london.

wednesday night vivian and i took a plane from holland to london. it was pretty uneventful. we got to our hostel and then went to eat. we stayed in piccadilly circus, which is very close to chinatown. we had some pretty bad chinese food for dinner and then headed to bed.

i woke up and ran around hyde park, which was beautiful. then viv and i got ready to go shopping. we walked to oxford street and shop shop shopped. this store only in the uk is called top shop. it is sooooo huge. i didn't really realize its size until i lost vivian. i felt like a child who lost my mother in the grocery store. when i finally found her (or she found me) we hugged so hard.

we saw the red double decker buses that overwhelmed the streets.

vivian spotted alex's initials.

and london has my nickname posted everywhere.

that night we went out and accidentally found our way to london's "boys town." we were noticing all the handsome men that were filling the bars and thought we were either extremely lucky or extremely unlucky. since none of them were looking at us we knew which it was. eventually we found a pub and met some nice men. one from london, one from italy, and one from greece. we had a pleasant night chatting with them.

friday we had to switch hostels because i forgot to book another night and vivian was going home early saturday morning. we transferred all of our stuff after a little bit of a stressful situation. it was close to notting hill, which was perfect because that was where we were going shopping.



it was so so so lovely. little quaint antique shops. i loved the buildings and the market. we went to the portobello market. i found a great gift for my dad there!

then we went out for drinks and dinner that night. we found a thai place that had so many people outside and no one inside so we could get a table. it was the first nice weekend in london so everyone wanted to be outdoors. we met two nice men from england and they bought us a few bottles of wine. they were very kind to us. vivian ended up having to leave at 1:30 to take the bus to the train.

the next morning, i walked through the park. there were not any clouds in the sky and sun shining high. everyone was out exercising and with their kids. the thing about all the english kids---they all ride razor scooters. all of them. it is SO cute.

i went in a subway for humans--like a tunnel to cross the street. they call it a subway.

i went shopping for alex at top shop and then laid in the grass for a while. next i went on the free walking tour. i saw:
buckingham palace

the palace of king henry viii

another place with my name

a wedding where every single woman had on those types of hats or headbands

the london eye
westminster abbey

the westminster palace

big ben.

then i walked back to my hostel for two hours. there were soooo many people on the grass at this time. it was amazing.

they also have a path for HORSES.

london was really wonderful. i loved the english accent. children were my favorite. "motha" (as in mother)

love,
e.