I'm sure that the title doesn't need explaining: today I will be talking about London. The first time that I went to the Capital city of the United Kingdom... I wasn't impressed. Wait, let me explain. I surely loved it, no question that it is a pretty looking city, but literally everyone I talked to promised me that I'd have loved it right away and so I had so many high expectations. One of the reasons why I guess I didn't completely fall in love with it (yet) was because I only spent one day there. At the time, I was living in the UK and I had the opportunity to go there basically for free. 

Magic words for a broke college student: free opportunity, and London.

Obviously, one day in London is not enough, but I made it work. The coach dropped me off at the Victoria Museum and from there I decided that I'd sightsee by foot. It was October 31st, so my first stop was Notting Hill, which was fun because all the pretty fancy houses were decorated for Halloween. Then Holland Park, Hyde Park, Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, London Eye, Soho, Oxford Street, and Camden Town. 

I. Am. Not. Even. Kidding.

All of that in approximately six hours. I'm pretty sure that by six o'clock at night if I didn't stop walking, my feet would have fallen off my body and I'd have had to crawl to see more. By then, I was happy but exhausted and so I crashed at Euston Station, where I'd have taken the train back to Worcester. One of the things that amazed me about the trip was that the weather was actually pretty good. It was in autumn and it didn't even rain a little bit. One of the things that instead disappointed me was the Big Ben. It took me a while to even realize that I was looking at it, because it is under construction at the moment, until something like 2021. I understand that it isn't anyone's fault, but I was looking forward to seeing one of the most iconic buildings in London.

As I said, London in one day is not enough. I was still missing places like... the Tower Bridge. Like, c'mon, you can't leave London without seeing it. But it was just too far away and since I was there for a few hours I decided to explore only one area of the city. Which is why... I went back to London. I took the train from Worcester in the morning and I arrived at Paddington Station. Just like the first time, I only had six hours to walk around because at night I had to fly back to Milan. This time it was harder to walk because I had a huge backpack on my shoulders and it was also pretty warm given the fact that it was June, but at least I wasn't alone. My friend came with me. We met at Neal's Yard (which is a colorful hidden gem) and from there we went to the Courtauld Institute of Art, followed by the St. Paul's Cathedral. We crossed the Millennium Bridge, we reached the other side of the Thames and the view was just so beautiful. A street artist was also playing "Fix You" by Coldplay with his guitar and, suddenly, everything became even more interesting. I definitely felt like if I was in a movie. We continued on along the Thames and reached the Tower Bridge. Once we crossed it, we went to the Sky Garden where you can see the whole city from above... for free. Walked through the Leadenhall Markets, where we spotted an Asian Couple getting their wedding pictures taken, and then I was headed to Liverpool Street Station.

Things To Keep In Mind.

Visiting London can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. Thankfully, throughout England, you can find meal deals for less than £4. After a sandwich, some chips and a drink you may not be full but you will definitely feel much better and able to continue your journey. You don't necessarily have to go to a restaurant for every meal - unless you want to and have the money for it.

As I said, accessing Sky Garden is completely free. Although, you need to book it at least one week in advance. They only allow a certain amount of people inside per day and you want to make sure you don't miss out!

Obviously, if you are in London for a few days and want to see as much as you can, I suggest to get a travel pass or something like that, but consider also to visit the city by foot. It's a great way to find hidden gems, you will save money and will definitely work out in the meantime as well. Your Fitbit will log something like 20/30km, that's for sure.
Finding a bathroom is always a challenge for me when I travel because most of the times you have to pay for it, but in London, I just went to Mc Donald's. Sometimes you have got to have a receipt that shows that you are a client in order to use the restroom, but if you are lucky they don't check. It's worth to try. Also, if you go inside stores to shop and ask for a restroom they are usually chill about it and guide you to it.

If you have some questions, drop them in the comments below and I will try to be as helpful as possible!

- Cris