Yep.
The tube
Jeremy on Westminster Bridge in front of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey
They all say that the first few days will be hard. Well I refused to believe "them" before we left. I was convinced that we would get to magical London and feel like Anne Hathaway in Paris in The Devil Wears Prada.
Wrong!
As I said before, our trip here wasn't exactly great but it was smooth and fairly easy. After we arrived, it was an annoying whirlwind of finding food, baggage claim, finding the "tube" (metro), buying a tube pass, figuring out the system (actually not bad) and getting to the hostel in our warm airplane clothes in about 85 degree heat with huge packs. We were pretty grumpy.
Jeremy says that's an understatement.
The hostel was easy to find and is actually really nice. We both had pretty low expectations but the rooms are clean, bathrooms are ok (probably clean to most people- I've been using clorox wipes), and everyone else here is just like us but from somewhere else. We had a look around and then Jeremy decided to take a nap while I decided to power through, get on my phone, and take a much-needed shower.
We both felt much better and decided to take a (longish) walk to Big Ben. We navigated to the touristy area and saw the Eye of London (huge enclosed Ferris wheel that costs a LOT-like $50) and surrounding tourist traps. It was nice to get out in the much cooler evening air and feel like we were really in London.
The Eye of London
We got a little lost on the way home (we literally couldn't find crosswalks- don't judge until you come here!). We ate some cheap jerk chicken (our area is a TINY bit like the ghetto) and basically passed out around 11 right after finding out about the terrorism alert, which won't stop us but makes me a little nervous.
The hostel was really hot last night and neither of us slept great, but we really needed it so we didn't care. We got up this morning in time for free breakfast which was orange soda, a croissant, and cereal but they ran out of milk. We then splurged on a tube ride (we've been trying to walk to cut costs) to Buckingham Palace, which I was SO excited to see. We got there really early to get a good spot for the changing of the guard (11:30 every day in summer) only to wait 30 minutes and find out it was cancelled because of a huge bicycle event (yes I did check online this morning and no, it wasn't cancelled when I looked). Bummer.
We tried to walk around and enjoy ourselves but the crowds were so dense and huge because of the bike event that we could barely keep track of each other. We walked back to save money and it took over an hour mostly because of altered traffic patterns.
We had our first pub experience at a place advertising sandwiches for £4 (almost $8). It was not great, but we were hungry and I was in an awful mood and thought some food would help. We then walked back to the hostel to regroup.
It was at this point that we had a terrible realization- we couldn't afford ANYTHING. And London, it seems, is only really fun and easy to see if you have money. Hard for frugal travelers like us.
We spent the rest of the afternoon making budgets and plans, and realized we have about $15 a day each for extras- anything not food, sleep, and major transport. So we made lots of plans and figured out what to do with the rest of our time in this pricey city. We're going to try to do a bus tour soon but can only afford the short 3 hour tour (£18, while the all day hop-on-hop-off that everyone does is £25- that's $50 each- over 3 days of "extra" money).
Subway for dinner (£3 for a 6 inch and a drink) and now we're chilling before the hostel party tonight. We've been promised a tour of London's pubs and clubs and a free drink at each one we visit. I already know I'll be underdressed, and I hope it's free.
Expectations
London is definitely different than I imagined. First of all, I wanted to see a double decker bus. They are EVERYWHERE.
Wasn't expecting that. I was also expecting it to be a tall, relatively clean city. Nope, short, spread out, and dirty. Like, the streets are COVERED in trash.
I knew the streets and cars were backwards, but I thought I would get it down quickly. Nope. Almost got hit several times. If not for these I would have:
And finally, I expected to be happy, excited, and stress-free. Not at all the case. I have felt a little lonely (even though Jeremy really is good company) and very grumpy. I think I'm just sleep-deprived and WAY outside my comfort zone. No daily showers and shared bathroms- I was doomed from the start.
Some funny things. They say "take away" instead of carry out and "salad" instead of lettuce and tomato like on a sandwich. They also say "yeah?" instead of "ok?" which takes some getting used to, especially when people have another accent on top of that (a lot of Asians, Indians, French, etc here).
I guess that's all I have for now. We are here tomorrow but then leaving the 5th for Dublin for 2 nights, then back here for 3 before heading to Paris. I'm hoping it gets better and better, because its been a bit of a roller coaster so far. I have felt really bad and really good, but mostly not great. I'm hoping it all feels better in the safety of reminiscence.
<3
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