London

So after leaving Edinburgh we really had no idea where we wanted to go. So after splitting a cab with our new Canadian friends to the train station, we stood in front of a map to pick our next city. After little debate we decided on Liverpool. So we booked out tickets, listened carefully to where we had to get off to changed trains, and boarded our southbound train towards Birmingham. Within 20 mins both of us were asleep and we managed to sleep straight through, missing our connecting station and waking up confused and hazy in rainy Birmingham. After speaking to a few people, we decided it would be in our best interest to skip this city all together and push on to London....which was only a few more hours. So we changed out tickets(which ended up being cheaper than if we had booked it straight from Edinburgh to London), bought a sandwich, and boarded our new train. We arrived in London without any knowledge of where we would stay, mostly due to the fact that I thought we were going to be in Liverpool. So we wandered around Euston London Station until we found a WiFi hotspot where I promptly started looking for hostels. Almost everything was booked up in the entire city but I managed to find one that had only been open a short while and had no reviews....this made us both a little nervous but I had a feeling it was going to be a hidden gem.....man was I right! We really lucked out with this one.....the hostel sits right above a pub and is in the process of being converted into a proper hostel. So the rent was cheap and the staff super friendly. The location could not have been better either. We are within walking distance of Big Ben, the palace, and literally a block from the river.....so we are pretty stoked!

At this point on my trip my strategy for taking in the tourist sites was to not plan anything at all and just wander the city until I was completely lost. This was easy to accomplish in London and on the first day we were able to see Big Ben (which is actually the name of the bell inside the clock tower and not the tower itself.....I learn something new daily), Buckingham Palace (which was actually quite a mundane building), as well as Westminster Abby. After wandering for hours and taking hundreds of pictures, I received news that one of my friends from Prague that I hadn't seen in 10 years was having a girls night out in Nottinghill and we were invited to join. After looking up the place on the map, we decided that three miles was nothing and we were going to walk it......I learned that 3 miles in London is quite a distance.....so we ended up cabbing the rest of the way which was NOT cheap. It was so nice to catch up with old friends and after a couple of watered down and over priced drinks we headed back to the hostel. The next day I really wanted to see London Bridge....which I discovered is actually a really ugly, boring bridge and the real attraction is the tower bridge....which is quite a spectacle. It is pretty neat that the Thames has so many bridges spanning it and one can easily cross back and forth on pedestrian walk ways. It was on one of these foot bridges that Jared learned to never partake in illegal street gambling. They had quite the hustle going on! That night we ventured to Chiswick, a very posh and upscale neighborhood in London to have dinner with my friends from Prague. She was such a wonderful hostess and we enjoyed a delicious dinner and then went to the local pub for a pint. The following morning we were invited to join our new dorm mates on a mission to find the London Museum. After a nice hour long walk we arrived to the always admission free London Museum and wandered throughout the various exhibits for hours. It was fascinating and also a little funny to see how many artifacts from Egypt they possess. Absolutely exhausted from all of the walking, it was time to enjoy some fish and chips and a little afternoon siesta. London, although cheaper than Dublin, was still shockingly expensive......but luckily we were staying near plenty of cheap food options. Next stop, Bath.....a quaint town about 3 hrs west of London