London, England

Well I'll start by saying that I was in London for 4 days and experienced no rain whatsoever which is, in itself, quite incredible.
The flight took no more than an hour and it still blows my mind that I am able to fly all over Europe and experience such different, amazing places in such little time.
After arriving in England about an hour outside of London the group and I hopped on a bus to the city centre.
Although it was dark I could already see the beauty the city held with the cream colored buildings on either side of me as we walked to the hostel.
(I went with 8 of my housemates)
From the very first day the group arrived in Ireland every single person in the house seemed to rush off to Subway when hungry. I however had been able to hold off, until this point. It was midnight, our hostel was in a more quiet area of the city, and with nothing else around us open, my stomach cracked under the pressure.
My sub of turkey, ranch, hot sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and corn was delicious, although it seemed to gross everyone around me out.
After devouring my sub we headed off to our hostel.
From the outside it looked quite promising- a little hostel situated between a row of identical flats and what appeared to be apartments.
The inside, however, was much less appealing.
My roommate Laura and I were sharing a room on the top floor that consisted of a fire engine red bunk bed and small sink.
We were thoroughly grossed out when we found hair and unidentifiable stains on our pillows and mattress but fully clothed, so as to not let it touch our skin, we climbed into our beds.
After three minutes had passed we were both out of bed again deciding to take our mattresses off of the bed which seemed like it could collapse at any moment and placing them side by side on the floor. Luckily, we'd be moving to a new hostel in the morning.

The next morning when we woke the group navigated the London Underground to the Wellington Arch where we joined a free walking tour of the city.
Our tour guide was a bubbly American girl with a slight Minnesota accent who worked for a touring company that ran only on the tips the people provided the guides with at the end of the tour. The company had bases in many of the larger European cities and ran free tours because it felt that anyone on any budget should be able to explore and experience each place.
The weather was out of this world for England- the sun was shining without a single cloud in the sky.
The tour went on for a little over two hours, stopping at places like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, the changing of the guards, Westminster Abbey- all of the places I imagined in my head when I thought of London.
Each of these places far exceeded my expectations.
I don't even have words for how beautiful the city was or for the feeling I had while I was there.
The only thing I could think to myself the entire time was that it was exactly how I'd pictured it to be and more.
It's hard to describe the feelings you have when I was there, or when I'm in any part of Europe really. Each place has such a different and unique feeling to it. London was different from Dublin. It was much bigger with a population of roughly 7.5 million compared to Dublin's 1.5 and unlike Dublin it had an extravagant metro system running underground.
Oh my gosh I love Europe. I love Europe. I love Europe.
I WISH I could put into words the feeling and atmosphere of each place!

