Best. One. Yet.

From the moment I stepped off the plane on Thursday night, felt the crisp London air on my face, I got a feeling that this place was going to be something special. And then I heard that famous accent and my excitement only doubled. Unfortunately, we missed our bus to the airport and therefore had to beg our way onto the next bus, and didn't arrive in the city center until about 1:45 am. The bus dropped us off at the bus station, but being in a completely foreign place, we decided it would be best to take a cab to the hotel so as to avoid getting lost at 2 am. The cab was everything I imagined and more; everything I had seen in the movies. A small, old fashioned cab, with seats facing one another, and a kind driver with a wonderful accent. I was in heaven.

We arrived at the Sloan Club, the hotel that my grandparents kindly provided us for the weekend, at about 2:30. We had to ring a door bell to enter, and then were escorted to our English "flat;" an apartment in the Sloan Club Suites section. It was wonderful, old English. The floors creaked when we walked, the paintings on the walls were classics, the ceilings were low, and the closets were big; I felt as though I was truly living the old English way.  I slept wonderfully that first night in my English flat.

Friday morning we woke up early, anxious to discover all the hidden gems of London. As my friend, Maggie, and myself left our flat we discovered what the darkness had hidden from us the night before, we were placed right in the middle of Chelsea. I had heard about Chelsea, but you truly have to see it to believe its beauty. As we walked down the road we were literally speechless, both of us trying to do nothing more than take it all in. From the beautiful English cottages, to the finely dressed children racing by on their scooters, screaming in their precious English accent, I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. So I just kept walking, and that is when it only got better; we came to the Chelsea shopping area, only a block from our apartment. Though entering the store would cause heartbreak over wanting everything that I couldn't have, it was simply enough just to see all of my favorite designers at once, in Chelsae, London. And for once, it was not only the accessories that I loved, the fashion that I saw here was unlike any that I have ever seen before.

Once we had recovered, we found a Starbucks (which finally tasted normal, the one in Barcelona is awful), and ventured down to the tube to meet up with our friends. I thought the Barcelona metro was an experience, but it is nothing compared to the London tube. It was tiny, crowded, and entirely to old to truly be safe. We went twice as fast as an metro I have yet to be on, and it honestly felt as though we were about to come unhinged and hit the walls. My eyes were closed and covered the whole time, until finally we reached the Picadilly Circus stop, which would take us to the Soho area. Here, we met our friends who were shopping, and found the best lunch spot that I have had since leaving the United States. Not only was the food fresh, but there was also a Tailor made Salad Bar :) FINALLY!

Once fed and happy, we headed for the Buckingham Palace. It was absolutely beautiful. All I could think about, however, was how they keep the Queen safe. With all the tourists around, all the commotion surrounding the place, I just could not imagine that she could honestly stay there and be or feel safe. But I guess its not my job to figure all of that out. Thank goodness.  From here, we walked to see Westminster's Chapel and Big Ben, then headed across the bridge to the London Eye.

I have never been on  a ferris wheel before, therefore I was pretty nervous, but in reality, this isn't much of a ferris wheel. Though it goes so much higher than a ferris wheel ever could, we stood in a huge glass tube in order to see the sights from the top. It was hot and stuffy, and I was both nervous and nauseous, however, the view from the top was absolutely worth it. From the top we could see the London Towers, Big Ben, The London Bridge, Westminster's Chapel, Hyde Park, The Buckingham Palace, etc... at once.
Once we got off, I begged everyone to go to the London Horror House with me, but after telling me that I was absolutely insane, they all said no. I wasn't going to go alone. So instead we went to a little Waffle stand and got Dessert Waffles and Chocolate covered Strawberry cups... which made up for not getting to go in the Horror House.

After stuffing ourselves with sugar, we got back on the tube, and set off to Primark. If you didn't already know, Primark is an enormous department store that is very famous in London and several other European cities. The best way to describe it is as a mix of HM, Target, and Forever 21 on EXTREME steroids. I had heard of Primark before, but no one could have prepared me for what I was about to endure. There was absolutely nowhere to step, the line for the dressing rooms has at least 40 people each, therefore people were changing in the middle of the store. Fortunately and unfortunately, I am my father's daughter and after spending about 3 minutes in there, I was so overwhelmed, claustrophobic, and nauseous that I had to go sit outside and wait for my friends. I just wasn't capable.
So that was over, we went to a wonderful restaurant for dinner, then went to get ready to go out. Going out consisted of going to the bar below the hostel that some of our friends were staying at, going to KFC, then going back to the Sloan Club... we didn't make it to the wild side of London Friday night.

Saturday morning we woke up, immediately got our Starbucks, then made our way to Hyde Park. After walking and enjoying the beauty and activity of the park for a long, long time, we spied the lake, where we went and rented boats and floated around for about an hour. It was surreal. There were swans all around us, the weather was beautiful, and we were in the middle of Hyde Park in London; it doesn't get any better than that.

After about an hour, our legs were exhausted from the foot pedaling, and therefore returned the boat, and went to the cafe on the lake for a lunch of Fish and Chips. The day couldn't have gotten any better.

After lunch Maggie and I went to take our boat ride, while the others went to Abbey Road. We didn't see much that we hadn't seen before, however, being on the boat, and on the river was great. It wasnt long, but we got to listen to a cute boy talk in a cute English accent, while seeing the sights along the river, and it was great as well as exhausting. Therefore once it was over, we hailed a cab back to the hotel with the intentions of taking a thirty minute nap then wandering a little more, however, ended up sleeping for two and a half hours.

We woke up at seven a bit flustered after having slept so long, quickly got ready to avoid wasting the night, then hailed a cab to go pick up our friends at their hostel and make our way to Camedon; my absolute favorite part. I am not sure why I am so attracted to areas such as these, but I was at my prime while here. To our left there would be a gang of what looked like bikers with long hair and tattoos, and while to our right there would be the most finely dressed English women we had yet to see. There were teenagers, and older couples; sketchy bars, and classy restaurants; creepy alleys, and trees by a pond covered in Christmas lights. I just wanted to stay forever.

Here, we found an amazing restaurant/bar that was absolutely PACKED and ate our body weight in food, while watching some older women hit on boys who were half their age. After dinner and some wine we went outside, crossed the precious bridge covered in Christmas lights, and went to the club/bar on the other side. Here we at last, unlike in Barcelona, we had the chance to dance, go to the bar, and have an amazing time without having to worry about creepy men coming onto us or invading our personal space. It was an amazing night of laughter, dancing, and fun to end a wonderful weekend. When it was time, we took a cab back to the hotel, for our last wonderful nights sleep in the Sloan Club.

Sunday, we left and went back to Barcelona. Though I was extremely sad to leave my new favorite spot in Europe, I was happy to be back at my home in Barcelona... and begin the count down until my wonderful dad and step mother get here... 8 DAYS!!!!

Love you all, miss you all, and cannot wait to see you in 39 days!