London, Unexpectedly

July 9, 2014 Tessa Bradford 8 comments

London, Unexpectedly

Sometimes plans go haywire when you're on the road, but that's just a part of traveling. You hope for the best, plan what you can, and make adjustments as you need to. So when Nicole suddenly had to fly back to America at a moment's notice and I was left to travel Europe alone-- well, it wasn't how we'd wanted things to go-- but we made it work. Traveling will rarely be exactly what you expect it to be.[spacer height="20px"]

So she headed back home and I hopped a flight from Dublin to Leeds to hang out with an old friend for a week, then caught a train to London to stay with a friend of that old friend.[spacer height="20px"]

And oh, how it worked out![spacer height="20px"]

You see, that old friend, his name is Jimmy. And Jimmy was going on holiday to Rome soon, and would I like to go too? Well, of course I would! But first, London, because I'd never been there before. So Jimmy's friend Ben became my friend Ben and showed me the city.[spacer height="20px"]

We rented bicycles on a sunny Saturday and Ben played tour guide. We rolled around the Natural History Museum and gawked at the line that stretched out to the street, which was more than enough to convince us not to wait in it.[spacer height="20px"]

London Natural History Museum
London Natural History Museum

We cycled over to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens where we made our way up and down the meandering bike trails, stopped to snap photos of statues and memorials, and sat awhile by a fountain with a couple of ice cream cones.

At Buckingham Palace we pretended to be extra posh, as our posh-pictures clearly show. The stony-faced royal guards were roped off because tourists were being 'too obnoxious'... can you possibly imagine? But we found them just in time to catch them march and salute in perfect tandem.

Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace

And on we cycled to find Westminster and Big Ben, highlighted by the bright blue sky.

Westminster. London, England

In the evening we stopped at a pub to watch an Ireland-England rugby match that I won't talk about anymore. (It didn't go the way we hoped.)

Cheering... before the tide turned.

Cheering... before the tide turned.

The next afternoon we wandered over to Tower Bridge-- NOT London Bridge, which I definitely did not call it and I certainly didn't receive rolled eyes for being a clueless tourist.[spacer height="20px"]

And THEN I WENT TO HOGWARTS. Here's proof, as I skirted through the magical gateway at Kings Cross Station at Platform 9 3/4. I'd show you magical pictures, but muggles aren't actually allowed to see them. Sorry.

Magic.
Magic.

In the evening Ben and his girlfriend Lisa performed at an open mic night, and they were awesome. And then it was time to meet Jimmy in Rome, and so I was on my way.

 

8 Comments on “London, Unexpectedly

  1. Unexpected trips are always the best, especially when you have a local showing you around. It happened to me in Oslo 3 years ago and it’s one of my fondest memories. Glad yours turned out so fun and full of adventure!

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