London (Day 1)

Trafalgar Square | Buckingham Palace | Westminster Abbey | Parliament | Soho

(Caution: Lots of photos ahead...it may take some time to scroll down)

I went to London for a week with Luis and it was so amazing - I've never had an experience quite like it. It was my first time traveling to Europe, let alone England, so everything was very new to me. We stayed at a Premier Inn in Westfield Mall  (yay, shopping) in Stratford City, and Central London was about 4 tube stops away.

So very very convenient

Dished out ~$100 for a week's Oyster Card. It was my first experience navigating the subway in a large city and I think I did quite well!

We started the first day as tourists and went on the Original Bus Tour around London.

Charring Cross Station

My first impression of London - it may be just a bus stop but I was already overwhelmed by the rich and consistently themed architecture.

Blouse - Thrifted | Skirt - XXI | Sunglasses - Marc Jacobs 

 Outfit post. The floral blouse makes me seem even more touristy (maybe if it was Hawaii).

Trafalgar Square

National Gallery

Huge art museum that Luis and I visited later in the week. Art History 102 really payed off because I could actually recognize and name some of the paintings.

Taken from the tour bus. I couldn't stop taking shots of random streets.

Buckingham Palace

Outside Green Park

Westminster Station

Big Ben & Parliament

Parliament was much more massive than I imagined. Coming from Houston, I've never seen a Gothic structure so large and ornate.

Westminster Abbey

The church was closed when we got there around 5ish but we came back later in the week.

West Door of the Church

 I swear we studied this tympanum in Art History...

Chinatown - Soho

For dinner, we went to Soho. I refused to get Chinese food even though the smells coming from Chinatown were tantalizing. Why come 4000+ miles to get what you could get in Houston for cheaper and tastier.

Ended Day 1 with cider at a pub in Soho (thank god for the 18 drinking age)