Well… All I can say at this point is that London NEVER gets old… Still, three times later, it continues to get harder and harder to get myself to leave for the airport. Let me start from the beginning…
Lauren and I left for the airport just as I got home from work hoping to get to the airport a little earlier than usual {because I was worried about dealing with British Airlines and Iberia again}. By the time we actually landed in London, it was a little bit after ten at night, and we had about an hour ride to get to our hotel. That being said, we did not have time to eat dinner and we went straight to bed so that we would be able to get the most out of our days in the city.
We slept in A LITTLE bit {but not too long… I promise}, and within moments, we were on the move. Getting ready, curling our hair, and heading out the door to grab a yummy brunch. After much research on Yelp, we found a place named The Riding House that was along the main shopping street, so it was PERFECT!! We shoved our faces with bacon, avocado toast, and some of the best pancakes I have EVER had; however, we did not take into account how long it would take and that we had lunch reservations at Sketch in less than two hours, following our massive brunch. To pass by the time, we walked along the main street and then headed to Carnaby {which is one of my favorite // trendy streets}.
After a couple of small purchases that we knew would be able to fit into our carry on luggage, we headed to Sketch for our reservation. Although we weren't hungry, we decided we would get a drink {or two} considering we had heard such great things from some people in regards to the drinks that were supposedly offered. We couldn't manage to find any of the drinks that we were told about {i.e. a drink that tasted like pop rocks with a glass rimmed in sugar}, so we got a spritzer that sounded delicious the way the waitress explained it to us… It wasn't though!! It was absolutely terrible and took us over an hour to consume the glass full of it {because we weren't willing to let them go to waste considering they were each eighteen freakin pounds}, so we ordered some french fries and basically used those as our chasers in an attempt to not taste the watered tree alcohol that we were drinking. Once we had finally paid for our unenjoyable “brunch,” we of course ended up in the infamous bathroom. Surrounded by vibrant colors and white egg stalls. For about twenty minutes, we were able to entertain ourselves and take tons of photos of each other and of our reflections in the mirrors {trying to be those artsy insta girls}.
After we had finished up at Sketch, we were exhausted because it had already felt like such a busy day ANDDDD Ryan {yes… the guy I mentioned previously that we had met in Ibiza} was going to take the train to visit us, so we knew we had a long night ahead of us. For those of you who have not been keeping up with my blogging, I’ll give a short overview: Ryan is a guy who Lauren and I had met in Ibiza {the one who basically saved our lives when we had nowhere to stay because we missed our flights}. We had instantly clicked when we had met, talking for HOURS, and we continued our connection following Ibiza. We FaceTime every day after work for hours at a time, text almost every waking moment of the way, and we have just grown to have a really good connection. Anyways, he knew that Lauren and I were going to be in London for the weekend and although he lives about an hour {driving} out of the city, he wanted to anything that he could in order to see me. That being said, he had one of his friends {also another guy we met in Ibiza} drop him off at the train station after their day together and he took the train and the tube for about an hour and a half to two hours JUST TO SEE ME!! Anyways… back to the story. Because we knew it was going to be a longer day and we wanted to go out and experience London {figuring Ryan would know where to go}, we hopped right into bed and took a nap. Well, at least Lauren was able to nap; I was just way too anxious and excited that I couldn't get myself to focus on getting any sleep… When I had finally gotten myself to shut my eyes, my nap only lasted about twenty minutes before I got too excited and nervous again that I woke up and just kept myself preoccupied on social media.
At around 6:30 in the evening, he finally had arrived at our hotel, so when Lauren was still asleep, I ran downstairs and greeted him with a huge smile and an even bigger hug. I felt like such a little middle schooler because I was anticipating his arrival and I had butterflies flowing through me. We straight up to the room, and because Lauren and I hadn't eaten for quite some time, we instantly got ready to head out for an early dinner at a place that Ryan had recommended, named Maxwell’s. Because we got there at the dinner rush, we hung out at the bar for about forty minutes, until the next available table was ready. I forget the name of the martini Ryan had bought for Lauren and I, but it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. After having our own happy hour and making small talk with each other, we were finally sat down and got to eat some yummy food.
Following dinner, we walked around the area for a little bit, watched a street performer put on a magic show, and then wound up at a bar. It was such a fun night and it made it even better that I was with two people that I could be my complete self with. We were thriving!! However, at around one in the morning, we decided to call it a night. It was a long day for all of us; Lauren and I had spent the majority of our time and energy shopping and eating, and then Ryan and his friend were at a car racing thing the entirety of the day {or until he made his way to London}. When we got back to the hotel, Lauren went straight to bed, and then Ryan and I decided to walk around a little bit to just talk and catch up. Everything with him seemed to flow so perfectly {but I guess I can stop being so gooey via this post and do a post later… You know I like my juicy posts if you were following my personal blog about two years ago}.
