London!! Rylee and I had a quick flight from Amsterdam to London, it was a smooth flight and it really prepared us for the next four days. On the flight Rylee and I sat in front of two little British boys named Freddy and Tristan. They were the most adorable boys ever and they sang "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction. This was the best greeting to England. And it didn't take long to remember we were in and English speaking country--the English speaking country! It was glorious. We got off the plane and made our way to city center. We caught a train to Victoria Station and waited for a cab to get to our hostel near Hyde Park. We were nervous about spending money on the taxi, but it was well worth it! It was so fun to ride in a car on the left side of the road with the driver on the right side of the car. It was certainly an adventure!
We made it to our hostel and we got a surprise when we arrived. We knew that going to a 24 bed hostel would be interesting, but this was worse than we could imagine. We checked in and were assigned to our room. We walked into the room and there were 24 beds--three high to the ceiling. It was terrifying and dirty, and scary! So, it was me Rylee and 22 other people all sharing one room. This was pretty bad, but you get what you pay for! We waited a few minutes for Tim and his Dad to meet us and we were off! (Also, Tim and Mr. Kenney were amazing they trudged around in the rain trying to find our hostel--saints!) We went around the corner and got some lunch at a local pub. I had a sausage sandwich and tap water with ice. The sandwich was delicious, but the tap water and ice was so exciting since you can't get that in Rome!
After lunch we went with Tim and Mr. Kenney into the city center. We got off the tube (metro) and the first things we saw were the London Eye and Big Ben! It was so cool. Rylee and I split off to see Buckingham Palace while Tim and Mr. Kenney went to a museum. We walked through St. James park and went to see the Palace. The coolest part was seeing the Queen!! Actually, we just saw the Palace and the guards (without their hats--lame) no queen, but I was hoping! After we met back up with Tim and Mr. Kenney to go back to their hotel to meet Mrs. Kenney. We got there and decided to go see the new James Bond movie, Skyfall. We headed to the movies, got our tickets and had a quick dinner at Nando's. Nando's is a Brazilian restaurant with lots of amazing food! It was so great! We went back to the theater and had a great time watching the movie! It was so good. I've never seen any James Bond movies (I know its a crime!), but I definitely will now!! After the movies we split up and were prepared for the next day. Rylee and I were taking the tube and missed the last metro by 10 seconds, literally. So, we had to walk back. Luckily it was a pretty safe area. When we got back to the hostel there were hundreds of people roaming around. This might sound like an exaggeration, but here's the deal. We were in room 51 or 59 and over half of these rooms had 24 people. It was insanity! The worst was the really dirty bathrooms! Gross! But, the beds were warm and we had clean sheets, so we got a good night sleep and were ready for the morning!
Another adventure in the hostel was being woken up at 6:30am by an alarm clock. The alarm went off for a good 5 minutes and the whole room was woken up and it turned out the the old Asian women who's alarm it was didn't like to wear anything more than undergarments to bed. Awkward! A few hours later we woke up, got ready, and met the Kenney's at their hotel. We started off the day in Hyde Park. We walked around, enjoying the sun, and made our way to Kensington Palace, the former home of Princess Diana and the future home of Prince William and Kate Middleton! We decided to go inside. We saw some of Princess Diana's dresses, old rooms, and the most precious pendants! After Kensington we went and saw the Peter Pan statue! We walked some more through Hyde Park and then made our way to lunch! At a local pub I finally got to try my first fish and chips! It was delicious! 
After lunch we hopped on the tube and made our way to the Tower of London! We were so excited to see the Crown Jewels! We got there at the perfect time and we were able to got s tour with a Yeoman Guard, also known as a beefeater! He was a really funny man. His best jokes were making fun of Americans! We walked through the towers and heard a lot of history of Tower of London, it was interesting. After the tour we went to see the crown jewels! They were amazing! If I was in British Royalty I would wear the jewels all the time! After leaving the Tower we went to see St. Paul's church and than got dinner at a restaurant called Wagamama. It's an interesting name, but it was amazing Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Korean restaurant. I had a delicious Thai coconut basil soup! Once we finished dinner we headed over the the West End to see Les Miserable! Tim LOVES Les Mis, he was so excited to see it. And let me tell you it was INCREDIBLE!! After Les Mis we walked around Piccadilly Circus and then headed back to the hostel ready for another early morning!
We woke up the next morning and were so afraid to go into the showers at the hostel. WIth the bathrooms being so dirty, we were convinced the showers would be the same. Thank God Mrs. Kenney offered to let us use the shower at their hotel. It was amazing! After or great showers we went and caught a bus to Oxford! We got to Oxford and were immediately greeted with a quant college town! Our first stop was The Eagle and the Child, the pub where The Inklings (the group J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were a part of) spent their time! We had some desert and beers and it was a really great time! After the pub we went on a tour of Oxford. It was interesting, but our tour guide was a little crazy and was not very good, but we did get to see some of the sites where Harry Potter was filmed and the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland! We had a great dinner after then caught our bus back to London. We decided to hang out in the Kenney's hotel and watch Sex in the City/the Notre Dame game. It was amazing because it was the first time Rylee and I had relaxed since we left for Fall Break. It was a much needed night of recuperation!
The next morning was our last day in London. Rylee and I got up and checked out of the hostel--we were so happy to say goodbye and then went to the Kenney's hotel. The Kenney's were flying back to California, so we said goodbye and Tim, Rylee, and I headed out on our jam packed day of adventures! Our first stop was Notting Hill. This was by far my favorite area in all of London. The houses were painted bright colors, people were roaming around the shop lined streets, and it was just a really peaceful area. We walked around the area, went in and out of shops until we finally came across the Notting Hill Bookshop. This was the location of the Traveller's Bookshop in the Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant movie Notting Hill. It was really cool! After walking around Notting Hill we went to Mass. It was a little hard to find, but it was great! We were really hungry after Mass, so we found a pub to get lunch! Wright (my favorite 8th grade English teacher who lived in London for a few years) told me that I couldn't leave London without having bangers and mash, also known as sausage and mashed potatoes. So, at the pub I got some and it was amazing!! So so delicious. I also had a strawberry-lime Rekorderlig cider. It was so good, I feel in love! 
After lunch we made our way to King's Cross station to get a picture with the Platform 9 3/4 sign from Harry Potter and then went to Abbey Road for a picture with the crosswalk from the Beatles! We continued walking around the city, went to Westminster Abbey, walked the London Bridge, explored Regent Street, and got dinner at another pub. I got another Rekorderlig--I told you I was obsessed and we were pretty much finished for the night. We went back to see Buckingham Palace one last time and made our way to the airport. We were sleeping in the airport again for an early flight back to Rome. This time we weren't wet, but there were no available chairs to sit in, so we had to sleep on the floor. There are a lot of things over this break I never want to experience again, and that was one of them! We caught our flight back to Rome and it was good to be back!
I had the most amazing Fall Break and I wouldn't take back any of it! I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to travel so much! Everyone should study abroad!!
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