Double daylight savings time, what does it mean??? #doublerainbowalltheway (yup, I went there)

Day 4 was great, I met some new friends, Hen and Kathrin, and they are fantastic!  Hen and I went to the Tate Britain and saw a Picasso exhibition (as well as some mind boggling optical illusion pieces)! It was amazing, Blue Rooftops in Paris is one of my favorites of his and to see it in person was quite the treat. Then we went to the British Museum, it was HUGE! There were so many different exhibits throughout the ages to go through and marvel at. You could have gotten lost in the different cultures and probably even the museum itself. Later, we met up with Hen’s friend Kathrin and had lunch at Russel Square in the sun, walked the shopping districts Oxford street, and then we met back up with Noah and walked all throughout Hyde Park and Kennsington Garden. It was so beautiful to have these massive gardens and parks in the middle ofLondon, and my feet were killing me with all the walking!!! (I couldn’t wear my tennis shoes for the arch support because they were not “Proper” British apparel.  After a quick meal at the hostel, Hen, Kathrin, and a new friend, Sophie, decided to go out on the town!  We went to The Green Man for pre-drinks and then to The Village for dancing.  They had never been to a gay bar before, and they both had a great first time dancing the night away.  I am surprised I was able to go out with how tired my feet were from all the walking!!

Day 5 we saw the Tower of London, it was SO cool!! I really liked seeing the tower, the crown jewels, and hearing about its history, especially all about the animals that lived at the tower that were gifts to the king. Although I have to say, the “London bridge” is quite disappointing compared to the Tower Bridge, I mean, I guess it IS falling down…so what can you expect. =P  We got some Fish and Chips and ate lunch along the river Thames and once again enjoyed the sunshine. Afterwards, we went to Camden street and checked out the Camden market. HOLY packed and crowded!!! Never ending stalls and shops set up outside in a seemingly endless maze. And there were a ridiculously overwhelming number of people. I took care to mind my pockets and I am sure I only made it through alive with the help of Kathrin and Hen. Halfway through exploring the shops we stopped at a café to take a breather from all the people.  Back at the Hostel Hen made us delicious meal!! Noodles and salmon in a crème fraiche sauce with sautéed mushrooms, yummy! There was a mix up at the hostel I was staying at with rooms and booking information which was very stressful, and after I got it all sorted I decided to stay in as I was incredibly exhausted and lost an hour of sleep due to London’s daylight savings time that morning. Double daylight savings time for me, 2 hours of my life vanished and I am only going to get one back…hmmm. I booked my flight, hostel, and bus to Galway, Ireland, did some skyping and called it a night!

Day 6, my last day in London  =( (due to the mix-up at the hostel, and me deciding to fly out with Hen). Hen and Noah were both feeling sick today. I felt so bad for them, but they were troopers about joining us and walking around all day. We tried to see the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, but there was a marathon going on in London, so it was unfortunately cancelled for the day. So in place of that we went to an area called Little Venice along the Thames. It was a very nice area, but it was quite residential and there really wasn’t too much to see, so we all went to a Chinese buffet for lunch. Afterwords we went back to Oxford Street and did some shopping! I bought a T-shirt (and if you know how I shop you know how long THAT took), and we got to go into some really classy stores. I really liked River Island, Next, and TK Maxx. After shopping we got a coffee at an Italian place and chatted for a while since we had been walking for roughly 6 hours! My week was filled with so much walking, but I got to see so much! I even got a sun burn on my face because we were constantly in the sun walking around, but I am not complaining about the weather. Keep it up Mother Nature, much love. We went back to the hostel for some leftovers, which were just as good the second time (Thanks again Hen!) and planned to meet each other again in Amsterdam, and hopefully Berlin as well. After some sad goodbyes, Hen and I were on our way to stay the night at the airport to catch our ridiculously early flights, oh boy. Cheers, London. You have been absolutely life changing and I will never forget you.