London- A home away from home

 Right when we got off the plane I knew this place was for me. Which is pretty funny since I'm not a city girl AT ALL. I love my slow paced- San Diegan nature and my constant warm weather. Where people aren't in a super huge rush to get to the tube at the same time. But this was something different. And I liked it. We were introduced to the tube who, unknowingly, would be our best friend by the end of our London experience. We got to our hostel (Travel Joy Chelsea- highly recommended) and settled in. Giddy with excitement Camden and I set off to find some fish and chips. We got pretty lost but eventually found what we were looking for. Lucky for us our hostel was overlooking Thames River and we had an incredible view walking around, and in our room! Wooo hoo!! After realizing we weren't in South America anymore, Camden and I put more layers on and sat down to decide what to do for the night. We were given a list of things to do throughout our travels. So we pulled it out and began going down the list. We chose to go on the Jack the Ripper walking tour and then going to get some curry on Brick Lane. Both were AMAZING! The history was unreal. Stories of Jack, that I have never heard before totally hooked me (as I love murder mysteries). After two hours of greatness we walked down to Brick lane for our favorite, chicken tikka masala. SO BOMB. I would have ordered the night away if my wallet would have let me ;). After a long day of travel, Camden and I probably should have slept instead of that excursion, but we decided we could sleep when we were dead. And the tour and curry was away worth it. Day one down, with huge smiles on our faces. We could tell we were going to like it here.  We woke up to a phenomenal breakfast at travel joy hostel. Smoothies, omelets, pancakes, Nutella, toast, cereal...THE WORKS! We haven't had a breakfast like that in quite some time. And wow did we miss it! After breakfast we headed off to a free walking tour with all the major royal sights. It was pretty informative which was nice and it gave us a better idea of what we wanted to see more of. Once the tour ended we went off on our own to look at the main attractions more in depth. Big Ben- absolutely incredible. It has been one of the things I've always wanted to see. Being there was pretty surreal; being surrounded by the london traffic, red decker buses looking at this magnificent clock tower. St. James park- so stunning. The park itself is magnificent, but add a great view of Buckingham Palace and a tranquil lake surrounded by so many types of birds and you're in British paradise. Hahahah. The bird thing was not ideal for me (since I'm not a huge fan of birds....)but it was still nice to see Camden enjoying every minute of it. Oh and the SWANS!!! They are everywhere!! I learned that they are property of the queen, so to do anything to them is treason. Crazy!!! The park had such a beautiful atmosphere. It was very relaxing to just walk around and be there. After our self guided tour, we went to visit our friends, Frankie and Martha, at their cafe, Bella Maria. It was SO ADORABLE. The homemade food was delicious the tea selection was great! It was so nice to catch up with them!! (we met these sisters in Peru and had to meet up with them in their hometown). I would hugely recommend anyone going in that direction to go in and relax for a bit. The cold and long walks can be harsh touring around all day, so take my advice check it out, you won't be sad you did! After the cafe, we went quickly back to hostel to change, check out and grab our bags to meet up with an old friend, Izzy for dinner! We had met Izzy two years ago while traveling in Thailand and we have kept in touch ever since! It is soo lovely seeing international friends after quite some time. It was like no time had passed at all!! After a great dinner, we went back to her flat where she made us tea and helped us book a train to Nottingham! What a good friend! We finally made it to bed where we would continue our journey up north. We knew we had to come back to London. We got a taste and needed more. We hadn't figured out when exactly, but we knew it would be sooner than later. To be continued....    Jack the Ripper mural   Big Ben  St.  James park To follow our journey in even more depth please check out our other social media outlets! Instagram: @christinabammbina @marlon_cramdo#boygirlandtheworldYouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCC9qwNoy9QSRXLHKgoKLHtw