London

Let me start by saying I LOVE LONDON.

Why did I not know double-decker buses were the norm? The first night we got there, we went to Din Tai Fung and had to take the bus everywhere. I thought the red double-decker buses were only here and there, but no, they are the regular buses.

It's crazy to think my first Din Tai Fung experience was in Europe, but it was really good. It was a little overhyped, but it was a great experience. I would recommend it 10/10.

We stayed in a hostel and omg it was horrible. The downstairs bathrooms smelt like poop and not like someone pooped and it lingered but LIKE JUST POOP. Then all of the furniture had questionable stains. I get to my room, and some lady is spreading her undies all over the heater in the room right beside my bed, great.

We go to sleep.

OH WAIT. Someone wants to smoke a cigarette at 4 am in their room. You know what that means? The fire alarms start going off. You know how long they stay on for? 2 HOURS MINIMUM. I luckily fall asleep, but I wake up at some point, and they’re still on.

The next morning we go to Borough Market!!!!! We got the famous chocolate-covered strawberries. Tbh really good but only if you’re with friends and can eat them really fast because if not the chocolate hardens and it’s not very good after that. I also got introduced to paella there (omg so good), comte cheese (my new favorite), and the best taco I’ve ever had in my whole life. I was in heaven the whole time we were there. The amount of free samples given out felt like Sam’s Club on steroids.

For lunch, I had a pie and mash. Basically, a homemade pot pie over mashed potatoes. It was so freaking good. At this point in the semester (January), I was really homesick and needed a home-cooked meal, and this was the perfect meal for that. I still think about this meal.

A couple of other honorable mentions were the famous Portobello market in Notting Hill (fun but everything felt like it was bought on Temu or super expensive), seeing Buckingham Palace, just walking around exploring, and we biked through Hyde Park. I unfortunately did not get a Sunday roast and I am still very bummed about that. Such a fun trip and one of my favorites still. It was so nice that everyone spoke English, and I got to eavesdrop again.

I highly recommend London to anyone thinking about going!!

xoxo,

Emma