London, England

Traveling is exciting, and fun, and often filled with mishaps that can blossom into crazy amazing unforgettable experiences.  But let's be real, traveling is also kiiinda stressful isn't it? There are lots of unknown variables (which is a problem if you are Type A), and living out of a backpack, or coordinating time tables and navigating conversations in languages you don't know can actually be pretty stress inducing.  One of my very best friends sent me a book right before we left, one that she treasured reading while doing a similar trip in Europe last year.  Inside the cover was a note to me, which ended with one huge piece of advice: ROLL WITH IT.  Do you think she knows me well? Ha. Well I took her message to heart.  I hate feeling stressed out and anxious, especially when traveling.  So I put her advice in my heart, and resolved to remember it when things got tense, I promised myself I would say "this situation might be _______, BUT, WE ARE IN EUROPE".  A little reality check is almost always a good thing, especially if it serves to remind you that you are on a trip of a lifetime with your best friend.  

So, why lead with that?  Well... our trip accidentally started out pretty stressful.  JP wanted to get to the bus station well in advance so that we wouldn't have to rush around like crazy chickens.  But as you may well have experienced, sometimes it's really hard to get out the door at the right time, especially when you are leaving for such a long international trip and you've got puppy children to coordinate.  Anyway, we made it to the bus station with a reasonable amount of time to spare. But then I realized I had left my ID and all my credit and bank cards on the table. At home. AHH.  Sprint Ubered it back to the homestead, full out ran, and sprint ubered back.  I literally jumped on the bus as they were closing the door.  JP was just standing there shaking his head at me.  But, we made it!

Still not psyched...

Anyway, first crisis out of the way, just makes room for more adventure, right?  First stop: London! We chose London for a few reasons, one of which was to have a slower acclimation into the trip in a land where they speak English.  JP, understandably, was nervous about traveling in places where we had only mastered the words Hello, Goodbye, and Thank you, and he wanted to ease into it.  I am less wary of that because my sister Emily and I have traveled together often, and quickly realized that we have amazingly weird abilities to communicate in foreign lands with our hands, body language and facial expressions almost exclusively... so mostly I just try to heed Renae's advice and I roll with it. 

We did a pretty darn good job of packing lightly if I do say so myself. Everything for me fit in the green bag (30L) with room to spare!

In Hyde Park, directly off the tube from the plane

We also chose London because (nerd alert), the Harry Potter studios are just outside the city, and I really wanted to see them. Side note, have I told you about our trip to Universal Studios Wizarding World of Harry Potter yet? I know, I'm really behind, BUT eventually I will have to share that magical (har har) trip with you here as well.

See the "Death Eater" bridge in the photo above? 

Last but not least, we wanted to come visit our friend Ben who lives in this fair city.  A good friend of my brother Joe, Ben is a very talented musician, who actually recently did a Europe tour with Joe and their friend Grant!  It always helps to have an insider's perspective and guide when traveling and we thought we should tap into that resource as well!

We had a really excellent time in London.  We had an overnight flight, and landed around 9:00 AM, bravely facing a day fighting off the wonky aspects of jet lag.  When we emerged from customs and took a deep breath, we realized the adventure had begun! And then immediately realized we didn't know how to get out of the airport.  We found a helpful person wearing a sandwich board who directed us to our two exiting options, and we were on our way.

My cousin Eileen and her new husband Rodney had just gotten back from their European honeymoon tour, and they sent us their Oyster Cards, which is the card you need to ride the tube in London, so we were already armed with access.  I always think I have a terrible sense of direction, but I realized on this trip that that is not true.  If you approach a new transportation system with confidence, (and ample time, and strategically predownloaded map apps), I learned that I can figure out most anything. 

We stayed in Shoreditch, a hispter neighborhood just outside of the thick of things.  Just outside our apartment was an artisan chocolate shop, multiple thrift stores, and a restaurant called the Cereal Killer Cafe, which served only cereal.  There was so much life and fun in that neighborhood! We spent a few days just wandering and people watching.

But I tell you what, something that I was not expecting at all?  The graffiti was phenomenal.  Not just the art itself, but also the public support of it.  It wasn't like a sneaky dead of night enterprise, it was pretty celebrated.  I could not stop taking pictures, and JP pulled me out of the way of people (and bikes) on more than one gawking occasion.  But seriously, there was some magnificent pieces.

And after all that, I didn't even tell you about the Harry Potter studio tour.  But that's because I was a bit disappointed in it.  Which was probably a three part issue: 1. It took us waaaay longer to get there then we anticipated because we didn't realize there was an express train and we took the pokey local 2. We subsequently arrived later than our ticket entrance time AND we hadn't eaten in way too long 3. When we went to universal studios I felt like I WAS Harry Potter, and this just felt like I was looking at ten different jackets that Daniel Radcliffe once wore... you know what I mean? It just wasn't very magical.  There, I said it. But also, the hangry issue was probably the biggest driving factor.

So, there you have it.  Our first stop: London.  It was a really cool city, one that I could actually see myself living in, which was a pretty big surprise for me as I tend to walk away from huge cities with the opposite impression.  Lots of cool things happening, it felt open and spacious, the people were nice, and there was so much to see!  But man was it pricey!