London, UK
WOW!!! I'll admit that when I visited London in 2011 with my family, it wasn't my favorite place. Even as a preteen, I understood how expensive it was and the food didn't appeal to me. As a die-hard foodie even then, the city didn't appear to have much to offer besides heavy and bland stews and fish. It was, however, a memorable weekend because my parents brought us to see Wicked the musical at the West End. It easily became my favorite show. Going into my second weekend there, 9 years later, I wasn't expecting much. Over the course of the two days I spent there, my opinion quickly did a 180.
Friday morning, I got to wander London all by myself! What a wonderful experience to explore such an iconic city with me, myself, and I! I walked about the Big Ben area, and then walked through the park to Buckingham Palace.I walked into the Whittard tea store, which is one of my favorite lines of tea! I met a few friends for tea at a quaint cafe that had homemade scones and was decorated in the 1940s style! After our leisurely lunch, we visited the National Gallery that houses works by Van Gogh, Monet, Rembrandt, Degas, Caravaggio, and Rubens to name a few. Then, we wandered around Piccadilly and stumbled upon the Fortnum and Mason store, which is an acclaimed tea company. Finally, Emily and I saw Wicked at the Apollo Victoria theater in the West End. It was her first time seeing it, and my third. It was a spellbinding end to a truly magical day filled with all of my favorite things!
On Saturday, Emily and I met up with our friends, Taylor and Jose! They both graduated last year and are living in Barcelona. We spent the day walking around the city and wandering through the sites. Mid-afternoon, I decided to go back to the tea room I went to the day before while they went to the Sigmund Freud museum. We all met up at the Winter Wonderland park in Hyde Park. It was huge! I was filled with rides, games, shops, and restaurants. Afterwards, we went bar hopping until they caught their trains to the airport. It was a great time catching up with them! For me, I think it's pretty amazing to say that I "met up with friends in London." What a blessing!
