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London Day 2
After some much needed sleep, Sarah and I woke up relatively early, but ready to start our second day in London. We had a very basic breakfast at our hostel and then hopped on the tube to get to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard.
We sat on top of a wall thinking it would be a good place to view the event, but unfortunately, unless you were right up against the main gates, you likely didn't see much. Some of the guards did march and ride their horses through the path between the crowd of people, but the actual changing of guards occurred inside the gates which we didn't realize would be the case. Regardless, it was still very cool to have been at and seen part of such a well-known event.
We walked around the area surrounding Buckingham Palace afterwards, and I could not believe that I was actually in such a breathtaking place, surrounded by all of these stunning buildings and monuments. Not to mention, the weather was absolutely gorgeous that day.
We walked around this area for a while, but decided to move on because there was a large half marathon happening there so it was pretty crowded. My boyfriend had visited London last year and when I told him I was going to London, he made me promise that I'd visit the British Museum, so that was our next stop.
Now, if you know me well, you know that I am not a fan of museums. However, I must say, London has some incredible museums and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, especially the British Museum. Sarah and I couldn't believe the size of that place. It would have taken days to see everything in it, so unfortunately we didn't get to experience the museum in its entirety. I hadn't realized how many genuine artifacts they had on display. Walking through the exhibits on Ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, and so much more was so interesting. I honestly wish we could've dedicated an entire day to walking around there but sadly we couldn't.
As we had said, we wanted to return to the area with all the famous London landmarks when there wasn't a demonstration going on, so we took the tube to that area next. We walked by the water and got to take in the view of the London Eye. We also saw Big Ben, or at least part of it, because the majority of it is covered due to work being done on it which was honestly the most disappointing part of the trip.
Sarah and I decided to take a break from the tube and take a boat over to the Tower Bridge instead because our Oyster cards worked with that as well.
We walked on the Tower Bridge and while it was very windy, it was something I really enjoyed having the opportunity to experience. On the other side of the bridge there was also a cool castle that we were able to walk around the outside of.
A little while later, we walked towards a Greek restaurant called The Real Greek where we had dinner. We made a pit stop at the Shakespeare Globe which was cool to see.
At the restaurant, It was my first time having real greek food I believe, and it was pretty good. I got a chicken kebob, so it wasn't too far out of my comfort zone, but the seasoning and sauces that came with it, along with the salad, were different than what I was used to but I enjoyed it.
We ended the day on a sweet note with some ice cream from this trendy underground creamery that appeared to be quite new. Sarah and I were surprised when we walked in and instead of being prompted to order at the counter like almost all ice cream shops, we were escorted to a table, given a lengthy menu, and then we ordered up at the counter and the ice cream was delivered to our table. It was very tasty!
