London Day 1 and 2, A Tour of London from Some Locals

Wednesday, May 28th

I couldn’t believe I was leaving and flying again. It felt like I just got there, but the Copenhagen prices were giving me the boot. I’ll say that Copenhagen was a nice place to visit, but for how poor the weather was, they had no right to be as pricey without offering good nature or weather in return. I think that's why I love Spain so much because the weather is fantastic and it is super affordable. 

The timing of when I needed to check out of Next House and go to the airport worked out well, along with when my friend I was visiting would be done with work. Plus, I had enough time to fit in a few more things in the morning before leaving Copenhagen. I loved Nyhavn so much that I took my breakfast to go and ate half with it as my view, but saved the other half for right before heading to the airport. After eating my meal, I walked over to Mormor’s, a cool cafe where I met Megan for coffee. Not the best service and over $6 for a drip coffee, not somewhere I’d head back, but the inside was so cool, and we were seated in what felt like a living room of a Danish grandma who spent her whole life collecting.

I was so happy to be able to meet up with Megan once more before leaving. I saw her everyday when I was in Copenhagen. I was so appreciative she made such an effort to see me as much as she could. I am grateful that Megan was happy about me coming and spent as much time with me as she possibly could. Although I like solo traveling, I love spending my time with people and having good conversations. Whether that be a good friend, my family, or with someone I just met, so I can say that I was happy to have spent as much time as I could with Megan while here.

After coffee, I walked back to my place, headed to the hostel, packed up, and then left for the airport. I went through passport control and got another stamp yay! I love seeing my passport fill up with more and more stamps, this will soon be my favorite book of all. My goal was to fill it up, but to be more realistic, it is to have at least one stamp on each page. I am close.. I hope that I will put in my best effort to achieve it.

And just like that I was bound for my fifth and final stop, London! I was so excited to visit my friend Louis, one of the best friends I made while traveling SE Asia last summer. My flight was on time and went well and the train from Gatwick to Clapham was quick. So fast that I got there before Louis was done with work. It was only a 25 minute walk from the station to his place, and I would’ve walked there myself but he said he would pick me up after work so I waited at a cafe for an hour. I knew he had a car so I was looking for an Audi, so when he made his way to me on bicycle, that shocked me more than seeing him again since the Philippines. I gave him a big hug, again, so shocked to see all these people in my life that I questioned if I’d ever meet again. We had time to catch up, walking back to his place and him gratefully hauling my roller suitcase. 

When we got to his place, I was introduced to everyone, I couldn't believe how nice his roommates were. They were the coolest people and I was jealous of Louis’s living situation and the fun dynamic of living with friends in an awesome city like London. I met Mackie and his friend Pritesh first, both so warm and friendly. Outside laying on the hammock was Joe, and they jokingly warned me to watch out for Joe, claiming he barks at strangers haha. I knew they were kidding around but that got me thinking this guy must be a character if that’s the impression they were trying to give off. I met him just minutes later and he was, in fact, a personable and nice guy. A character like I imagined. Oh, and a chatter box that would come to serve me well this trip, as he too was hilarious and not afraid to speak aloud what was on his mind, unfiltered. 

We just hung out at their place for the night. It was beautiful outside so we sat on the patio, talking, well mainly asking Joe questions and hearing his response. I enjoyed talking to Louis and Joe while we waited for Mackie to get back from the gym. When he got back, he made us mushroom risotto and we sat around the patio table eating the delicious risotto. It took almost two hours though for it to be ready, so in the meantime, Joe led the conversation while swinging golf balls into a net and looking back at Louis and I to tell his tales. I had a great night, although I was a bit anxious again, the feeling of wasting time just sitting around, but then again, how special it is to be in London, to see an old friend and spend quality time together. With an added bonus of making new friends, Louis has a great crew of people in London and I was lucky enough to join in on the fun for the weekend.

Also, randomly, we tested our blood sugar and mine ended up being the highest, but I did just have a sandwich and banana an hour earlier at Joe and Juice and that must’ve done it. Apparently Louis had been trying to get Joe to do it for months now, and it wasn’t until I wanted to do it that he caved. He was nervous about getting jabbed with a needle, but the prick was so slight even he couldn’t believe how easy it was. I had a great night, it was the perfect thing to do after a busy couple weeks, hauling around Europe, to spend the night with great people in a cool place. Reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. 

