October 28, 2015

Travel Log: London Part 2


The hardest part about going to London for four months was going to London for four months without Derek. We knew we would be strong enough for the long distance situation but I didn't realize how lonely it would feel sometimes. I was lucky to make friends immediately and lucky that I was in such a great program for the trip. But - there were days when I was so exhausted from traveling, frustrated about cultural differences in the UK and homesick. The the number one thing I wanted to do was to just fall into his arms and not think about anything. We ended up having plenty of late night skype sessions where we would skype until I fell asleep in my tiny flat on days that felt like too much. Thankfully, these days didn't happen too often. I enjoyed the majority of my trip and only had a handful of difficult days.

I remember the day that Derek landed at London Heathrow I was full of nerves! I hadn't seen him in 6 weeks and I was so anxious to spend an entire week together. He came for my spring break since I would have a week off of classes and we would be traveling to Paris and Amsterdam. We started the first two days of spring break in London so I could show Derek a few of my favorite places! It was sort of bizarre for him to be there because my life in London felt separate from my life at home in Philadelphia but it was so surreal. One of the first places I took him was Primrose Hill! (The pictures above.) This was one of my favorite places to just sit and relax and view the city below. That, and Primrose in itself is such a cute neighborhood in the city. 


We also spent the first day at the Camden Market. We walked around, enjoying the food and sights of people. Camden always seemed different than other parts of the city. It has a younger, more eclectic vibe to it. I loved going to the markets around the city and this one was near Primrose Hill which is the main reason why I picked it. I also enjoyed the markets in Shoreditch and Broadway Market. 

Below, we went to brunch at Bills. Derek liked the food (and hot chocolate) so much we ended up going twice during his trip. The first time we went we were in Richmond which was another lovely part of the city.  It's got more of a "town" feel to it and there's a huge park where you can see deer wandering around! 

Another day we went to the Tate Modern. Derek is very passionate about art, and that was a part of his trip that I think we both enjoyed a lot. The museum is huge and you could spend hours walking around. You also get a good view of other London landmarks around the area such as the Millennium Bridge! It's always fun to explore a city you're living in with people who are visiting because it forces you to go see the famous landmarks that you may not have bothered to check out in your regular day-to-day life! Stay tuned, our next stop was Paris!

More English Adventures...

The travel log is a series of posts about my four month stay in London, England earlier this year. I was studying abroad from January - April 2015 and got the opportunity to travel around London, England and the rest of Europe. This is my way to look back on those incredible months that flew by way too quickly.

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