London's Calling!

On November 2nd I jetted off to London for the weekend to visit Maggie!  I arrived in Gatwick airport that morning and took the bus into the city.  Unfortunately, I had somehow deleted my directions to get from the bus station to where I was supposed to meet Maggie after her class ended.  I thought I remembered where to go, so I headed off in what I soon discovered to be the opposite direction.  I wandered for forty minutes before realizing that I was definitely in the wrong place.  Nobody seemed to know how to tell me where I needed to go, and since I didn't have WiFi I just walked in the direction I hadn't gone until I ran across street signs I recognized.  An hour and a half after I had arrived at the station I was at Gloucester Road across from the tube station Maggie told me to meet her by.  I texted her to tell her I would be in the Starbucks across from the station.  At 1:15 pm I still hadn't heard from her again, so I texted her again and was about to call her when she walked in the door.  She hadn't received any of my texts, but she had messaged me to meet her there (a message that I too didn't receive since I didn't have WiFi).  Miraculously we ended up in the same place.

That afternoon we went to the Borough Markets with her friend TJ where I got empanadas for lunch.  The market was incredible.  Every type of food was being sold there making it hard to decide what to get.  Maggie and I picked out different flavors of baklava for our dessert.

(Baklava at Borough Market)

We left the market and walked along the river, passing Shakepeare's Globe Theatre and heading into the Tate Museum.  Maggie really wanted to take me there because there was an exhibition that she said I just had to see because it was so ridiculous.  Unfortunately, this exhibit (where random people apparently came up to you and started telling you their life sob stories to see what your reaction would be) was no longer running at the Tate.  We walked around a few of the floors, and left highly unimpressed and very confused at the different displays that the curator picked.

(Shakespeare's Globe Theatre)

Our next point of interest was walking by St. Paul's Cathedral.  Because I had gone inside and up to the top the last time I was in London, we decided not to go in.  Instead, we headed back to Maggie's building to make dinner and decide what we would do that night.

(St. Paul's Cathedral)

The three of us met up with Maggie's friends from Wake Forest at their apartment before taking the bus to O'Neill's pub near Chinatown for the night.  O'Neill's is Maggie's favorite place to go in London, so she felt it was only right that I got to see it.

(Me and Maggie at O'Neill's)

On Saturday morning we woke up and went to the Portobello Market near Nottinghill.  It was another beautiful day so we walked over there through Hyde Park and got to see the 'house' where Kate and William live.  Portobello Markets were beautiful!  There was so much to see and it was incredibly crowded.  Maggie and I made our way down through the stalls until we made it to her favorite pastry vendor where we got breakfast.

(Kate and William's Home)

(Portobello!)

(Best pastry ever)

The rest of the day was spent walking around by Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the governor's home, and Buckingham Palace.  Maggie and I took lots of funny pictures in the phone booths (unfortunately she has the ones of the two of us together) and with the guards in front of the governor's residence.  We got to watch the changing of the guard, too!  It was really cool... almost like they were acting.  And we got one of the guards to laugh!

(BIG BEN)

(Westminster Abbey)

(Abe Lincoln takes London)

(Classic tourist picture)

(With the guards)

(Changing of the guards)

(At Buckingham Palace)

We grabbed a bite to eat across the river near the London Eye before calling it a day and heading back to Maggie's apartment.  We met up with TJ and the three of us went to Di Mario's in South Kensington for a delicious Italian meal.  The pasta I got was unbelievable... definitely worth a trip there if you like pasta and are, of course, in London.  After dinner, Maggie took me to Maison Fait which serves gelato (as well as other yummy desserts).

(Dinner at Di Mario's)

(Dessert at Maison Fait)

The next morning, we ate breakfast at a local restaurant before I headed back to the bus station to make my journey back to Ireland.  To finish off my trip... I saw a rainbow in the air in the middle of my flight!

(A bit hard to see!  But it's there!)

My weekend in London was well-worth the trip and it made me remember why I loved it so much the last time I visited.


"May you have warm words on a cold evening,
a full moon on a dark night,
and the road downhill all the way to your door."