Thursday, May 29th

A return to London for a tour of the city! I wanted to go into central London to revisit my favorite sights and catch anything I missed last time. I was in London two years ago, in January of 2023, it was my first weekend trip during my study abroad. I was impressed with all I did that time, but there were a couple of museums that I wanted to visit but didn’t have time for, so I centered those around my agenda for the day. I wanted to visit the British Museum, knowing there were some really interesting artifacts there and I wanted to check them out. 

Louis had to work, and before heading out, I saw Mackie and Joe in the kitchen and asked if either of them would want to grab coffee or go into the city with me. Mackie also had to work, but Joe said that he had gotten his class work done earlier in the morning and had time to join me! He didn’t have any plans for the day so I was intrigued to see how long he would tag along. I was hoping that it would be longer than just coffee because I would never pass up company, especially after getting to know Joe last night and the good stories, humor, and wit he brings with him.

We grabbed coffee in their neighborhood near the Clapham Station at Gail’s. We took it to go, taking them on the tube with us as we made our way into the city. I knew that I would have no issue keeping a conversation with Joe throughout the day. It was a deadly duo as I had lots of questions and he could talk your ear off, but I loved it. We were talking about books on the tube when we missed our stop to head to the British Museum, so instead we made a detour and started our day in Central London at the London Bridge.

It was actually perfect because when I visited I never actually went to the London Bridge, I only visited the Tower Bridge (thinking it was the London Bridge lol) and that was something I wanted to do, so happy mistake I would say. We then walked through the business district in London and that was cool to see, if I were to ever consider moving here. I imagine this for myself in every European city though.

We also gave St. Paul’s Cathedral a visit, another stop I missed. However, it wasn’t free to walk inside, just about how it is everywhere in London, and we made the executive decision to carry on and get to our actual destination, the British Museum. We got talking about how much we loved museums, apparently Joe grew up going to museums and truly this is the perfect city to do that. I was thinking the next time I’m back in the city, I’ll check off a new museum or two, and maybe now I even just found a new friend to accompany me for it! 

When we got to the museum, we had to wait in a line in order to get our bags checked, but the whole while I was so excited to finally go inside somewhere. It was around noon, truly going at a very peak time in the day, so the line took us a while but it gave me the opportunity to get to know Joe a little. I absolutely love making new friends, especially when traveling. Understanding  new perspectives, learning new ideas, and hearing fun stories and Joe provided all in plenty. At this point in the day, the conversation was about traveling and having the privilege to do so. To compare and contrast the travel that I do based on my economic position versus his was both humbling, but also sparked no jealousy because I have so much to be grateful for in my life and the opportunities I have been granted that although my family is not jet setting to Japan for a ski trip, I still have been able to see so much of this world. I was more in awe of his tales, as I know one day that I will have sufficient funds to take myself wherever I’d like, therefore I have no worry that I won’t get to see somewhere I’ve longed to. This conversation lasted about 30 minutes, as that's how long it took for us to get in, and I appreciated the intriguing discussions we were having, making the day even more fun. 

Finally!! Inside the British Museum! And, it wasn’t particularly what I was expecting, haha. I think I got my museums mixed up, thinking this one was art based, or had famous and well known artifacts housed here. But I didn’t recognize a single thing. The museum was divided by different geographical locations and time periods, so it was easy to decide where we wanted to check out. We first navigated through East Asia for a bit, then pivoted to something potentially more familiar, and found ourselves in the early 1000s UK history area. I quizzed Joe on his UK history knowledge, and he did teach me a bit about this country’s history! To be able to get some context behind what I was looking at helped me appreciate the piece more. 

The more I wandered around the museum, hoping to stumble on the painting I wanted to see, the more I was convinced the painting did not live here. Apparently Joe knew the whole time that it wasn’t the British Museum that I was thinking of, but didn’t want to correct me. Lol, I am still glad I saw the British Museum because I was hyping it up in my mind for years and now I finally got to see what it was all about. However, I do wish I could have seen the painting today, but I still had a few more days here and I would not stop until I laid my eyes on it.

We were starting to get hungry and because there wasn’t much more I was seeking out to see, we left to grab some food. I wasn’t sure where Joe wanted to go for lunch, and we were pretty close to Covent Gardens, which had some good vegan options, so I led him there. I had it set to go to Mildred’s, a cute vegan cafe because it seemed to have good options but I was very nervous about making him eat at a fully vegan place. So, when we got there and across the street was a kebab place with a vegan option that was much more affordable, we pivoted and had that for lunch. There wasn’t anywhere to sit in the restaurant, so I hopped on maps and looked for the closest green space. There was this patch of green and I took us there.

