main sights on my last two trips to London already, there were still some must-sees on my list: Notting Hill, famous for its Victorian townhouses. There, we strolled around for a while, and after having a quick picnic at Hyde Park, we headed on to our last stop, King’s Cross Station. And if you watched Harry Potter, you know what’s so special about this station, namely the platform 9 3/4. Back home again, we called it an early night since both of us had to get up early the next day. Konstanze to work, and I because I had booked an early slot for breakfast at a pretty cool place.
So, Monday morning, I had breakfast at Darwin Brasserie on the 36th floor of SkyGarden, where I enjoyed some sweet and savory treats from the £ 15 continental breakfast buffet with a breathtaking view of London. You can also visit SkyGarden without eating there, but you need to book a slot for your visit beforehand. After breakfast, I walked across Tower Bridge and spent my last hours in the British capital sitting next to the Tower of London writing postcards, before I grabbed my bag at Konstanze’s place and headed to London Heathrow. However, I didn’t fly back to Barcelona yet as I still had one more stop left: Hamburg!
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