I arrived in London late on Thursday night. Despite the full onset of cold symptoms that began around the time I got there, I was confident that I could handle London by myself for a bit, especially since I just came from Turkey and I'd been to London several times before. I knew I'd be tired arriving in London at 11:00 London time, so I booked a hostel only four train stops away from the airport for one night. It wasn't too far of a walk from the train stop, either.
I found the address, but it just said "The White Bear Pub". I walked around the whole base, confused. I had the right address, but there were no signs for a hostel. And even though it was a Thursday night at midnight, the pub was empty, except for a couple of people dressed all in black smoking cigarettes on a stoop. "Hostel?" one asked me. "Yeah," I said nervously. She pointed over her shoulder into the pub.
Confused, I walked around aimlessly for a minute before someone asked me what I was doing. "I'm looking for the hostel," I told her. She started discussing something with a colleague in a language I couldn't identify. They both seemed unsure of what do do. There were no computers, nothing official looking. I wrote my name on a piece of paper and handed her 10 pounds cash. She put it in an envelope.
"I give you tour," she said. She didn't really speak English. She led me upstairs to a very dirty area with several doors. The whole place reeked of Indian food. "Bathroom," she pointed. She threw open a door and s lammed on the lights. "Your room. You sleep wherever," she said loudly. I looked at the bunk where two sets of privacy shades had been drawn. "Are there people sleeping?" I asked, horrified by the noise she was making. "Yes," she smirked. I quickly followed her out of the room.
"Are there towels?" I kept asking her, thinking about my desperate need for a shower. "In bathroom," she said simply. She handed me a key. ""No one here in morning. Leave key on bed." I haven't stayed in many hostels, but they've all been staffed 24/7 and required a check out. The unofficiallness of this 'hostel' creeped me out.
There were no towels in the bathroom, but I wasn't surprised. I showered in the grimy shower trying to touch as little as possible and then used my dress to dry me off. It didn't entirely work. I put off going to bed as long as possible because I was a little scared. I eventually climbed on the top bunk of beds stacked three high, tied my valuables to the rail, and closed the privacy curtains. I took a second duvet off a vacant bed because I was so cold and slept on and off for four hours.
I found an empty room the next morning and got ready. I waited long enough for the lady from the night before came back and I gave her the key. I then hurried out of the sketchiest hostel in the world to take the tube to the next hostel to meet up with my roommates.
I was so relieved when I got to the next hostel. It was legit and clean and surprisingly classy. The people there were very friendly and I felt very safe. While waiting for my roommates to arrive, I did a ridiculously expensive load of laundry (it was so worth it though), drank 50p mochas, wrote, and surfed the internet in the peaceful lounge. It was very relaxing and I felt loads better by the time Frances and Julianne arrived around 2:00.
We checked in. We were in an all girls dorm. It had maybe 16 people in it, but the beds were very nice and had privacy curtains, and the hostel as a whole was very comfortable.
Julianne and I went scavenging for food. We ended up walking down a residential street with pretty brick houses and trees that were changing colors. We eventually found a Sainsbury's in the O2 center. I walked in and immediately said, "I think I've been here before." And I had. It was the same place where I (unfortunately) saw Borat with my soccer team in 9th grade.
Residential area
O2 Center
We got food and went back to the hostel. I tried to make plans to meet up with a friend from UCSB, but the plans fell through, so I got Chinese food with my roommates. I was really sick and all three of us were tired, so we went back to the hostel. There was a quiet pub in the hostel, where we hung out, planned out the next few days, and fought to stay awake until 10. There is a very important distinction between a bar with a hostel and a hostel with a bar.
Frances left early for a museum the next day, so Julianne and I topped up our Oyster train cards and went in search of cheap play tickets. It should come as no surprise that we were unable to find some. We went to Trafalgar Square, home of the game Trumlee, and went into the National Gallery to see the Rosetta Stone, then were embarrassed when we realized that it's not in the National Gallery, but is in the British Museum.
Trafalgar Square
Climbed the statue in a dress! #winning
View of Big Ben and more London from the statue
We then went to Oxford Street where Julianne bought a charger and I got my cartilage pierced.
New cartilage piercing on Oxford Street
Julianne is a huge fan of the TV show Made in Chelsea and also the band Mumford and Sons, so we went to West London to walk around Chelsea and see Holland Road, which Mumford and Sons sing about.
Tottenham Court Road, where the Golden Trio went to escape Death Eaters
Standard Phone Booth Picture
"So I was lost, go count the cost, before you go to the Holland Road"
Why did the peacock cross the road?
