London, England

London was a dream.

Never-ever have I felt so safe in a metropolitan city, as when I was in London.

And it is so clean. 

Like seriously, people, I could probably eat off of the sidewalks there that's how clean it was.

And what made London even better was that my good friend Sabrina is studying abroad there too!

At this point in my travels I really needed some social interaction with familiar faces. That is definitely a downside to traveling alone...

I was also super excited to explore London because that is the city where my sister, Katie, studied abroad, and I was anxious to see her old stomping grounds.

(I was bloody impressed, Kate, well-done)

However --

London is extremely expensive.

From trains, subways, buses, food, taxis...the price of living there is so incredibly high that it was almost overwhelming. 

The £ is about 1.7:1 against the dollar, whereas the € is somewhere around 1.3:1 against the dollar. So in London, I constantly had to double to price of everything to convert it into dollars to calculate the damage it would do to my wallet.

But you know what?

I was ok with it.

It was honestly so good to see Sabrina and hang out with a familiar face and get a little slice of home for two days that it made it worth every penny...err...I mean, Sterling...

Sabrina is a fellow sister of Chi Omega with me and she was an absolutely lovely host. She attends Regent's College in London, and lives on campus in their dorms which are beautiful. I felt like I should have been wearing argyle and penny loafers my whole time there.

That was another thing I loved about London -- the style. Not just the way people dress, but also how they carry themselves. It is proper and formal, but without being stuffy. Everyone seems to value politeness and the strangers I interacted with were so friendly.

Hell, I'd be friendly too if the $ was as good as the £...

In any case, Sab was a fantastic host and was a great tour guide. We didn't have much time, but we really made the most of it and she brought be around to some great sights. 

Like Picadilly Circus at Nighttime 

 Riding a double decker bus 

 Buckingham Palace

 Big Ben and Parliament 

 A classic tourist picture in a Red Telephone Booth

 And a great surprise-find -- the Borough Market! Which was recommended to me by one of my professors as a place with great eats. 

And I love places with great eats.

Have you figured that out about me yet?

A quick stop in front of the London Eye 

 A really cool architectural building, that I, in all honesty, have no idea what company it belongs to. 

a look at Tower Bridge from London Bridge. (Can you tell how little sleep I'm running on here? Yikes on bikes...)

 And oy! Of course we had to get some Fish n' Chips mate!

London was such a whirlwind when I look back on it.

So much of it Sabrina and I spent just catching up with one another while strolling along the streets or stopping in at a cafe to grab a coffee. But honestly, this trip was so lovely and so wonderful. And a big thanks to Sab for being an awesome hostess! I miss you tons! Can't wait to be reunited in May again!

London is definitely a place I will need to return to.

Maybe when I'm not on a student budget...

My last night in London we had some really great sunshiney weather for a few hours. And true to London form, their sunsets are just as fabulously British as...well...as every other minute of their day.