Just Touched Down in Londontown

Hello friends! I've took an amazing vacation to London in March, and thankfully I was home safe before the terrible attack on Parliament on March 22. I am lucky to have been able to go for a week and explore the city and make friends with some incredible people!

Before my trip, I hit up all of my friends and colleagues who had either visited the city or lived there for a period of time. They each gave me their recommendations for what I should do, where I ought to go, and what I absolutely MUST eat. Armed with my thick stack of printed lists and research, I set off to the United Kingdom from frigid New York City to turn my brain in reverse, spend some money, and fill my gob with local noms.

When I arrived at London-Gatwick Airport, I navigated to the ticket booth, where I purchased a ticket on the Gatwick Express, the 30-minute train that whisks travelers from the airport to Victoria tube station. 

From there, I bought my Oyster card (like the MetroCard or SmartTrip card equivalent for under- and overground transport in London), This building was what greeted me when I left the Victoria station.

Hungry upon arrival, I took my jet-lagged self down the street to a cute place for lunch, Itsu, and got the veggie dumplings and a tuna/avocado sushi roll. 

One of many times I traveled using the Tube, I took this photo of what the trains look like:

Then I made my way to the first AirBnB that I would stay in for the first two days of my trip. After getting situated, I hopped back on the tube to go to King's Cross station, where I walked to Platform 9 3/4, the fanciful hole-in-the-wall into which Harry Potter and many other fictional students of Hogwarts disappeared once (or twice) a year. Someone clever set up a cordoned area for tourists to line up for a photo, and then take a look through the gift shop. The shop was full of Platform 9 3/4 memoribilia, as well as unique, UK-made Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts gift items.

Below is a photo of King's Cross Station. SEE VIDEO

The next day, I wanted to explore more! I took the tube to Buckingham Palace.

Made it! No changing of the guard today so I'd come back in two days.

VIDEOS:

Looking regal in a selfie:

After Buckingham Paance, I bought a ticket for a hop-on, hop-off Big Bus tour of the city. 

A few stops later, we were at Marble Arch, which happened to be the beginning and end of the route. I got off the bus I was on and waited for the next one. I got to take in some of the sights while I was waiting... Marble Arch used to be part of the gate to Buckingham Palace, but it was no longer posh to the Queen, so the entrance gate was moved father away. 

This was a cute car.

What I caught from our bus tour guide was that this was a famous statue of the horse's head, but I wasn't able to determine why it was significant.

This store, Primark, was like a cheap Target and H&M combined - every item in there was dirt cheap (only a few pounds), so it was incredibly popular with schoolkids, teenagers, and tourists looking for something cute with "London" written on it, or a piece of clothing from the UK. 

More sights from the bus tour:

It's the Sherlock Holmes statue:

This was a photo of the street signs, which were posted on the buildings, not on signposts, which make them increasingly hard to locate and read.

Oxford Circus, (a shopping area, not an actual circus)

Hey, it's Big Ben! Inside the Elizabeth Tower! (Big Ben is the clock)

Then we drove over the Waterloo bridge and saw the London Eye. I didn't get a chance to go on it this trip, but it's on my list for next time! 

Big Ben and the House of Parliament from Westminster Bridge.

View of the Thames

We looped back around to Westminster and saw Big Ben again at night, right after sunset. I hopped off at the Westminster stop of Big Bus.

I navigated (without wifi) to the kosher restaurant in "downtown" London, Reuben's. There, I ordered their chicken noodle soup and the signature sandwich, the Reuben.

It was delicious (albeit a tad overpriced), and I took what I couldn't finish home for lunch the following day. I took the tube back to East London, found my bed, and went to sleep...