We went to get tea and dessert in Chelsea. I got the densest, sweetest, chocolatiest brownie I've ever had.
Despite the fact that London has some of the best nightlife in the world, we opted for a mellow night of dinner in the hostel.
On Sunday, Frances left early for another museum, so Julianne and I went to King's Cross to get me a student railcard and take a picture at Platform 9 3/4.
Turns out I'm a muggle, I couldn't get through :/
One of the most exciting parts of the trip happened when we found a Chipotle. As someone who ate Mexican food at least once every other day while in Santa Barbara, and at least once a week in NorCal, going six weeks without a burrito made me sad. I was talking to the guy behind the counter and told him I really liked guacamole, so he gave me extra and didn't charge me for it. It was a great meal.
CHIPOTLE
We got Frances a burrito bowl and went to bring it to her at the Natural History Museum. On the way I decided to get my hair cut. I cut off five inches, but it was so thin at the ends you can't even tell. We ran a lot of errands in London and it was very nice. We weren't super desperate to travel from sight to sight, made easier by the fact that I've been to London to sight see before. Because we had so much free time it was relaxing to catch up on things we'd been meaning to do. London felt more like a vacation than traveling.
We had two days in London prepaid for by our program, so we checked in to a hotel near King's Cross and waited for the other interns to arrive. We were assigned rooms alphabetically which was cool because no one who lived together roomed together so we got to know another intern better.
We hung out in one of the hotel rooms as people arrived and exchanged travel stories, which was really fun. When everyone got there, we went out to a pub for dinner.
On Monday, Julianne, Laurel, and I went shopping after a free breakfast at the hotel. They had coffee, tea, hot chocolate, toast, scrambled eggs, muffins, jam, and baked beans. I love English breakfasts.
We went with Laurel to get her hair cut and then we went to this store called Primark that has really cheap and really cute clothes. I got a pair of lace up black flats called Oxford shoes that are really popular in the UK.
We then had to go to Westminster. We were late because of some frustrating entrance issues, but made it to a presentation about UK politics. It was mostly stuff we already knew though. We then got to go to the House of Commons to see the Members of UK Parliament debate. Westminster is a gorgeous parliament building.
The House of Commons was having a lively and heated debate about opting in to EU legislation about international arrest warrants. It was a very interesting topic, but frustrating to listen to because it was not productive. We stayed for an hour and then went to see the House of Lords debate. The contrast was comical. The heated televised House of Commons debate had lots of people watching. The House of Lords had very few. There were a lot of old people discussing a bill very seriously and in monotone. Even though it wasn't as exciting, I think the House of Lords makes a good contribution to the evaluation of legislation in the UK parliament because they don't have constituencies to answer to and can offer unique expertise and not have to worry about reelection. We didn't stay long and then left to go get Indian food for dinner and cake for dessert because it was one of the interns birthdays.
Interns inside Westminster
Interns in front of Big Ben
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Interns at Trafalgar Square
Interns at Trafalgar Square
Tuesday we had another great breakfast at the hostel before checking out. Half the interns were going back to Edinburgh that night and the other half were continuing on traveling more. We had to stay in another hostel that night, so Julianne and I went to drop our luggage off at our hostel near Waterloo train station.
This hostel was significantly less sketch than the first hostel I stayed at in London, but it was right next to the train station so we heard trains all night and there was also a giant Olympic athlete staring at me the whole night through the open window.
Julianne and I went quickly to see the Tower Bridge. Then we went and got lunch at a very popular chain called Pret a Manger and out our sandwiches overlooking Trafalgar Square.
Tower Bridge
View from lunch
We then met up at the Scotland Office on Whitehall. An old English man who managed the building made us all tea and told us a story about the history of the location of the Scotland Office starting in the Iron Age. There were a lot of quirky and interesting anecdotes in there. We got a quick tour of the house. Then some employees of the Scotland Office came and talked to us about what they did, the recent agreement between the Prime Minister and the First Minister about the referendum, and how they didn't support Scottish independence. It was interesting to hear that perspective because I don't hear it often working for the SNP.
Afterward all the interns got dinner together at Pizza Express near King's Cross. We said goodbye to those catching the train, then went out for dessert with those staying.
Julianne and I went back to the hostel. We shared the room with a young chef looking for accommodation in London and an older and very talkative New Yorker, both of whom had been living in the hostel for an extended period of time.
Me in front of the London Eye at night
View across the Thames at night
I will post more about the rest of my trip tomorrow. Hope your weeks are all off to a lovely start!
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