When thinking about which destination I wanted to write about this Tuesday my mind wandered to London.  Then I realized it was perfectly fitting because it was almost exactly three years ago that I flew across the pond!  I had a pretty darn lucky first year out of college.  I found a company that allowed me to see different parts of the world including Peru and the United Kingdom – some pretty good perks for being one year out of college huh?

 

Where We Stayed:  A Co-Worker’s Flat!  She lived close to the Shepard’s Bush tube stop.  It was a good area easily accessible by the tube and easy to get around to the main attraction areas of London.  I absolutely love knowing locals when traveling, it completely changes the experience.  She was so accommodating and showed us some fantastic hidden gems in London.

 

Sight Seeing:  We didn’t have too much time to explore the different sites in London so we squeezed them all in to pretty much one day.  I’m used to the abridged versions of sight-seeing since most of Europe travel was done on long weekends while studying abroad.  We still managed to cover a pretty good section of the city.

We saw the main sites including St. Peter’s Basilica, the London Eye, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, The Thames River, Convent Garden.  My favorite part of our sight-seeing day though was visiting Borough Market! Check the website first to make sure it’s open.  It’s a foodie’s dream!

We also happened to be there for the Notting Hill Carnival.  I have never in my life seen a festival so big, it’s the largest of its kind in all of Europe!  The festival happens on the last weekend of August in West London and is a celebration of Caribbean Culture.  I actually got separated from my friends during this festival which was probably one of the scariest things I’ve gone through while traveling.  I kept calm (haha) and some how found them eventually.

London is a fantastic city to visit!  It has so much history yet is such a chic and fun city at the same time.  I haven’t thought about this trip in a while and am happy to have taken a trip down memory lane. Take me back!

St. Peter’s Basilica 

 

Big Ben!

 

 

Westminster Abbey

The London Eye (and yes I think that’s Starbucks in our hands)

 

Along the Thames River

The Borough Market – A MUST – SEE in London!!

 

 

Notting Hill Carnival