We ended up in this adorable garden area of a church, with flowers and other park goers enjoying the touch of grass. We found an open spot in the grass and just sat down and inhaled our food. We were both not overly impressed with the food, however, I was so entranced by this random garden we ended up in. I loved this little picnic vibe, although we had nothing but the to-go wrappers from our kebab that separated the ground from any part of our food or selves, but we made the most of it. We ate our massive meal slowly as we kept talking about random things, and stayed a bit to rest our legs after a long morning of walking around. I didn’t mind staying here as well a bit longer because it was so affordable.

We continued on our journey, the grand tour of London, now with Big Ben as our destination in sight. We passed through the Convent Gardens neighborhood which was absolutely adorable. I would’ve totally wandered down the streets of this area, another place to explore more in depth if I were to ever return. I wanted to see Big Ben again because it was one of my favorite things I saw the first time I was here. I was so enamored by the sparkling clock on the top of the tower, similar to my love for the Eiffel Tower and Nyhavn. The whole day, Joe led the navigation and it was to great relief that after traveling so much, this was one of the very few times I didn’t have maps pulled up on my phone, and could just follow someone. It’s the small things that add up to make the day even better. 

And there was the beautiful Big Ben! It was pretty packed in the area with people, like ourselves, trying to find the best view of the clock. We stayed for a moment to get a photo but then crossed the bridge over the Thames and began a walk along the River, offering another a great view of Big Ben. I was making Joe take photos of me places, so, to return the favor, I made him line up in front of Big Ben and smile for the shot. And here is the man in question! 

We walked along the Thames, there were a couple places there to admire, but mainly were headed in the direction to see what was next on our list. I wanted to go back to Hyde Park, but it was pretty far from where we were so Joe planned to bring me to another closer park. Before departing from the Thames riverbank, we stopped at a park bench to rest for a little longer, this conversation topic was about friendships and whether the connections we make in our hometown would tie us to the city forever. Mixed opinions on this one, but interesting conversation nonetheless. And to the park we went!

There wasn’t much to this park, so we did not stay very long. Instead, we hopped on the train again, and went to the park near their house. It was getting late in the afternoon anyways and Louis would be off work soon to tag off Joe from entertaining me. I got to see Clapham Common, their neighborhood park, and before returning to their house, we grabbed a drink at the Windmill, a bar in the park. We sat outside and talked about the top issues the UK is currently facing politically. Quite the lineup of talking points for the day! We headed back and time it out well for when Louis was able to get off of work. I had a fun day with Joe and I was so grateful he took the time to show me around the city and engage in interesting conversations. I learned a ton about him and the country, again, this stop was more about the people than the place and I appreciated that beyond belief. The people and relationships in one’s life are the core to bringing a fulfilling life, and surely what I remember most is not what I saw in the British Museum, but what I learned and the feeling of gaining a new perspective to consider when thinking of bigger ideas and issues. 

Joe was relieved of his duties babysitting me, and Louis took over. We hung out at the house for a bit before getting ready and headed back into London for dinner. We took the tube into Central London, and went back to the Thames, but a different spot along the bank. Here, they had different food and drink stands, so we got drinks here first and found a bench to catch up some more! It was great being back with my friend and hearing what he’s all been up to in the last 9 months. We of course were reminiscing on our time in the Philippines, on the other friends in our group and where they were now and what they were up to, and then what we had in store for the future. Louis wanting to go on another long backpacking trip and move somewhere warm in the next few years, and me wanting to move to the ocean and Europe. So cool to hear about the big dreams we both individually have, and knowing someone is out there to encourage us making those big moves happen. 

We walked to dinner, a short 30 minutes to another food stand like place and we ended up choosing this Kazakhstan stand, but we were both not too happy about our food. Haha, I’ve not had the best food while here, both this trip and the last, going 0/2 on the day meal wise. But we made jokes about it and headed back for the night to hang with his roommates. An unexpectedly fun day getting an all encompassing tour of London from a new friend to catching up and grabbing dinner with an old friend! My Europe trip was shaping out to be an incredible journey of new experiences, new friends, and personal growth that I needed as I am transitioning from kid to adult, and have opportunities to live out the big dreams now as an adult that I developed as a kid. My 10 year old self would surely be so proud of the person I am today.