LONDON

First stamp in the passport, Heathrow Airport, London, UK. For years I have been dreaming of visiting this beautiful city, and I finally did.

A tidbit about me is I LOVE the story of Peter Pan. So when I found out I was staying in the Queens Gate Neighborhood, right next to Kensington Park, I may have let out the girliest scream you have ever heard. Once, we got to our hotel ( my travel companion was my grandmother, this trip was a college graduation gift) I booked it to Kensington Gardens, while my grandmother took a nap.

Part of me is surprised at how fast I found it. I didn't even ask for directions.  This may sound weird but I felt like I was being drawn there. In less than five minutes I was in the garden. Now, it's a BIG park so it took me around ten minutes to find the Peter Pan statue. I can't explain the amount of joy I felt standing there looking at all the details in the statue. After, that I just walked around the garden and took it all in. Honestly, I have never felt so at peace, as I did in Kensington Gardens that day. It reminds me of the Boston Public Garden, which happens to be my favorite place in the Boston, MA.

After dinner that night, which was delicious (I don't know why London has such a bad reputation for food), I went to the London Eye with a few other people from my tour. The view was breath taking, literally. I have a slight fear of heights. If you have this fear, promise me you won't let it stop you. Trust me, the view is worth it. I had to force myself to step on and I'm so happy I did because you can see London for miles. Also, I recommend going at night. We didn't wait in line to buy our tickets and we waited around five minutes to get on the viewing cart.

Day 2, we did all bus tour. We saw London Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, ect. I'm disappointed I didn't get to go into the Abbey, as well as London Tower. After the tour I did go to high tea (I know its a stupid cliche, but I had to do it), yet again my grandmother was tired so I went alone. I found out that the Gore Hotel was right around the corner, plus its were the Rolling Stones use to hang out and did a photoshoot for their Beggars Banquet. It was also the favorite hotel to Judy Garland, they have a blend of tea named after her. So cool, right. Now, when I called they told me they couldn't seat me, but when I walked in and asked for a seating I was seated right away. Weird, huh. I enjoyed all the fixings to high tea, they probably thought I was another face stuffing American but I didn't care, because who knows when I'll be able to do this again.

The next day we did some exploring of the theatre district and got fish and chips. We ate at Rock'n' Sole, and I felt like we were sitting in the road thats how close were. I'm a seafood lover, I grew up in New England, lived on Cape Cod, I know my seafood. So, needless to say, I've had a lot of fish and chips, in my short life, and I have never had fish and chips as good as I did there. The fish was as big as my face and fried to add the perfect layer of crisp. I didn't feel sick after, which surprised me and gave it even more points. For the first time, I put vinegar on the fish (I'm usually a ketchup girl) and I started to kick my feet under the table, it was that good.

Sadly, the next day we left London early in the morning, we went to London King's Cross and took the Eurostar over to Paris.

 I felt very at home in London, probably because Boston is very similar in structure. Besides that fact, the British were very helpful guiding me around the city and I'm already anxiously awaiting a return trip.