dear london,
today is monday july 31st. it is cloudy, looks like it’ll rain later, but that doesn’t matter. I slept like a baby last night, granted I sort of lost 6 hours in my day yesterday. however, I got up bright and early this morning because I don’t want to miss a second of what you have to offer by sleeping. I’m headed downstairs for breakfast before we explore your streets and see what you have to offer. I am thrilled of this adventure. who knows what we’ll find...
I am a full english breakfast … sweetened latte, scrambled eggs, fried ham, sausage, baked beans, fried mushrooms, black pudding, bubble and squeak. *not pictured, the croissant I dipped in my frothed milk. this was magnificent and so filling. perfect for our adventure-packed day of walking.
we headed to westminster cathedral.
gorgeous. speechless. magnificent. incredible… do not do this place justice. the history. the architect. the stories… that this place holds, I can’t even begin. we walked where saints walked. we prayed where saints prayed. we knelt where they knelt. a place where people with strength to last ages… we saw what they built. where they labored. we saw relics of men and women we can only pray to imitate. my little catholic heart was full with joy. wow.
we then headed to buckingham palace, where we watched the changing of the guard ceremony. i didn't take any photos or videos (shocking, right?!?) but chris snapped this short video as they were approaching the gates.
lunch, coffee and of course using the loo was next. we walked around the royal garden aside the palace then headed to the shops. we found a place with delicious pastries in the window, so we stopped in for a sandwich and another latte.
despite being an anti-tourist-tourist, we did stroll on over to tower bridge, where you graced us with a lovely downpour. when I think of london, I think rain, cloudy skies, and umbrellas in everyone’s handbag... so it was only fitting that we would pull out the umbrella on our first full day and walk around town, viewing the sites in the rain.
your streets were busy and crowded. so we caught the train to another village, in london. I don’t recall it’s name (it’ll come to me, by chris.) but we headed out that way, to see where the people live. when I explore a new place, I love immersing myself in the locals lives. it’s the only way to get a true representation of where you are. the tourist spots are always tailored differently. when I went to paris, I didn’t see the louvre, I did however go shopping in a market where no one understood me and ate loads of pastries. that was me in london. people were busy working, visiting a friend, cleaning house, watering their plants… I didn’t see tourists, just locals living their lives. we stopped for afternoon tea there, too.
*edit: it was kensington
what a day !! we embraced tourism at buckingham palace and the changing of the guards, then we retreated to ourselves in walking the streets of kensington, stopping for afternoon tea in a local cafe, and grabbing a dinner of bread and cheese at the local market. we headed back to our hotel around 20:00 to have pudding and tea before crawling into bed for another adventure filled day tomorrow… of walking.
stats for today: 1225 kcalories burned, 24798 steps, and 12.04 miles walked. and then came tomorrow...
Comments