This post is a work in progress... After only two days in London I have lots to share!!
And I finally have some time to share my stories!!
When I departed for London I had no plan. Nothing. No hostel booked. No hostels even researched. Luckily, the girl sitting ahead of me didn't fit her money belt from 5 years ago... When we landed in London she was trying it on but no matter what she did, it didn't fit. I couldn't help but giggle. Her girlfriend noticed. Long story short, I just met the two girls I would stay with in London; Jordan and Jocelyn from Calgary. Two super sweet girls. Jordan represented Canada at worlds when she was 15 in gymnastics and Jocelyn played ringette on a national level! Total studs!
Coffee was a must once we got through security. Jocelyn was practically strip searched at customs!! Not actually, but they did hold her there for 30 some minutes. It was silly. Canadian terrorists. Really? From the airport we headed straight to our hostel, Picadilly Backpackers. I would recommend this place to everyone! It's right in Picadilly Circus so very close to everything! I couldn't have asked for a better first hostel experience.
Each night the hostel organized a pub crawl. On Friday us three girls decided to check it out... What a night! The last stop was Cafe de Paris! What a club! I posted a video on Facebook because it seriously was something else. Women dancing on stilts. Sexy, fit men and woman on the runway dancing; for the most part clothed. One of the female dancers even had a real live snake around her neck! Oh, and torches. From time to time the dancers had torches. Seriously unbelievable. And the music wasn't too shabby either! A little too 'top 40' for my likings but not bad!
On Friday's pub crawl Jordan, Jocelyn and I met a bunch of people. Germans, French, and Spanish. We also met a group of three guys from Michigan. Practically Canadian right?! ;) It was nice not having a language barrier.
Even after an extremely long day I didn't want to waste a minute in London. I woke up first thing Saturday morning. On Sunday I definitely regretted not sleeping longer. I literally spent the morning getting lost in London. The tube... Underground... Subway... Whatever you want to call it is AMAZING! I totally abused it! I've been to London once before so I opted not to do all the tourist stuff. Instead I literally just roamed around. Ah, i found so many fabulous clothing boutiques! If only... I window shopped until I realized it'd be SO much better to try on the nicest, most expensive dresses in each store! Haha! I love dresses and dressing up! I'm pretty sure the store owners wanted to kill me... Haha! I took a break at a coffee shop. I wish I would have written down the name of it... actually, I'll check my receipt! Anyways, I met an older gentleman from America. What a life saver. He told me how to get from Picadilly to the London Gatwick Airport for 5am on Sunday. Seriously. That man saved me a ~60€ cab fare! The tube doesn't run past midnight so I thought I was stranded. Nope. Buses still run! Oh, and a day pass for the tube works for the buses. Thank you London. :)
I hung out with my American friends on Saturday afternoon. Caught a flick at the hostel, grabbed some grub from a local restaurant then joined another hostel party. This time we ended up at a club that had three different floors and each floor had three different rooms; each room played different music. Talk about choices! Europeans sometimes smell bad so the smell of the room helped dictate where I danced the night away.
The Americans and I headed back to our hostel much earlier than the previous night. It was nice to just hang out before I began my journey to España at 2am.
I will be back in London for the Olympics around the 8th of August. I can't wait to watch my friends, teammates, and past competitors compete on the track!
I send my love. Talk soon...
And I finally have some time to share my stories!!
When I departed for London I had no plan. Nothing. No hostel booked. No hostels even researched. Luckily, the girl sitting ahead of me didn't fit her money belt from 5 years ago... When we landed in London she was trying it on but no matter what she did, it didn't fit. I couldn't help but giggle. Her girlfriend noticed. Long story short, I just met the two girls I would stay with in London; Jordan and Jocelyn from Calgary. Two super sweet girls. Jordan represented Canada at worlds when she was 15 in gymnastics and Jocelyn played ringette on a national level! Total studs!
Coffee was a must once we got through security. Jocelyn was practically strip searched at customs!! Not actually, but they did hold her there for 30 some minutes. It was silly. Canadian terrorists. Really? From the airport we headed straight to our hostel, Picadilly Backpackers. I would recommend this place to everyone! It's right in Picadilly Circus so very close to everything! I couldn't have asked for a better first hostel experience.
Each night the hostel organized a pub crawl. On Friday us three girls decided to check it out... What a night! The last stop was Cafe de Paris! What a club! I posted a video on Facebook because it seriously was something else. Women dancing on stilts. Sexy, fit men and woman on the runway dancing; for the most part clothed. One of the female dancers even had a real live snake around her neck! Oh, and torches. From time to time the dancers had torches. Seriously unbelievable. And the music wasn't too shabby either! A little too 'top 40' for my likings but not bad!
On Friday's pub crawl Jordan, Jocelyn and I met a bunch of people. Germans, French, and Spanish. We also met a group of three guys from Michigan. Practically Canadian right?! ;) It was nice not having a language barrier.
Even after an extremely long day I didn't want to waste a minute in London. I woke up first thing Saturday morning. On Sunday I definitely regretted not sleeping longer. I literally spent the morning getting lost in London. The tube... Underground... Subway... Whatever you want to call it is AMAZING! I totally abused it! I've been to London once before so I opted not to do all the tourist stuff. Instead I literally just roamed around. Ah, i found so many fabulous clothing boutiques! If only... I window shopped until I realized it'd be SO much better to try on the nicest, most expensive dresses in each store! Haha! I love dresses and dressing up! I'm pretty sure the store owners wanted to kill me... Haha! I took a break at a coffee shop. I wish I would have written down the name of it... actually, I'll check my receipt! Anyways, I met an older gentleman from America. What a life saver. He told me how to get from Picadilly to the London Gatwick Airport for 5am on Sunday. Seriously. That man saved me a ~60€ cab fare! The tube doesn't run past midnight so I thought I was stranded. Nope. Buses still run! Oh, and a day pass for the tube works for the buses. Thank you London. :)
I hung out with my American friends on Saturday afternoon. Caught a flick at the hostel, grabbed some grub from a local restaurant then joined another hostel party. This time we ended up at a club that had three different floors and each floor had three different rooms; each room played different music. Talk about choices! Europeans sometimes smell bad so the smell of the room helped dictate where I danced the night away.
The Americans and I headed back to our hostel much earlier than the previous night. It was nice to just hang out before I began my journey to España at 2am.
I will be back in London for the Olympics around the 8th of August. I can't wait to watch my friends, teammates, and past competitors compete on the track!
I send my love. Talk soon...
