After spending two weeks in my new home at Warwick, I decided that it was finally time to venture out of Coventry. I, along with a bunch of other exchange students, took the 7.15am Megabus from Coventry to London on the 17th of January. Waking up for that was definitely not an easy feat after getting home from a night out at 4am the night before... The Megabus was fantastic! It only cost £9 for a round trip and took 2 hours.
Despite the chilling winter cold, my time in London was amazing. Everything about the city was breathtaking and I was in awe the whole time walking around looking at all of the beautiful architecture.
Houses of Parliament
St Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
We began the day like any tourist should, it was straight to the London Eye and Big Ben! The £22 price tag for a ride on the London Eye just didn't justify it for us so we decided to explore the city on ground level instead.
We spent most of the day sightseeing and visiting the famous monuments such as Westminster Abbey because for most of us, it was our first time ever in London. I was just amazed the whole time at how gorgeous everything was in real life. We were blessed with wonderful weather (for this time of year anyway) and the sunshine accentuated the beauty of the city.
The London Eye
Big Ben and Houses of Parliament
Next up was Buckingham Palace. I'm still a bit undecided about Buckingham Palace as I thought it would be more extravagant in person but it was a little bit of a let down. It was definitely gorgeous but I was expecting it to be a lot more regal and spectacular than it actually was. I just wasn't as impressed as I expected to be.
Buckingham Palace
Gates of Buckingham Palace
After a fulfilling burger and pint for lunch at a pub in Covent Garden, we spent the afternoon shopping on Oxford Street. It was exciting shopping at stores that we don't have in Australia!
I did manage to lose my travel money card during the night out before our trip though so I was left cash and cardless for the whole time we were in London. This was definitely a challenge but luckily, my gorgeous friend Sarah was generous enough to pay for me in the meantime.
We had the loveliest meal in a Chinese restaurant near our hostel where Marc tried dim sum for the first time! We then spent the night playing drinking games on our hostel room floor and later club hopped in Piccadilly Circus, hitting both Rumba and Piccadilly Institute. Piccadilly Institute was insanely big and we definitely got lost in there a few times. We managed to crash a VIP table and were subsequently kicked off...
Getting home may have been the biggest struggle, with us not being sure where the elusive no.12 bus was. At one point, we thought London had us but we managed to miraculously find our way back to the Maccas next to our hostel.
Overall, my first day in London was magical. I had the best time with the best people and the city never ceased to amaze me. London is definitely somewhere I'd come back to time and time again.
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