Friday, September 19th, I didn't have class and it was finally time to head off to London for the weekend with my friend Emily, who is currently living in Barcelona.
I left my house around noon to head to the airport. As per usual, check in and boarding went by super fast. The flight was only about an hour long, and before I knew it, we had landed in London. It took us about 15 minutes to cross from the farthest terminal where we had landed, to the central part of the airport, where I had to cross immigration. Never in my life have I been asked so many questions by the immigration officer. They all kept coming, one right after the other, “You were born in Mexico? But you live in the United States? Why are you in France? Oh, a study abroad? What are you studying? Why? What other countries did you have to choose from? Why so few? Where are you going after you visit London?” After I patiently answered all of the questions, he wished me the best of luck and a good stay in London.
I crossed into the baggage claim which is where I was going to meet my friend Emily once her flight came in. I sat down, plugged my phone into the charger (oh, the joys of being dependent on an iPhone) and I logged onto the airport wifi which was literally named “1 Hour Wifi”….but usually, it wifi doesn't keep track of your use and if it does, there’s always a way to cheat the system and log back on. Emily’s flight was supposed to arrive about 30 minutes after mine…but after waiting for an hour, I started to have a (minor) freak out. Of course, to top it all off, down to the 60th minute, I was kicked off the wifi and was asked if I wanted to purchase 30 more minutes for the lovely price of 4 pounds…aka like 8 dollars. NO THANK YOU. So I sucked it up, crossed customs and waited in the arrival section. I was finally able to find her flight on the information board and it showed that it had been delayed for quite some time. I felt relieved and I waited about 30 more minutes until I finally saw her come out.
Once we were together we found the bus we were supposed to take in order to get to our hostal. We caught up on life during the hour long bus-ride and when it came time to get off, we headed towards the metro. This is the kicker… Emily speaks French and is now learning Spanish. I speak Spanish and French, and we are both native English speakers. However, when we got to the metro, we couldn't understand one thing that was written on the signs that surrounded us, and YES, they were all in English. I think it was because are brains are so used to being challenged, that it was weird having everything in our native language.
After 15 minutes of hard concentration, we boarded the metro, hopped off, and walked a few blocks to our hostal. We were in an all girls room (YAY) but shared a bathroom/shower with the whole floor, which wasn't all that bad. We checked-in and headed up to get situated in our room before heading out to grab some food, because we were both starved. We found a local place and had some traditional fish and chips (because you just cant go wrong), then headed back to the hostal. We got out maps and phones, went downstairs to the outside patio by the bar, and started planning out how we wanted to spend our next day. Once we figured out how to map everything around the fashion show, we were ready to go. While on the patio, we met some interesting people (and I mean interesting in the nicest way possible), who were currently looking for jobs and LIVING (yes, living) in hostals. That just blew my mind…so I am really thankful that I am not in that type of situation, because it would be absolutely miserable. We headed back up to the room, I took and shower, and we went to bed semi-early since we had such a long Saturday ahead of us.
I left my house around noon to head to the airport. As per usual, check in and boarding went by super fast. The flight was only about an hour long, and before I knew it, we had landed in London. It took us about 15 minutes to cross from the farthest terminal where we had landed, to the central part of the airport, where I had to cross immigration. Never in my life have I been asked so many questions by the immigration officer. They all kept coming, one right after the other, “You were born in Mexico? But you live in the United States? Why are you in France? Oh, a study abroad? What are you studying? Why? What other countries did you have to choose from? Why so few? Where are you going after you visit London?” After I patiently answered all of the questions, he wished me the best of luck and a good stay in London.
I crossed into the baggage claim which is where I was going to meet my friend Emily once her flight came in. I sat down, plugged my phone into the charger (oh, the joys of being dependent on an iPhone) and I logged onto the airport wifi which was literally named “1 Hour Wifi”….but usually, it wifi doesn't keep track of your use and if it does, there’s always a way to cheat the system and log back on. Emily’s flight was supposed to arrive about 30 minutes after mine…but after waiting for an hour, I started to have a (minor) freak out. Of course, to top it all off, down to the 60th minute, I was kicked off the wifi and was asked if I wanted to purchase 30 more minutes for the lovely price of 4 pounds…aka like 8 dollars. NO THANK YOU. So I sucked it up, crossed customs and waited in the arrival section. I was finally able to find her flight on the information board and it showed that it had been delayed for quite some time. I felt relieved and I waited about 30 more minutes until I finally saw her come out.
Once we were together we found the bus we were supposed to take in order to get to our hostal. We caught up on life during the hour long bus-ride and when it came time to get off, we headed towards the metro. This is the kicker… Emily speaks French and is now learning Spanish. I speak Spanish and French, and we are both native English speakers. However, when we got to the metro, we couldn't understand one thing that was written on the signs that surrounded us, and YES, they were all in English. I think it was because are brains are so used to being challenged, that it was weird having everything in our native language.
