Brighton and London Weekend Trip -- Part 2

Hello, everyone! This is Part 2 of the weekend Alyssa and I visited Brighton and London. Part 2 is all about our revisit to London.

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As mentioned in Part 1, Alyssa and I had an early start on March 15th to head to London from our previous day in Brighton. We didn't get much sleep the night before (as explained in Part 1), so we were a little delirious but in high spirits for the day:

A short, hour-long train ride later, we arrived in the London Victoria train station. This was a great stop to get off at due to its close location to the Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and London Eye--three attractions on our list for the day!

On our walk to our first stop attraction of the day, the Westminster Abbey, we saw some pretty buildings:

This little building on the corner just screamed history to me in the middle of modern buildings!

We were so excited when we saw the sign for a palace garden. Unfortunately, it wasn't open to the public:

After our garden fail, we walked the rest of the way to Westminster Abbey:

So much detail all over the church, both outside and inside!

While standing in line to enter the church, we noticed this sign:

Always a comfort to see signs like this....

We weren't able to take pictures inside the Westminster Abbey, but I would definitely recommend anyone to pay the entrance fee and see the church for themselves if they have the chance. The church was absolutely stunning, and the free audio tour made it that much more amazing. To be surrounded by so much history is absolutely incredible. They even have famous figures buried in the church, such as Sir Isaac Newton! Not to mention kings and queens, my favorite being Mary, Queen of Scots. Many more people are commemorated in the church as well, such as famous writers and poets.

After spending the whole morning in Westminster Abbey, we made our way towards Big Ben, my favorite part of the trip! Prepare for an onslaught of pictures!

Caught in action taking the picture you'll see below

The River Thames glistening in the midday sunlight

Still can't capture the beauty of Big Ben, but here's a close-up

There were so many people on the bridge, it was hard to take a picture without anyone behind us

By this point, we were absolutely starving, so we went on our mission to curb our food craving: burritos at Chipotle! I'm so glad they opened one in London, or else I would have gone a full 6 months without one bite of Mexican food! And the London Chipotle did not disappoint:

I've never seen something so beautiful in my life :,D

After satisfying our Mexican food craving, we made our way back to the London Eye. Here are some pictures of it from across the river:





It was very crowded in the area near the London Eye. Not only were other tourists trying to get tickets for the London Eye, but there were people trying to get tickets for other attractions as well. We stood a good 15 minutes in line to get our tickets. Unfortunately, there were no student discounts, so we had to pay full price, but I would still recommend people to do it regardless. However, I would say to do it earlier in the day, as the dried water spots made it more difficult to take pictures inside the pods, as you'll see in some of the pictures below. I did my best, though!

Before getting in line for the London Eye, we got to experience the London Eye in 4D for free (I'm assuming it's part of the ticket price):

Our pod!

Here are the views I saw on the London Eye:After the London Eye, we decided to make our way to Harrods, but not before snapping our last pictures of Big Ben:

On the way to Harrods, I had to take a picture of the iconic "Mind the Gap" occurrence in the Tube

Our last stop of the day was Harrods. One word I would use to describe Harrods would be "ridiculous." There were so many stores inside of Harrods, so much so that we only covered an eighth of the store! They had things from designer stores, to chocolate shop, to personal shopping, to even a champagne bar! However, Alyssa and I explored the kids' toy section:

Anyone want a 2,000 pound polar bear? That's only about $3,500......

Alyssa found her elephant!

The following pictures are of a doll house you can actually buy at Harrods. The details were so crazy ridiculous. This mansion, as I should call it, even had maids:

An Anastasia costume!!! I would have loved this as a kid (if I was a rich child, that is):

I also would have loved this dress!

Before we left, we had to look one more time through the chocolate store. I wish I could have sampled everything.....

After a long day of walking and sightseeing, it was time to head back to Leeds. I'm so glad I got to see London again and see the places I wasn't able to the first time around.

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Stay tuned for my first blog post of my spring break: the Scottish Highlands!