The Adventure

After a very early morning flight from Iceland, my father and I arrived at Stansted Airport in the UK. With London as our destination, we took the train right away from the airport to King’s Cross Station. The first tourist attractions were there in the station, which contained an excessive amount of Harry Potter references, and an unreasonably long line-up to take a picture by the platform 9-3/4 sign. With so much to see, we skipped these and ventured into the city.

We aimed to see as many highlights as we could within our limited time, starting of course with Big Ben. It was so fun for me to see what has become such an iconic building and popular tourist attraction with my own eyes. But the journey had just begun, and we didn’t have all day. Our next major stop was Westminster Abbey. We had arranged ahead of time that we would attend an early evening service there, allowing us free entrance to the church but also to enjoy some choral music. My father, a doctor of church history, was eager to tell me all about the historical figures whose names were inscribed around the interior. After the service, we visited Buckingham Palace via a trail through a park and spent some time on the palace grounds. It’s a place I’ve always heard a lot about, but actually knew very little about until I got there in person, so that was a really cool experience. We quickly stopped at Trafalgar Square (with a short stop at a classic red telephone box) before eating dinner out at an amazing Indian restaurant.

The next day, with even more limited time, we took the bus from our hotel back towards central London. We were fortunate enough to get the front seats on the top of the double-decker bus. Once there, we considered riding the London Eye, but it’s a very pricey attraction, so in the end we decided to take in the city by foot instead. We still spent some time in the area, though, and were able to snap some photos of the London landmark. We continued down the Strand, where there was no shortage of things to see. One thing I loved about the city is how every corner is filled with beauty and history. Beyond the popular attractions, there is still so much to see. For example, we took several detours, exploring the hidden gems of the city off the beaten path, sometimes literally having to walk off the streets into an alley to discover a beautiful church or monument. We eventually came to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was massive to say the least. From there, we made just one more quick stop into a small church before heading towards the Tower of London.

We ate lunch (fish and chips) by the Tower of London, taking in the sights as we ate. With the river right there as well and of course the Tower Bridge over it, it was great scenery for our classic British meal. We then crossed the Tower Bridge, which was a great vantage point to see large parts of the city, including the more modern sector. It seemed like a different world than the historic streets through which we had just wandered, but was still madly cool and impressive. The Shard stood out to us in particular. That was unfortunately around the end of our stay in London. With our stuff all gathered, we made our way back to the train station (St. Pancras International this time) and began the long process of boarding the train to France.

Highlight

It’s hard to choose a highlight from London. The city is just so big and there’s so much to see, literally everywhere. So, I’m going to cop out and say that the city itself as a whole was the highlight. It was just so fun for me to be in a place that is so often visited and talked about. As much as I love my more unusual travels, London is a place that has definitely earned a reputation for itself as one of the top tourist destinations, and deservedly so. There’s just too much to see in a two-day trip, and those were a packed two days. Though busy, the whole city had an undescribable feeling, like it was meant to be explored.

Concluding Thoughts

London was such a big and impressive city! Though we managed to cover most of the highlights, I feel like the city has so many more hidden secrets to discover. I definitely want to go back, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested. It does indeed deserve the hype. From the smallest quaint buildings to the impressive feats of the Houses of Parliament, I enjoyed everything I did and saw during my short stay.