I will always remember my first trip to London, I was 11, and I was my end of Primary school trip. I saved up for ages, all my birthday, Christmas and chore money. I also went and collected drinks cans to recycle for money.
I remember being excited about seeing Big Ben for the first time, being in the west end at a theatre production and seeing the famous Buckingham Palace. It was such a new and exciting time, so different to my small Northern Irish homeland.
Fast forward to 2004, my next visit to London, as a surprise, with my sister, after my university interview in Canterbury. I was in awe. I had a digital camera at this stage, so there were photos galore. We had a day, and I crammed in as many of the sites as possible.
After moving to England in 2006, I frequently visited London, and often went to my favourite spots of Westminster, Southbank, Canary Wharf and Covent Garden. My sister always used to tell me off for always wanting to see similar things.
As time progressed and the frequency of my visits to London occurred, I started to explore other places. I grew to love London a lot.
On my trip back home in July/August this year, my sister took me to a few different areas and to new shops and experiences which I’ve previously written about.
On my last day in London, I had about 6 hours to explore, and was going to savour all 6 hours of my time there, soaking up the atmosphere, the busyness and sites.
One thing I hadn’t quite got used to was just experience the normal things about the UK, such as using the post office and dealing with things is pounds again.
The majority of my time was spent exploring London on foot. I jumped on the Piccadilly line to Piccadilly Circus, and walked up to the Mall to see Buckingham Palace. From there, I walked to Westminster, and Southbank, and then back to Piccadilly Circus to have dinner.
I discovered Jamie Oliver’s pop up diner in Piccadilly Circus. Very American, but yummy.
My few tube journeys of being a tourist in London, took me to Covent Garden, in my attempt to grab a few cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery for my friend, who I was meeting later. However, it had been so long since I had found it (its actually near Soho), that I got quite disorientated and ended up walking back to Piccadilly Circus.
Getting lost is clearly my speciality in travelling.
After I picked up my rucksack from the hostel, I jumped on a tube to Heathrow airport. Sitting on the carriage, I reflected upon my trip. It was 7pm, still warm and sunny and I had, had a great time at home. I wondered what it would be like to be back in the normality of my own homeland again.
Maybe this will happen one day, but for now .. I’ve still got a lot more exploring to do.
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