arrivederci america: London

For spring break Kelly, Britani and I went to London, Dublin and Amsterdam! We had an interesting start to our week though. We woke up at three to get to the airport in time to catch our flight. And thank goodness we did, because our luggage weighed 22 kg when it can only weigh 15kg. For every kg you're over, you have to pay 20 euros. Needless to say I had clothes popping out of every corner of my backpack. I don't know if anyone has flown RyanAir before but it is seriously the worst airline. Not only is the luggage weight ridiculous but they advertise the entire plain ride. The flight attendants are walking up and down the aisles trying to sell food, smokeless cigarettes, drinks, etc. I really just wanted to sleep. Besides the advertising, flights must be a party for Italians. Everyone is yelling and talking and up and out of their seats. All I could think was these people are crazy! ha!

We finally made it!

When we got to London, we decided to shop! I was so excited, because London has some of the best shopping. I kind of forgot that we had no room in our suitcase though. So we also had to buy a new suitcase! Friday night we went and saw the Lion King. I think it was my third time to see it, but it's one of my favorite plays so I didn't mind. And all the actors were so cute with there British accents.

Eating fish and chips for the first time..

They have the cutest taxis!

Going to see the Lion King!

Saturday we went to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. If you ever want to do this, get there early. We just strolled up around 20 minutes before it started and there was already more than 1000 people! They are serious about this. We also did thedouble decker bus tour, which was so fun! That night we rode the London Eye which is similar to a ferris wheel but it is 4,500 feet high and fits 15-20 people in the little bubbles. From bubble is all windows except for the floor and you can walk around in it. You can see a beautiful panoramic view of London. I highly recommend it if you're not too scared of heights!

Buckingham Palace...

The changing of the guards...

Parliament

Big Ben!!

Britani and I on our double decker tour...

On the London Eye...

The London Eye!

Sunday we finally slept in and then went to the famous department store, Harrods. It is huge and has everything you can possibly imagine in it! There was a room just for chocolate and sweets. I was in heaven! Afterwards we had afternoon tea at the Haymarket Hotel. I really felt British having tea. They give you each four different kinds of sandwiches, desserts, scones, tea, strawberries, and champagne. It was a lot of food but then our waiter told us he could bring more of anything we wanted. We definitely took him up on that! We also went to the Absolute Icebar Sunday night. It is a bar that is made solely of ice - cups, counters, benches, everything! You go in 40 minute increments and they give you a cute cape and gloves to put on!

Sunday afternoon tea

Our yummy cakes, sandwiches, strawberries and scones...

At the icebar...

Monday we took a tour to Oxford and Windsor. We almost didn't make it as we missed our first pickup and had to book it to the last pickup spot. We were running through all the tube stations! Oxford and Windsor we both cute little towns. Oxford is where Oxford University is located and there is about 32 colleges there. It was beautiful and all the buildings were so architecturally enriched. Did you know Alice from Alice and Wonderland was based on a real little girl? I had no clue! But Alice and her family lived in Christ Church College which is also in Oxford. Hogwarts dining hall from Harry Potter was also filmed in Christ Church. When we got to Windsor the Queen was there! There is a particular flag that flies wherever she goes. The Windsor Castle was huge and you're only allowed to see a small portion of it. We were all sad to leave London on Tuesday! It was definitely my favorite out of the three places we went!

One of the colleges of Oxford University...