The group split up later that day; a few girls went to see a show at the theatre while the rest of us walked around a bit more. Later that night we ate gyros and falafel before taking the underground back to our new hostel named "Best Place in Paddington" which was much nicer than our previous one. This one was situated above a 24 hour bar which closed at 11 to the public but remained open only for those staying in the hostel. It was a cute little pub with a few couches, tables, and a television that they plugged a Wii into around midnight for anyone who wanted to play. I must say that hostels can be quite the experience. You come to find and eventually accept that when you are staying in a room with sixteen other people, the majority being strangers, at least three of them will snore, four will most likely have terrible smelling feet from traveling and not showering, two won't speak English, and one of them if you're lucky might even have a life-size cow stuffed animal that you wake face to face with. At the same time it is one of the most incredible feelings I have ever experienced. As I was lying there in my bed it hit me that I was in fact sharing a room with fifteen people from all over the world like Poland and France in London, a place I'd never really imagined I'd be sleeping in. It was a strange feeling not knowing most of the people I was sleeping in the same room as but also having enough faith in people to be able to do so without worrying too much that any harm would be done to me.
The next day was filled with more walking and sight-seeing.
The sky was cloudless once again and it was warm enough to wear only a light jacket.
Our first stop was to a famous market named Portobello Road. It was lined with antique shops, street performers and vendors selling everything under the sun.
After taking the underground to the most amazing Thai restaurant and again onto Trafalgar Square three of the girls and I walked through the city for a few hours, stopping at the Tower and London Bridges which, contrary to popular belief, is not falling down.
Later that afternoon the three girls I was with decided to see a musical. I opted out of the standing room only option to explore the city on my own for a bit. I'd heard of a frozen yogurt place that was supposed to be amazing, serving real frozen yogurt with healthy toppings like fresh fruit and nuts. I was pleasantly surprised with myself at how well I was able to navigate the underground alone. After several minutes of walking around in search of the yogurt place called "Snog" I was about to give up. It was getting dark so I headed back towards the tube stop I'd gotten off on when I saw a bright pink neon sign in the words "Snog".
It was delicious! I chose the warm apple crumble- fresh apples, granola, and cinnamon on top of vanilla yogurt.
That evening we decided to try out the London night life as we were told it is some of the best in the world. I was not a fan. Most of what we could find were clubs that required a cover charge to get in so we headed back to our hostel for a good nights sleep instead. I'd much rather have the pubs in Dublin over the New York City style night life in London.
Our last day in London was yet another beautiful one. Westminster Abbey where Princess Diana's wedding and funeral were held was holding Sunday service so a few of the girls and I attended mass there. I love how nonchalantly I say "Oh we just went to mass at Westminster Abbey, no big deal". It was in fact one of my favorite moments of London. Following the service we took the tube to Hyde Park to visit the Peter Pan statue. I learned very quickly that the birds enjoy banana chips and if you give one bird a banana chip she will probably let her thirty friends know too. I was able to meet up with my friend Gulsun who is studying in London too!
We returned to the cheap yet amazing Thai place for a meal of roti canai, pad thai, and curry. Oh my good Lord that place was so delicious and on top of that nothing was priced above five pounds.
With full bellies it was time to go on yet another excursion. Several tube stops later we found ourselves running through Kings Cross train station similar to the one in Harry Potter in an attempt to find Platform 9 and 3/4. After twenty minutes we were pleased to find the wall with the shopping cart sticking half way out of it, the sign above it reading "Platform 9 3/4".
Twenty pictures later I felt it was my obligation to share the wonderful Snog with the girls. This time I had warm pears and cinnamon. I just love food way too much!
After saying goodbye to Gu we headed back to our hostel for our last night in London.
We decided it would be beautiful to see the Tower Bridge lit up at night so we made our way across the city for the view.
It was gorgeous of course. That is the only way to describe it.
We decided to try out our luck with the bus system rather than the underground. Though we got lost for an hour we still managed to make it back to our hostel.

One would think the story ended there having been our last night but oh no, of course it did not.
The next morning when we woke we had to take the underground to the bus stop that would take us on to the airport for our flight. We ended up getting off one tube stop too soon and missing the first bus to the airport. After a half hour of waiting outside because nothing was open at five am the girls started to argue about what our bus looked like. Glancing around I spotted an orange bus down the road and, pointing to it, told the girls that THAT was what our bus looked like.
Oh dear. As the bus pulled away in front of us we realized we'd been standing on the wrong side of the road. Though we missed yet another bus and had to wait another half hour we still made it to the airport with time to spare.

It is always nice to come back to Dublin after a long trip. London was out of this world and better than I could have ever imagined. Parts of it were busy and bustling with people but a short walk brought me to a quiet park where it was easy to forget I was in a city at all. One moment I was surrounded by old buildings and beautiful architecture and the next I was in Piccadilly Circus which reminded me of a mini Times Square. The entire trip was unreal and looking back on it seems like a dream. It is so hard to grasp the idea that I am in a foreign country traveling to places like Enland. Walking down side streets made of cobblestone, seeing sights like Big Ben. It is simply out of this world and indescribable.

Next stop: Dingle and Bundoran- West coast of Ireland!

I love and miss you all.
Cheers,
Sam xo