7.11.14 Big Ben my #mcm

Day off on Friday? Let's go to London! :)

From the struggles of missing our coach, to waiting in the bloody cold for the next one, dealing with a cross driver, and attempting to sleep while rain pattered on our window that hopefully wouldn't foreshadow a bad day, we finally made it! Escaped to a Starbucks for Wifi and sought shelter at our beloved McDonald's. Of course, I ordered my keto-friendly box of 20 piece chicken nuggets. <3

Quote of the Day: "I'm not a photographer. I am a model." - Tony Calavitta 7/11/14

Tony and I had previous already been to Westminster (the touristy part of London) but it was Sam's first time so I got to experience all that goodness again haha. I'm so appreciative of having such cultured and intelligent travel buddies, because we had a fun day jam-packed with tasteful visits! First, we headed to Natural History Museum to check out the dinosaurs! Walking through the (VERY explicit) human biology/anatomy exhibit was quite an entertaining experience, but my favorite would probably be the image and perception exhibit! Typical optical illusions and mind tricks that we learned about in introductory psychology classes, ja feel? Oh and of course we had a mini photoshoot throughout the museum because the architecture was BREATHTAKING. It looked more like a castle than a museum!

Unfortunately we couldn't prance around in the butterfly farm outside, so we headed to King's Cross Station. I showed Sam and Tony the Platform 9 3/4 area, but the line was ridiculously long! We explored the city outside the station to look for Charles Dickens' house. Not gonna lie, it's a depressing part of London and I can see how he got the inspiration to write his dismal but truthful stories. We stopped for cake and tea at a "cute, local coffee shop," as Sam and I put it. I decided to indulge in half a pastry. :)

In the afternoon, I split from Sam and Tony from King's Cross Station. I was going to pick up my pbros Belle and Daniel flying in from Dublin to Heathrow Airport, while Tony had a special surprise for Sam's early birthday celebration ;). It was kinda nice traveling by myself for a while! I studied my physics lecture notes while doing some people watching on the tube. When I got the airport, we spotted each other immediately! I was so happy to see them. :)

Back on the tube we went, and for the third time I visited Mister Ben. <3 ;) It was so much fun taking pictures with Belle's amazing camera and seeing the sights in a different perspective at nighttime. We even saw two different couples taking their wedding photos at the Big Ben! At the end of the day, we met up with Sam and Tony at the coach station, then took a bus from Brighton to Sussex. We were EXHAUSTED, but slept as much as we could because we had to wake up early for a special festival the next morning. ;)