The next morning, we decided to get going early once again, because Lauren had never been to London and we hadn’t done any touristy things yet and we were all so hungry. After Yelping, Lauren found a place called Duck and Waffle which looked so amazing {considering they had fresh bacon and eggs} and they were known for their amazing view of the city, so we decided to check them out. We were turned down by about four places which were over capacity, so we managed to make our way to Harrods and find a place near there. Just across the street, we found a yummy breakfast place where we munched our morning away {and Ryan was sweet enough to pay for mine} and then we went to check out Harrods so that Lauren could see what the hype was about. We were there for MAYBE thirty minutes before it got too overwhelming with people and the scents of the perfume section, so we headed out and were on our way to Buckingham palace… Oh and Lauren had us buy some British fidget spinners along the way which was pretty funny!!
At Buckingham Palace, we had arrived just as the crowds of people were leaving which was nice, considering we were able to walk straight up to the main gate and take in the beauty of the royal house… The queen was not there, because the flag was not up and flowing. We took a few pictures, walked around the main fountain in the center that they had just taken down the blockades from, and then hung out there and talked for a while before we decided to head back to the hotel. We wanted to give ourselves some time to get ready for the Backyard British Summertime music festival, and Ryan had told his mama he would be at her house to pick up his pup at around three in the afternoon. Lets just say, he did not make it to his mom at the expected time because we got too carried away in conversation and saying goodbye was going to be hard, EVEN THOUGH we were going to be seeing each other on Monday night in Barcelona.
By 4:30, Lauren and I had made it to the festival {after a torturous walk around the ENTIRE Hyde Park}, and we hopped around the two stages. Not expected people to be dressed like an American music festival, we eased our outfits {however kinda bummed we got no pics} but it was so much fun. We got to see Louis the Child, Martin Garrix, Tove Lo, and Justin Bieber. After standing on our feet for quite some time though, and not having a lot of nutrients in our bodies, I started to get light headed near the end of Justin Bieber’s set, so we decided to leave about three or four songs early and just get to dinner a tad bit early. I had made reservations for the two of us at NoBu because it was right near the pack, I knew it had a good view {because it’s where I had taken Alex the last time I was in London}, and the food was yummy.
We arrived about twenty minutes early and were immediately seated. To our surprise, they let us in the five star restaurant in jean shorts, carrying all of our festival stuff {and newly purchased Justin Bieber Tour sweatshirts}, and not looking like we actually belonged in the restaurant at that time. When we were in the midst of talking to each other, Lauren randomly said to me, “hey Victoria… Justin Bieber just walked behind you,” and I thought she was kidding and giving me a hard time because I felt bad for making her leave early with me. To my surprise, she wasn't lying though!! JUSTIN SAT AT THE TABLE ABOUT THREE STEPS AWAY FROM US. Lemme tell you too, he is TINY!! He is super skinny // scronny, and not as cute as he used to be, BUT it was really neat to be eating at the same place.
I instantly told my mama that he was literally at the table next to us and to my surprise she told me to order his entire table {which was about six of them} a round of tequila shots and have the waiter deliver them as a “thank you for the show.” The waiter would NOT budge though which kinda sucked. His reasoning made absolutely no sense either… He basically said that he couldn't do it because Justin is famous, and I told him that he should do it because everybody should be treated the same, and general people are able to by drinks for others. Still after disagreeing, I brought up the fact that guys buy Lauren and me drinks without us asking, and his response was just that “[we’re] girls so it’s allowed,” and when I told him that his reasoning was sexist, he claimed he went to ask his manager and we were still shot down with our offer. In hopes of leaving around the same time as Justin, because we had already eaten our dinner, we decided to get ourselves a drink instead; however, within the fifteen minutes it took for us to get them Justin was already gone!!
After our overly expensive din, we decided to head back because we were able to get ONE reservation at the Duck and Waffle breakfast place for Monday morning, but it was for at eight in the morning and it was a fifteen minute walk away from our hotel, so we were going to have an early morning. When we arrived at the place, we were given the rudest looks in our matching Justin Bieber sweatshirts and we were told that we were extremely underdressed, but they would make an acceptation because it was a Monday. After getting patted down and doing a bunch of security measures, we jetted up to the forty eighth floor where we took in a breathtaking view of London. Although the food was delicious and so much needed, the people who worked there had their heads up their butts and we did not appreciate that. Following breakfast, we headed back to our place, and took another quick nap to get ready for our day.
At noon, we made our way to our champagne experience at the London Eye, in which were almost positive EVERYBODY in our capsule hated us {except our lil worker dude}, and we took tons of pictures as we sipped on our champagne. Once we made it off of the ferris wheel, we walked across the bridge, took our fair share of photos with Big Ben and then headed back to our hotel for one last time in order to grab our bags to head to the airport.
To say the least, this time in London was magnificent. I got to see a guy my feelings have been growing for AND I got to spend it with my best friend on top of it all!! I got to show her around one of my FAVORITE places in Europe, and play tour guide for the weekend, and we got to indulge on some yummy drinks and food. Words cannot begin to explain how much London has impacted me, and although I don't know when I will be back, I canNOT wait for that day to happen. Even after this trip, I continue to tell my parents that I would REALLY love to move to the U.K. following graduation for about one or two years and then of course end up in California, but only time can tell… I hope y'all are enjoying my updates on everything I have been up to!! Next stop… AMSTERDAM!!
xoxo V
