I'm in London and it has been so great so far!!
I arrived yesterday morning and my friend James, who I had met in my
Contiki tour and who lives in London, met me at the airport and brought me to my hotel.
James works for a big hotel company, called the Park Plaza, so he was able to get me a nice room at a low price. The room is so fancy and has a great view of the London eye and Big Ben!
James has lived in London for six years so he showed me around all day yesterday. We started in Camden town which is a big open market that sells a lot of clothing and things geared towards young people. It's a really cool area of town and offers a different take on London.
I ended up buying two summer dresses there and had a great time looking around and seeing the old stables. After the market, we went to Harrod's to gawk at all the luxurious items they sell. From there, we went to Hyde park an had a picnic dinner and watched the ducks swim in the pond.
London has lots of bike rental stations so we rented some bikes and rode down to Buckingham Palace and along the north bank. We returned the bikes afterwards and walked back to the hotel along the south bank. The city at night is so incredibly beautiful. They light it up and everything reflects off the water to create a wonderful ambiance.
I returned to the hotel and passed out from the long day.
This morning I awoke to the room service lady delivering my breakfast in bed (I'm very spoiled). I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then headed out to explore!
I walked along the south bank passed the London bridge to the tower bridge.
I crossed there and waked along the north bank by the Tower of London and the great London fire monument.
I continued my walk to the Bank of England. As a finance major, it was great to see the birthplace of modern banking. (I should've brought my résumé!). They have a little museum there too so I popped in and saw the exhibits.
From there I continued onwards and stopped to have a late lunch in the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral.

I really like London. The city is big and bustling by it still has a lot of charm. I think the charm comes from all the little clichés they keep around, like the taxis, the double decker buses and the red phone booths. From all that walking I'm quite tired now so I'm just taking a little rest in my hotel room. More excitement to come tonight of course!