After 15 minutes of hard concentration, we boarded the metro, hopped off, and walked a few blocks to our hostal. We were in an all girls room (YAY) but shared a bathroom/shower with the whole floor, which wasn't all that bad. We checked-in and headed up to get situated in our room before heading out to grab some food, because we were both starved. We found a local place and had some traditional fish and chips (because you just cant go wrong), then headed back to the hostal. We got out maps and phones, went downstairs to the outside patio by the bar, and started planning out how we wanted to spend our next day. Once we figured out how to map everything around the fashion show, we were ready to go. While on the patio, we met some interesting people (and I mean interesting in the nicest way possible), who were currently looking for jobs and LIVING (yes, living) in hostals. That just blew my mind…so I am really thankful that I am not in that type of situation, because it would be absolutely miserable. We headed back up to the room, I took and shower, and we went to bed semi-early since we had such a long Saturday ahead of us.
We woke up around 7:30 in the morning and started getting ready. It was slightly complicated, I will admit, because the weather was rainy, it was humid outside, yet, we wanted to look our best for the show later on in the day…#girlproblems. We figured it out and went downstairs to have our low-carb breakfast, which included one hot croissant, with as many slices of toast as you could possibly fit on your plate. Sounds delicious, doesn't it? Being about 20 minutes behind our schedule, we headed out to the nearest bus stop so we could begin our day. Once the (double-decker) bus arrived, we got on and tried to purchase our tickets, like you can in every other country when you get on the bust. The rude bus driver told us that we had to purchase our tickets at the metro station…so off we went, running more and more behind schedule to purchase our day passes, walked back to the bus stop, and got on the bus to take us into town.
We got off at Oxford street, AKA heaven…where we found Top Shop, Louis Vuitton, Hérmes, and every other fabulous store that you can possibly think of. But again, I’ll remind you, we were on a tight schedule, so we could only window shop as we power-walked down the street. Our first stop was the British Museum where we went to a small exhibit from the Enlightenment Period. It was a short and sweet stop before we hopped back on the tube and headed to the Bridge of London, because we had to get back on schedule. When we got off the tube to see the Bridge, Emily and I had no earthly idea what we were looking for. I think our brains hadn't fully woken up yet because we kept looking at each other and asking, “But which one is the bridge?” until we finally crossed the street and saw what we were looking for. The massive bridge (not sure how we missed it), with blue accents. We did a quick photo-shoot, got back on the tube, and headed to the Strand, where the Somerset House was located for Fashion Weekend. We were finally back on schedule, and had about 45 minutes to stop and grab some food before going in. We found a Prête A Manger down the street where we got our food and dessert to go. We entered the Somerset House and sat down to eat our food and touch up our lipstick before going any further.
We headed to pick up our goodie bag which was filled with a million fabulous things. Then, we walked around the “shops” that were set up, featuring items from the shows. Celine, Max Mara, Prada, D&G were just a few of the many designers that had their lines out for sale. Once we finished looking around, we waited in line before being escorted into the show, where you saw London’s finest (and worst) looking people. To say that the show was incredible, is a complete understatement. I didn't exactly know what we were in for, but it definitely surpassed anything that I could have pictured. Of course, my phone died half way through the show, so I was only able to snag a few pictures from the beginning.
We got off at Oxford street, AKA heaven…where we found Top Shop, Louis Vuitton, Hérmes, and every other fabulous store that you can possibly think of. But again, I’ll remind you, we were on a tight schedule, so we could only window shop as we power-walked down the street. Our first stop was the British Museum where we went to a small exhibit from the Enlightenment Period. It was a short and sweet stop before we hopped back on the tube and headed to the Bridge of London, because we had to get back on schedule. When we got off the tube to see the Bridge, Emily and I had no earthly idea what we were looking for. I think our brains hadn't fully woken up yet because we kept looking at each other and asking, “But which one is the bridge?” until we finally crossed the street and saw what we were looking for. The massive bridge (not sure how we missed it), with blue accents. We did a quick photo-shoot, got back on the tube, and headed to the Strand, where the Somerset House was located for Fashion Weekend. We were finally back on schedule, and had about 45 minutes to stop and grab some food before going in. We found a Prête A Manger down the street where we got our food and dessert to go. We entered the Somerset House and sat down to eat our food and touch up our lipstick before going any further.
We headed to pick up our goodie bag which was filled with a million fabulous things. Then, we walked around the “shops” that were set up, featuring items from the shows. Celine, Max Mara, Prada, D&G were just a few of the many designers that had their lines out for sale. Once we finished looking around, we waited in line before being escorted into the show, where you saw London’s finest (and worst) looking people. To say that the show was incredible, is a complete understatement. I didn't exactly know what we were in for, but it definitely surpassed anything that I could have pictured. Of course, my phone died half way through the show, so I was only able to snag a few pictures from the beginning.
