Well hi strangers!
The last few days have been crazy! But fantastic!
On Saturday we landed in London, made our way through customs and baggage claim, and headed to the underground. We took the Piccadilly line to King's Cross, which was super cool, but it took about an hour. So that was frustrating. Then, when we got to King's Cross the line that we needed to get to our hostel was closed for the weekend. So back to the information desk, and on a bus we went. It was super strange to get on the bus on the wrong side of the road, with the door on the wrong side, and the driver on the wrong side too! It made crossing the street an adventure. Luckily, at every corner they write "look left" or "look right" to remind us which way the cars are coming from. Saved us a few times haha
When we got off the bus we had to walk down the block to our hostel. It was a bit of a walk with our bags, but we found it! We set our luggage in the luggage room, got our registration paperwork filled out, and went out for lunch. We went to "Wahaca"- a chain of Mexican restaurants in London. It was TO DIE FOR! We missed Mexican food. They even put a candle in my churro and sang me happy birthday! It was really hilarious because they didn't know my name so at the part where they say "happy birthday dear___" Natalie just yelled "CHRISTINE!" It was perfect haha
After lunch we got to check into our room- it was a small room with 4 bunk beds, 8 dressers, and a sink. At first we were a little concerned with it but it ended up being just fine! The only bummer was that the wifi was only available in the lobby.
After checking in and freshening up, we bought our tickets for the "hop on hop off" bus and started our London adventure! We road the bus the whole way, and saw just about every tourist attraction possible. It was so fun! After the bus ride we hopped on the Tube and went to Camden Town, where we went our for fish and chips. The restaurant took off in the late 40's, so everything is decorated with post-war decorations and the servers are dressed in fashion of that time. It was awesome & delicious! By this point in the day we were both so tired so we headed back to the hostel and went to bed.
Sunday morning I woke up early, got ready, and we headed out for the day. We grabbed coffee (for Nat) and a croissant for me. Then we wandered, trying to find cheap broadway tickets. After exploring a bit, we found them! We got tickets for Mamma Mia for only £25! Our max was £30 so it was perfect!
After our purchase, we hopped back on our tour bus, and got off at London Tower. We saw the tower, the bridge, took lots of pictures and grabbed lunch at Pret a Manger. It is like London's version of Panera. There is a 'dine-in' fee so we took our food to go and walked down the pier to our tour BOAT! We ate on the boat, and then headed to the roof of the boat for our tour. We saw countless bridges, the London Eye, Big Ben, and the Houses of Parliament. After disembarking the boat, we got back on the bus and headed to Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, and Kensington Palace. After all that walking, we got on the blue line and started back towards home.
As we got closer, I realized that we hadn't planned a time to go to King's Cross and take the classic "Platform 9 3/4" picture. So we took the bus there, waited in line for about an hour, and wished to go to Hogwarts!
After our fan girl moment, we were running low on time so we just decided to walk to Hillsong London. The service is so much like a rock concert! I love it every time!
Since church was late, afterwards we were looking for food and everything was either closed (cuz it was Sunday) or the kitchen was closed because it was 8:30 pm. So that was frustrating. But after finding some dinner, we went back to the hostel and headed to bed.
Yesterday we woke up, ate breakfast at the hostel, and raced over to Eusten station to catch our train to the Warner Bros Studio tour. Right as we got there, the train we wanted left. But we asked around and found another train that was leaving shortly and got us there in less time. It was perfect! When we got to the station, we road a Harry Potter bus to the studio. I was geeking out!
The tour was incredible! We saw the Great Hall, the Burrow, Dumbeldore's office, countless props, sets, costumes, animated props, masks, etc. It was so cool! We even had butter beer as a treat!
It was a dream tour! I didn't want it to end!
After our tour, back to the shuttle, back to the train, and back to London we went. We grabbed and shared lunch quick, and went back to the hostel to Skype family and repack our bags. After getting dressed for the play, I went downstairs to ask the reception staff a bunch of questions about the best way to the show, the best way to the airport, etc.
Our conversation about the way to the airport ended up taking like 30 minutes and was really stressful. Turns out the tube, national express, and heathrowexpress all shut down in night. The buses also switch to the night schedule, which is unreliable and sketchy. So that was really hard. We even thought about going to the play, grabbing our bags, and taking the last tube to the airport and just sleeping there. But we couldn't have made that work either. So, a cab was called and the decision was made.
After that spat of frustration, we left for the play. We took the tube, looking everywhere for a place to eat. We finally found a pub just down the road from the theatre, so that was good. We had a good meal and got to the play on time.
The show was really good! I really liked the music and how it had a few songs that the movie doesn't. I still think I like the movie better, but it was a great, fun show. At the end the entire cast came out to sing Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen again for us, all wearing sequined outfits. It was hilarious. After the show, back we went to the hostel, and straight to bed.
This morning I woke up at 3:00 am. I showered, finished packing, and it was time to go. Nat did not want to wake up today haha but we made it! I hope we didn't wake any of our roommates up, but packing with a flashlight is hard.
We got to the airport earlier than anticipated, which was good, just frustrating at the time. We got our luggage checked, passed through security, and spent that last of our £s on breakfast. To the gate we went, and on another flight we flew. We both napped, edited photos, and listened to music. It was just an hour long flight, so it was nice and short.
When we got to Dublin we passed through customs, got our luggage, and headed to the info desk. We found out that there is a bus that runs straight from the airport to Cork, so that was perfect! After we bought the tickets, we sat down with our map and wifi and tried to plan out the blocked schedule of these next few days. It was very helpful!
We are now on the bus, heading through the Irish countryside, and enjoying every minute of it. We watched 'Leap Year', which was hilarious to watch actually in Ireland.
Once we reach Cork, the bus will drop us off near our hotel, and we are planning to eat, unpack, and explore Cork tonight. Tomorrow we will go to the Blarney Stone/ Castle and then back to Dublin we go!
I can't believe how much we have done in the past couple of days! And I can't believe this bust ride is still going... And this blog has taken quite a while to write, as I'm sure it has been a lot for you to read! Thanks for sticking with me!
