The First Stop: London

After a late night of packing I managed to make it into the cab with my larger than life traveler’s backpack.   Five of my friends were already in the cab as I shoved my bag on top of theirs and before I knew it we were driving through Cork towards the airport.  This was the beginning of our three-week trip across Europe, a trip I will remember forever.  This was the type of trip that I plan to  tell stories to my grandchildren about.   Our flight from Cork to London went by in an instant partly because of our excitement and partly because you can’t really get a closer trip then Ireland to England.  By the time I turned on my ipod I had time to listen to less then 4 songs and then we were already landing.  I was filled with excitement to start our journey and our first stop was London.  From Heathrow we took the tube to our hostel.  From the moment I left the tube station I feel in love with London.  I loved how easy the tube was to use, how cute the cabs were black and old fashioned looking just as I had imagined.  The telephone booths looked as if Clark Kent could appear at any moment and turn into superman right inside one.  The weather did not hurt my view of this amazing place it was 70 and sunny, perfect sightseeing weather.  We dropped our bags at our hostel, which was nothing more than a place to sleep, and headed to discover everything London had to offer.  Being a group of typical hungry Loyola students our first order of business was to find Chipotle, London is the only city with a Chipotle outside of the United States, and after several months without burritos and burrito bowls our craving was uncontrollable.   After having one of the most fulfilling meals abroad we were ready to take London by storm.  We walked around Piccadilly Circus looking at all the shows London had to offer.  The bright lights and flashy signs reminded me of Time Square and Broadway in New York City.  We then headed to Buckingham Palace to check out where the royals live.  It was only a few weeks before the Royal wedding was set to take place and we were standing where thousands would stand waiting to see Kate and William on the balcony.  We took plenty of pictures of the balcony and imagined how beautiful it would be in a few short weeks.  After seeing Buckingham palace we headed to Westminster Abbey to see the famous church and the sight of William and Kate’s upcoming nuptials.  After checking out the church we took a ride on the London Eye!  From the top of this giant Ferris wheel we had a great view of London especially Big Ben which is right next door.  The ride was fun but the view was breathtaking it looked as if London went on forever!  At this point on the London Eye we realized we had walked around London all day non-stop and our feet were tired.  Usually this is when I would begin to complain, but not in London I was so in love with the city I didn’t care if my feet hurt it was well worth the temporary pain.  London was a great way to start our trip I fell in love with the city, which helped set the stage to discover new places I had never seen before.  I cannot wait till the next time I am in London, which hopefully will be for the 2012 Summer Olympics!!