The show ended, we took a few more photos outside, then continued on our venture through London. We walked away from the Strand to get a good glimpse at the London Eye, then headed over to Big Ben, which is just impressive to see in person. The gold accents on the clock made it look absolutely beautiful. Again, we had our mini-photo shoot in front of all the iconic places before crossing the street and stopping by Westminster Abbey. It started to get somewhat chilly along the way, so we stopped at a Starbucks to grab some warm drinks, use their wifi, and charge our phones. We let our feet relax from the massive amounts of walking for about 20 minutes before walking to our next destination: Buckingham Palace. The enormous but gorgeous palace made it seem like we were walking in a dream that took place in London. We snapped our pictures, walked around, and decided that it was time for dinner. We got on the tube and got off at the shopping center, where we had dinner at CHIPOTLE (yesssssssssss). I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to eat knock-off Mexican food. We stopped for dessert at McDonald’s because when I was in Ireland, I saw that they had a new McFlurry that was called Chocolate Chip Cookie, and just by looking at the picture, my mouth had watered. Of course, I didn't eat it in Dublin because I figured we would have the same one in France…which, yes, I was wrong, it did not exist in France, so I had been craving it for weeks on end. Emily spotted the ad for the McFlurry in the metro station and I could not pass up the opportunity to eat it in London….so there’s the dessert story.
We finished our dessert, got back on the tube (aka our best-friend), and headed to the train station where my inner Harry Potter nerd, was determined to find Platform 9 3/4. There was a huge line of people, and there were actual photographers there with all four house scarfs, in order to make your trip to Hogwarts absolutely worth it. We took our pictures (that I will now treasure forever), and started our trek home. Getting back on the tub then walking to the hostel, Emily enjoyed some beer while I sipped on my glass of wine before going to bed, since we had yet another early morning ahead of us.
We finished our dessert, got back on the tube (aka our best-friend), and headed to the train station where my inner Harry Potter nerd, was determined to find Platform 9 3/4. There was a huge line of people, and there were actual photographers there with all four house scarfs, in order to make your trip to Hogwarts absolutely worth it. We took our pictures (that I will now treasure forever), and started our trek home. Getting back on the tub then walking to the hostel, Emily enjoyed some beer while I sipped on my glass of wine before going to bed, since we had yet another early morning ahead of us.
Sunday morning came way to soon and we were up by 3:30 am in order to take a taxi to our bus stop, where we would hop on the bus and head to the airport. After an hour on the bus, we made it to the Stanstead Airport, where the adventures were far from over. Passing through security was an absolute nightmare. They were really strict on the “no liquids” policy, and like the good rule follower that I am, I put all my liquids (excluding make-up, because they never complain about make-up) in a clear plastic bag. OF COURSE, my bag didn't make it through security. I got the grumpiest and meanest lady at 5:00 in the morning, who made me fit EVERYTHING (toothpaste, ALL make-up including concealer, mascara, eyeliner, foundation, lipsticks, shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant) inside the ONE tiny little plastic bag. I was absolutely livid, because when the females next to me had their bags pulled, they said it was make up, and the security officers let them right on through…but nooooooo, I had to fit all of mine in one bag. I did not hide my anger and though I know it was wrong of me, I was definitely rude to the lady who was rude to me. I was finally able to get my things back and we headed through the airport where we stopped to get breakfast. Now, if there is one thing that the UK knows how to do, it’s breakfast, so that made up for the horrible security experience.
After breakfast, Emily and I parted ways as I went towards my gate to board my flight. We had some trouble landing back in La Rochelle due to bad weather, but once we whereon the ground, I was so happy to be back in my city. At the bus stop by the airport, there was an adorable elder couple who were asking how to get to the train station, so I told them they could follow me and I would take them. The bus finally arrived to take us to Place de Verdun in the center, where we would switch buses that would then take them to the train station and would take me home. We formally introduced ourselves; She was from England and he was from Scotland and we quickly bonded. I told them where I was from, what I was studying etc.. We finally made it to the center of town and waited about 20 minutes for my bus roc one by. I had forgotten it was Sunday and that the busses didn't come that often, so instead of waiting, I went ahead and walked them to the train station (luggage and all), where we exchanged information and emails, and I provided them with instructions on how to buy their tickets and how to get back to the airport when it was time for them to leave. They gave me a hug goodbye and we parted ways.
This hug, left me a little sentimental and with tears in my eyes, because I had not had a good, heartfelt hug since I left home in late August…and since my birthday was approaching, I felt extremely nostalgic. I waited at the bus stop near the train station, then took a bus all the way to the stop in front of my university, then I walked the rest of the way home. I was really excited to be home, until I saw that my house was a disaster, then my mood was instantly killed. I was exhausted and emotional, and I didn't have the patience to deal with my roommmate. So, I decided to take a nap. Of course, the moment I laid my head on my pillow, my roommate decided to start opening drawers in the kitchen and washing dishes and made all the noise in the world. Did I sleep? No. I got out of bed, furious and upset, made my favorite soup that my mom always makes when I’m sick, and headed out to the beach, where I sat with my soup in my lap and cried and cried and cried. I finally got (most) of my sadness out, then I headed back inside and finally laid down for a much needed nap.
Overall, I was not a big fan of London. Though we did our self-led tour in about 9 hours and finished exhausted, I don’t think I would go back. It felt strange being back in a country where English was spoken and I think as a whole, the city was very dirty and the people were not friendly. However, it was a great trip and it was worth the early hours and late nights.
As for my nostalgia, well, that only got worse throughout the week, but it was cured by my birthday celebration which you can read all about in my “La Rochelle” section!
Sending much love, as always!
XOXO
-Ana