Life in London

Before going abroad, I knew I wanted to visit my friend Aviva in London. She is doing a full year abroad at the London School of Economics, and if I did not get to see her this semester, I would probably have to wait until senior year. Because of this, I made sure to go, even if it meant having to go alone. I remember being nervous before I left. I am the type of person who will (1) realize I don’t have my passport 20 minutes before a have to board a train, (2) run home and realize it isn’t there, only to (3) receive a message from my friend at the station saying it was in my bag all along, so that I can (4) run back to the station and get on the train. This is what happened before Lisbon…so you can imagine my personal distrust after this incident. 

Thankfully, I made it safely to London. I was even able to get from the airport to the Victoria Station without problems. And there I purchased an Oyster card and took the tube to the metro station closest to my friend. 

I spent my first day in London wandering the streets alone while my friend was in class. I found it pretty easy to get around, and I was able to hit most of the big landmarks without many problems. Whenever I did feel lost, the search for free WiFi would seem futile, unfortunately.

I also spent a good deal of time in various parks, watching the animals.

Later, I met up with a friend from high school who was also studying abroad in London. We had not seen each other in over a year, and it was a nice reunion. She showed me some of the best light displays, including two beautiful Christmas trees, and an outdoor ice skating rink. That night, Aviva met up with us and they showed me some of the best views of London. 

The next day, Aviva took me to a lovely breakfast in Holborn one of her favorite restaurants, Bill's. It began to rain pretty hard, but Aviva was determined to show me as much as London as possible. She took me to the National Gallery and Harrod’s and we had a fun time exploring indoors and staying dry.

When it finally stopped raining, we walked around London once more for a final tour. I was ecstatic when I found Hot Cheetos in a shop window. Hot Cheetos simply don’t exist in Spain, and I had yet to see them anywhere else in Europe. They are one of my favorite comfort foods and I knew I had to stock up. I bought two large bags, and realized a bit too late that they were £6 each! In total, I paid about $18 for two bags of Hot Cheetos. Was it worth it? Probably not. Did I think it was worth it? Absolutely. When I got back to Spain, I had my host sisters try the Hot Cheetos to see what they would think. Unfortunately, they weren’t big fans. Spain in general isn’t big on spicy/hot food, so I wasn’t too surprised. Finding the Hot Cheetos in London was definitely a highlight of my visit.