When you think of a college student traveling in Europe, one of the main things that is very important is: money. Budgeting is one of the most important things to learn while abroad and trying to do a good job at it is even harder. When my friends and I saw a bus from Paris to London for 53€ (tax included), we knew it was the way to go. Now looking back, not so much. Maybe we should have splurged a little extra to avoid traveling 12 hours to get to London, when it normally takes 2 hours. Yet, it was truly an experience, and it's all about the experience, right? A group of 8 girls boarded the bus at 11:30 pm, expecting to sleep the entire way to London. Excepted duration of travel: 7 hours. I thought to myself, "no problem, I will sleep the whole way." Oh, hahahahahahaha what a joke that was. We had no idea about the 12 hour journey we were about to get ourselves into.
2 hours later: first bathroom stop.
3 hours later: off the bus again for border control, passports stamped and checked.
4 hours later: we arrived at the ferry port expecting to load the bus and stay on. Nope.
6 hours later: after sitting in the ferry loading dock, we were rushed in Spanish to get off the bus and get ready for the ferry. My thoughts at this moment "WHY is this journey longer than the estimated 7 hours and WHY do we have to keep getting off the ferry?"
8 hours later: after making fake beds out of 3 chairs ( I am so grossed out over thinking about all the germs on this trip), we slept for 2 hours until the ferry master announced we were rolling into London 20 minutes late. Already about 3 hours behind the bus schedule
10 hours later: off the ferry and only two more hours until London. Good thing I managed to get some wifi and tell my college roommate Catherine that we would've arrive around 10:30 rather than 7:00 am. She expected to meet us at the bus stop at 7:00 am. We got that sorted out.
10:30 am: FINALLY. We made it to London.
2 hours later: first bathroom stop.
3 hours later: off the bus again for border control, passports stamped and checked.
4 hours later: we arrived at the ferry port expecting to load the bus and stay on. Nope.
6 hours later: after sitting in the ferry loading dock, we were rushed in Spanish to get off the bus and get ready for the ferry. My thoughts at this moment "WHY is this journey longer than the estimated 7 hours and WHY do we have to keep getting off the ferry?"
8 hours later: after making fake beds out of 3 chairs ( I am so grossed out over thinking about all the germs on this trip), we slept for 2 hours until the ferry master announced we were rolling into London 20 minutes late. Already about 3 hours behind the bus schedule
10 hours later: off the ferry and only two more hours until London. Good thing I managed to get some wifi and tell my college roommate Catherine that we would've arrive around 10:30 rather than 7:00 am. She expected to meet us at the bus stop at 7:00 am. We got that sorted out.
10:30 am: FINALLY. We made it to London.
Moral of this time segmented documentation: NEVER take a bus with a ferry to London. Especially when you plan to sleep!
Hey, at least we have to whole day ahead of us now.
We started with some coffee and then set off to explore London.
We saw all the big spots, the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and my personal favorite, the Tower Bridge (not the London Bridge).
Hey, at least we have to whole day ahead of us now.
We started with some coffee and then set off to explore London.
We saw all the big spots, the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and my personal favorite, the Tower Bridge (not the London Bridge).
All was fun, we were starving and decided to randomly pick a pub. My meal was definitely memorable. I had pumpkin gnocchi with broccoli, arugula, parmesan and almonds. Of course, Catherine, Megan, Aine and I all got our own plate of "chips".
Next we decided to "caffeinate" one more time and then head to the grocery store to pick up some food for dinner. We decided to go French and ate an assortment of cheeses for dinner with grapes and wine!
Certainly excited about the wine we continued with a lot of it.
Until about 10 pm when we left for "china town" to go out to bar called "Oneills". Very similar to New York, similar to Paris, I am starting to see a trend.
Luckily on Saturday, we were able to explore the outdoor markets of London. Specifically, the Portobello Market that went on for miles. I can't forget to add the best part about Saturday: the sun was shining and there was NO rain. We wandered around the beautiful streets until it was time to eat again.
London is known for having great Indian food so we decided to stop at a restaurant to grab some Chicken Tikka Masala. Surprisingly, it was my first time having Indian food and it was delicious.
Overall, London was an amazing trip and two days is the perfect amount of time for a college student on a budget to go and explore!
We left Sunday and thankfully our ride back was not as painful!
We left Sunday and thankfully our ride back was not as painful!