Peanut Butter and Chipotle Fever

Well, I have now officially been to two European countries. This past weekend I left my new homeland of Spain and took a weekend trip to London, England with three other girls. When we landed, each of us experienced a bit of reverse culture shock from being back in a english-speaking country. I have reached the point in Spain where I actually feel comfortable only understanding a third of what people are saying around me. It was such an awkward and unexplainable sensation to be surrounded by my own native language. For the first time in three weeks I didn’t have to plan out every conversation in my head before I went to talk to someone. After a couple hours of english, we wanted spanish back. We actually ended up speaking more spanish to each other in London than we do in Valencia. I guess the saying, “you want what you can’t have," stands true here as well. 

We arrived in London late, around 12:00 am, so we headed straight for our hostel, which was conveniently located just around the corner from Victoria Station. This was my first hostel experience and let me just say, it was quite a surreal one. Due to our lack of travel sense, the four of us were put in three different rooms because we didn’t know to book the hostel all together. I, of course, was by myself, in a 6-person, mixed-gender room. When I entered the doorway, all I saw were 5 sleeping bodies, all of different ethnicities and ages. A couple of people woke up and gave me very agitated looks that would universally scream, “I hate you,” in any language. Without even changing into my pajamas I climbed onto the top of the rickety bunk-bed I was assigned to and tried my best to fall asleep. 

Tori and Alexa shared a room with three other very nice italian boys in their mid-20’s. All was well for them until one of the boys, who was about 300+ pounds, might I add, proceeded to snore and vehemently pass gas all night long. Let’s just say none of us got that much sleep our first night in London.

The morning came too soon and I proceeded to take my entire bag to the tiny bathroom so that I would not have to bother anyone with my coming and going while getting ready for the day. Despite the awkward first impression from the night before, the hostel turned out to be very quant and comfortable. We got free breakfast, which is always a plus when traveling on a budget. And they had PEANUT BUTTER, a personal necessity that I have had to live without in Spain for the past three weeks. So let’s just say it was a great start to the morning. 

After breakfast the first thing we did was go get an unlimited tube pass for the day. This allowed us to go all over the city in a much easier and faster fashion than had we of walked. Since it was Courtney, Tori, and my first time to London, we, of course, did as much of the touristy stuff as possible. 

Here are some of the big things we hit along throughout the day:

Big Ben. This was the first thing I saw when I walked up the steps from the tube station and I literally freaked. Just the sight of the enormous and elaborate building that screams "London" made me realize that I was actually there, among the Brits, (whose accents I can never get enough of).

Westminster Abbey. We didn’t actually go inside, but it was a nice sight to see from the street. 

The Queen is in!!

Buckingham Palace. We waited outside for almost an hour to see the changing of the guards, and then realized that we had the days mixed up and the ceremony was not happening until tomorrow, so I pretty much know every detail of that palace just from staring at it for an hour. 

And for lunch... drum roll please.... CHIPOTLE!! Back in the United States all four of us are Chipotle fiends. Much like the peanut butter, since we have been deprived of it for a month, we went a little crazy when we saw the restaurant sign. My burrito bowl never tasted so good.

The afternoon was filled with one of my favorite activities of the weekend. We went to the Tower of London and was guided around by a very entertaining and funny British man, decked out in the old “beef-eater” uniform. Don’t ask me why they are called that because he didn’t even know. Our guide told us about all of the executions that occurred within the tower throughout England’s history. After the tour we were able to do some exploring for ourselves. We ventured on to see the Crown Jewels that are locked up within the walls of the tower. I have never seen such large diamonds, rubies, and sapphires in my life. It almost hurt my eyes to look at them straight on.

Our last stop of the day got me super giddy. Being a prominent Harry Potter fan, and also since the HP Studio Tour was all booked up, this next event was very high up on my list. Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station— the place where Harry leaves his miserable life as a muggle and transitions into the magical wizarding world. I’m a geek, I know, but having read all the books twice and having seen all the movies an unhealthy amount of times, I had to go. And of course the whole way there I was quoting every movie line possible until my friends gave me enough annoying looks to stop. 

That night we were planning on going out on the town but coming from Spain, our time table for night life was still a bit off. By the time we took the tube back to Lester Square, a.k.a. the Time Square of London, it was already midnight and the bars were only open for one or two more hours, which was not worth the 10 pound cover fee. Back in Spain we don’t even start the night until 12 or 1am. Who would have thought we would have converted to the Spanish lifestyle so fast. 

To bed we went so we could get an early start to our Saturday. 

The next morning we went to check out the prices for matinee theater shows. This was one thing I really wanted to do. I’ve had an itch for broadway ever since I can remember. Maybe it’s my lifelong dream of preforming under the bright lights, despite my major lack of a singing voice or coordination. Anyways, we used our poor college student status to our advantage and bought really cheap student tickets for Jersey Boys! I was beyond excited. 

To waste time before the show we went to the British Museum. I had no idea this place was so massive and intricate. There were so many artifacts and so much history in one building It was almost overwhelming. We were there an hour and half and only got through ancient Rome, Persia, and Egypt. There was still 5 continents left that we had to leave behind. Once again, the history geek inside of me came out. I could have stayed there for hours. 

However, it was musical time! Our seats were amazing. Almost near the front, I could see the makeup on the actors faces. I was in a total state of ecstasy throughout the whole show. Jersey Boys is the story of the band, The Four Seasons, and as the musical went on, I realized I knew the words to every song; I had just never known it was The Four Seasons who sang them. Having grown up in a house with Cliff Roberts, songs of the 60’s have been engrained in my head since I was a little girl. As my first grade teacher said, I was the only student she ever knew who sang songs about pink Cadillacs and black mustaches on the playground. Thanks to my dad, I think I enjoyed the show more than anyone. Now for the past 4 days, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons has been on constant repeat on my computer. 

That night, having splurged on fish and chips for lunch, (so much fried deliciousness), we ate a power bar for dinner... reality of a traveling collage student. 

Then we hit the clubs at the correct time and had an absolute blast. We got to dance to english music for the first time in a while. I did try to request our favorite spanish song, El Tiburon, but I was unfortunately declined by the DJ. 

The next day was rough. We got home from the club at 3:30am and had to leave for the train station at 4:00am to catch a bus to the airport. Let’s just say I fell straight to sleep right when I sat down in that airplane chair. 

So in a nutshell, London was a success. Unfortunately the cold weather did get me slightly sick but I leave for Morocco tomorrow and I am not going to let a runny nose get in the way of having an unforgettable time. In the end, I am my mothers daughter and refuse to admit I’m really sick until I have to be hospitalized. 

Other fun random London photos:

Mary Kate and Ashley take London