Vacation started on Friday the 22nd of October. Margaux and I wasted no time on our vacation and decided to leave by ferry that night from Ouistreham, which is a port about 20 minutes north of Caen. Luckily, my very sweet roommates drove us there so that we did not have to catch a bus. The ferry was nothing like what I expected. As soon as we got on board, we saw shops, restaurants, and even a cinema. People have tickets for seats in lounges, where there are many rows of assigned seats that recline. It was pretty comfortable so I was able to sleep a lot of the night. We woke up about an hour before we arrived to Portsmouth and unfortunately the boat rocked a lot and I felt a little sea sick. As soon as we got off the boat I was fine but that will probably be my last time taking a ferry!
Margaux and I managed to get to London and find our hostel where her friend Jesse was waiting for us. He was going on an organized tour around Europe so he came early and spent some time in London with us! That night, we took a bus tour around the city to see all of the really important sites. It was Margaux and Jesse's first time in London so they were happy to see everything in the city at a glimpse.
The next day we wanted to make sure to get in some walking tours and a boat tour as well! We walked around a little by ourselves in the morning and saw Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.
Then, we did the boat tour and traveled a little ways down the river Thames. It was one of the most beautiful days I have ever seen in London, so we took some amazing pictures!
London Eye
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
After that was the walking tour of the Beatles' London. That was really fun. We learned a lot about the Soho area and saw some amazing places in the music industry. The best part of our tour was definitely our guide, Andy. Andy was probably in his 60s and talked so fast, you thought he might be taking speed. He was absolutely hilarious and we tried our hardest to keep up with him! Later that night we took a ghost tour with him. The first thing he tells us when we walk up was that he had coffee during the break so he will be talking super fast now. As if he didn't already know he was talking and walking at the speed of light, now add coffee to that mix! The ghost tour was really fun, and we stopped at some pubs along the way too!
The Sherlock Holmes, the first pub we went into
Savoy Hotel at night
The Ship Tavern, the last stop of the night
We ended our night at one last pub, and had a half hour conversation with Andy where he told us numerous funny stories about his youth. These stories included but are not limited to: Andy actually taking speed and having an all-night rave in the middle of the Stonehenge circle. He was easily the most interesting person we met in London.
And that story ties nicely into our next day when we took a day trip to Stonehenge ourselves! Unfortunately, we had to say on the outside of the circle and weren't allowed to be in or even really close to the rocks. This had been something I had wanted to see my whole life so I was extremely happy when I finally saw it and naturally, took an unhealthy amount of pictures of the stones.
Aghhhh so excited to be here!
Stonehenge!! As if there was any question to what this is...
And another picture, because no matter what angle you look at it, it's always going to be beautiful
The day after Stonehenge was another day trip, this time to Wales. I had wanted to go to Wales because we have some Welsh in our heritage. Margaux went to visit a friend at Oxford this day so it was just Jesse and I on the trip! We went and saw Cardiff Castle, had the most wonderful lunch, and went down to Cardiff Bay. It was a very cute city and I would love to visit again in the future.
The Norman keep, this is only part of Cardiff Castle.
Clock tower of Cardiff Castle
Cardiff Bay
On our last day in London, we went and saw Shakespeare's Globe! Now, anyone who knows me, knows that this is a dream come true for me to be in a place like this. We were able to take a tour through the Globe and learn about what the Globe was like when Shakespeare was alive. They have kept many aspects of the Globe the same as the original, with a few changes here and there. We were also able to look at some authentic costumes and view the choreographed sword fights. I was in heaven!
The Globe
Happy Girl :)
Isn't it just beautiful?
For the rest of our last day, we walked around town and went to meet up with Margaux's friend at the end of the day. I had only been to London one other time so this trip definitely made me love this city even more. The weather was amazing and the overall atmosphere is awesome! A wonderful city that I could see myself spending more time in in the future. Until then, cheers London!
Up next: Scotland! Get excited people, this is going to be a good one!
C'est la bonne vie pour moi! :)
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