Hi! I know it has been months since I actually went to London, but I wanted to share my experience. When I learned I would be studying abroad in Rome my parents thought it would be a good opportunity to meet me in Europe and go to France. They have never been to Paris and want to go. With this being the case I only bought a group flight ticket to Rome. My parents then backed out so I began to look into flights home from Rome the day my trip ended. They were so ridiculously expensive I am talking $1,500 for a one way ticket. I instantly started texting people who would be in Europe seeing if they could meet up, but most were leaving before me. I decided to just search some countries and see what flights home were priced. I found a cheap direct flight five days after my trip ended from London-Chicago. I decided I had to book it because I might as well be in London for a few days for the same price as going home immediately from Rome.

This was a big deal for me because I have never traveled alone before. I have traveled with groups to Europe, and not known anyone but this is different. I had to find a flight from Rome-London, a place to stay, and just live in London for a week by myself! I decided to go with an airbnb instead of a hotel so I could cook and not go out for every meal. By the end of my study abroad my bank account was looking less than ideal. The airbnb I found was a perfect location. It was literally a block from Kensington Palace right off of Kensington High Street.

Now that you have a little background on the situation I will fast forward to the last day of my program, and my first day in London. We woke up bright and early after sleeping probably 2-3 hours. We had to bring our suitcases to a charter bus parked down the street to take us to the airport. I purposely planned my flight to London similar timing to when the group flight left so I could take the bus with them. We got to the airport and I said my goodbyes and just like that another scary yet exciting adventure began for me. Flying to England is just as strict as flying to the United States so I had some extra security I had to go through. The airport I was flying to in London was 40minutes outside of London because it was a lot cheaper than flying right into London. When I landed it took about an hour to get through customs. They only had one person checking all of non European passports which was ridiculous. Once I got my bags and some pounds I bought a train ticket. I am not sure if it was the fact I had been traveling for a few weeks or what, but I was doing all of this smoother than just about every adult couple that was trying to get downtown London as well. That calmed my nerves and empowered me because I was doing just fine by myself! I had to take a shuttle to the train station. The train station was an absolute mess of a situation. They kept changing what platform I was on and everyone would start running and pushing me even though it was obvious I was struggling to carry a suitcase and duffel bag.

I finally made it on the train, and then took an uber from the train station to my airbnb. When I arrived at the airbnb someone was there to greet me, but she said that the cleaning lady accidentally took the keys with her so she had no way to let me in. So she walked me down the street to a coffee shop that I could wait at. So I sat there for about an hour with all my luggage waiting. I really didn’t mind but I was very tired as I had traveled all day and had about three hours of sleep. When I got to my apartment I dropped my stuff off and went straight to the grocery. Came home, ate, and went to bed.

The next morning I got up early and went to the portobello market. It felt weird being surrounded by so many people, but not knowing anyone. I stopped at this falafel booth that the girl who let me into my airbnb said is a must for locals to go to. The woman there had such a strong accent that I could barely understand her. I liked feeling kind of not like a tourist for a minute until I did the most touristy thing. I went to the door and bookstore from the movie Notting Hill. It was right there so I figured why not that movie is so cute. After I walked back and wondered around Notting Hill for a while. It is gorgeous around there. I love all the buildings and little parks and it was so peaceful. I then walked through Holland park and sat on a park bench and people watched for a while. There was a heat wave in London when I was there so all the locals didn’t know how to handle it, but it felt so good to me after being in hot and humid Rome. Everyday when I was in London I went out in the morning, came home and chilled in the late afternoon, and then went back out in the evening. For dinner I went to Aubaine. It was right down the street from me and it was really good. It was a little fancier, but when in London. I can’t say I like eating alone. I actually really don’t like it at all, it feels lonely.

The next morning I went to a coffee place called Saint Aymes. It is one of those cafes in London that is covered with flowers. The coffee is pink, the chocolate is gold plated, and the cake is rainbow. Everything about it is extra and I love it so much. After “breakfast” aka cake, I walked to go shopping. I went into Topshop because it is one of my favorite stores and it is an English store. I also went to Primark and did a little damage because everything there is so cheap! It was also mad chaos in there, people are aggressive shoppers. I walked through Hyland park on my way home which the walk back from everywhere was about 40min, but I didn’t mind because it was cool to see everything. Later that night I ordered Wagammama to go. It was right across from me, and the youtuber Zoella always talks about it. I know it is her favorite place so I had to give it a try! I know it might sound like I wasn’t doing a lot in London and that is because I wasn’t.  That sounds bad, but I already did the tourist things I really just wanted to chill and live life slowly here! I love London and I could really see myself living there one day.

The next day I went to another flowery breakfast place! I got a really yummy acai bowl and a lucky charm latte (weird I know). They also had the cutest little desserts there. I really wish we had places like this in the United States! After breakfast I went back to Hyde Park and sat by a tree and wrote some blogs. It was so peaceful until a school field trip decided to have lunch surrounding me. I decided it was important I go to a pub when in London. I needed to get fish and chips! I decided to go when Serena Williams would be playing in Wimbilton, but the pub I went to didn’t even have a TV! I try to watch sports, but it just doesn’t work out… what can I say.

My last day in London I decided to go to Peggy Porscen. It is known for the pink building draped in flowers. Yes, I like flowers and coffee. I thought maybe it was a tourist trap and wouldn’t have the best food and coffee but was I WRONG. Seriously the best vanilla latte I have had. Afterwards I walked to hyde park (again) it was like home base there. I wanted to see the rose garden before I left even though most of the flowers had already died for the summer. Everything in London was very dead so it was nice to see a little green! Afterwards I went to covent garden because I heard it was a cool place and had lots of shopping. There was so much over there! It was really confusing though I got lost so many times. I wanted to get tea when I was in London, but no where really allows for a single person tea which was sad. I still went to a place my friend recommended called Browns. The waitress there was so nice and talkative and it was nice being able to talk to a person after being by myself for a few days. Being in a country where you know no one gives you a lot of thinking time. It is almost like a cleanse. I couldn’t help but wish I was with someone else sharing the memories. It was nice to be able to do whatever I wanted though! After lunch I did some shopping, but the temperature dropped like 20 degrees and I was not properly dressed! I went back to my airbnb and took a little nap. After dinner I went back to hyde park to kind of say goodbye to London and Europe in general. I sat right across from Kensington Palace. The people watching was incredible. It was a perfect evening and the sun was setting and I felt so at peace. I was anxious to see my family and friends, but dreading having to leave the best summer ever.

The next day was a complete travel day. An early uber to the train station, train ride to the airport. I did get nandos at the airport though which I remember was OneDirections favorite and my friends and I always wanted to go there in middle school! It is weird how at home I felt at airports after a summer of traveling every week. After my six hour flight of sitting next to ten year olds that where smarter than me I met my parents at O’hare. They asked me what I wanted for dinner and I said anything but Italian, and can you guess where they took me? An Italian restaurant in chicago! Oh well, after the car ride home It was safe to say I was exhausted! Not sleeping more than six hours for seven weeks will do that to you. And just like that my trip of a lifetime came to a finish.