Winning London, part 1

I'm going to have to do this post in two installments because otherwise it'll be way too long. I'm also going to try and divide it into sections with themed headers...

My week in London last week was amazing. I honestly didn't want to come back. There were several reasons for this, but the familiarity of England to home and the amount of sun I experienced definitely had something to do with it.

America is paranoid and I need to learn how to travel light
We left Feb. 28, so I guess two Sundays ago at this point, and arrived in London after an extremely easy two hour flight. In fact, my whole morning at the Copenhagen airport was probably the most relaxing time at an airport I've ever had. Going to school so far from home, my last three years of flying have been characterized by waking up at 4 a.m., having too much luggage for one person to grogily manage by herself, carry-ons that weigh almost as much as my actual suitcases, and sweating profusely from running around with so much stuff. It's no wonder I hate flying. But this trip was different. We got to the airport about two hours early, breezed through check-in, dropped off my one bag (that wasn't bursting at the seams!), and strolled through security with my one purse. It actually felt weird to not have more things, like I had forgotten something. At security, we didn't even have to take our shoes off or walk through the sensors holding our boarding pass (boarding pass and passport went through the belt). My friend Charlotte and I got a big breakfast at a sports bar and relaxed for an hour. I also saw a Starbucks, which is the first one I've seen since coming to Denmark. We completely forgot that we had to go through customs and started walking to our gate about 15 minutes before boarding. Luckily, that was easy as pie too, and we showed up with plenty of time. Anyways, lesson learned? Americans are insanely paranoid when it comes to flying. We all just need to take a breather and realize that no one is hiding a bomb in the sole of their shoe.

Disappointment followed by euphoria
My first hour or so in London was slightly tainted by the fact that it took me about two seconds to lose my Danish SIM card on our tour bus when I was switching it out with my European SIM card (probably shouldn't have been doing that on a moving bus. But sometimes I'm overeager and do things at impractical times). It dropped on my seat and when I went to reach for it, POOF, into a black hole. I seriously looked everywhere and couldn't find it. Mystery forever. Once I got over that though, the week was great. Monday was perhaps my favorite because I got to spend a lot of time on my own exploring the city. It was so empowering and rejuvenating to navigate a new city by myself. I absolutely loved it. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was just another person in the hustle and bustle of everything. I hate traveling in a huge group of Americans in a foreign place because it attracts so much negative attention. I'd much rather do it all on my own. And London was so much busier and livelier than Copenhagen. People walked with purpose, they spoke to each other on the Tube...as opposed to the Danes who maintain strict silence in places like public transportation and seem to constantly be on a leisurely stroll. While it's nice to be part of a culture that lives life at such a different pace, London is much more of a "me" city. So anyways, I did some shopping at TopShop on Oxford Street and later in the afternoon, wandered to Harrods by myself. Harrods has the most overwhelming shoe display I've ever seen. I was in shoe heaven. I wish I had taken a picture of it, but I bought a pair of black leather ankle boots instead to secure my memory of the room. I did take a picture of the Veuve Clicquot champagne bar though, a champagne that seems to have become a staple at family gatherings at home and that I have learned to love. Here it is:



After Harrods, I got on the Tube to meet the rest of my group for dinner. Riding the train, listening to my iPod, and writing in my travel journal, by myself in London, I was actually in a state of bliss. I loved the independence. Dinner was at this awesome, hip place called 1001 that had a barbecue and outdoor picnic benches, as well as an indoor lounge type area full of hipsters with Mac laptops. Plus a DJ playing tunes by Bob Marley and the like. It had a great atmosphere. Cafe 1001 is also the host of London's only weekly short film screening, called Short & Sweet. The films we watched were weird to say the least.

Seeing the sun is the key to happiness
Every day in London was beautiful and sunny. I was ecstatic. You could literally feel the energy of our group rise becuase everyone was so pumped to not be surrounded by fog, snow, and dreariness ALL THE TIME. On Tuesday afternoon, after a visit to a local PR agency called We Are Social, my friend Holly and I had the most wonderful afternoon walking around London. We visited the Tower of London (just the outside, we didn't go in) and then got a vanilla ice cream in a chocolate dipped cone and ate it by the water as we people watched and looked at the Tower Bridge. Here's a picture:



Afterwards, we made our way to Big Ben and Parliament and had a great walk by the water. Here's me in the sun and the wonder that is Parliament!



All the exploring I did in London made me want to do more exploring in the rest of my life, not just in Copenhagen, but even at home in Portland and at school in D.C. Of course, the sun helped in terms of actually wanting to spend time outside, but still. It was so exciting to discover a new place for the week and it made me want to be more conscious of exploring the other cities that are a part of my life. Ok I think this is the end of part 1. I'm off to bed. Another post will be up soon!