london calling

Last weekend, Sheri and I headed on our first trip of exchange: LONDON!

My friend Gibson was nice enough to let us crash on his two couches, so we didn't have to pay for a hostel!  Therefore, it all went to pub food, chilango's, taxi rides, bus tickets, tube tickets, falafel sandwiches, and shoppppping <3

Here's a breakdown of our trip:

THURSDAY:

gelato at the airport

We arrived at about 2am.  We were scared.  We didn't think to look up how to get to Gibson's house. We were harassed (I'm talking drunk people yelling, "TOURISTS!"), walked in surprisingly the right direction, and helped by a man who claimed it was his birthday (even though he was alone) with an iPhone.  Gibson met us half way, and we crashed once we sat on the couch.

FRIDAY:

We woke up.  We went in search of cappuccinos. Then headed on the "tube" to Oxford Street where we spent the entire day shopping.  I bought a simple grey hoodie from Forever XXI and these cute boots from Top Shop: my new favorite store EVER.  After getting ready for the night, we headed out to this pub called O'Neill's.  It was completely different from the Milano club scene...but it was a nice change!  

English Pub

SATURDAY:

Lunch at Chilango's.  P.S. I'm an avid Chipotle fan--you all know this.  But, we heard that Chipotle in Europe is a severe disappointment.  Therefore, in order to save my tastebuds from "bad Chipotle", we ate at Chilango's....twice.  After filling out bellies, we went sightseeing.  It was beautiful, amazing, incredible, but so very tiring.  That night we were supposed to go to this 9th anniversary of Koko (a cool club) but we opted for a neighborhood pub due to our lack of "party-girl" energy.

Buckingham Palace

SUNDAY:

Finally enjoyed a grande at Starbucks.  Which was definitely a beautiful change from the two-sip espresso/cappuccinos we get in Milano.  Don't get me wrong--they have excellent coffee, but I miss the comfort of Starbucks.  We spent the rest of the day shopping, and window shopping...and getting discriminated against by the Chanel handbag lady...who quickly told me to remove my water bottle from the shelf, and who was so kind to let me know that, "these are luxury items...they can't be marked by your hands."  

these saved our lives--multiple times

MONDAY:

We ventured over to Brick Lane after yet another cup of coffee from Starbucks.  We tried to find Banksy, but once again we didn't do enough research, and left without finding any.  We did find some cool pieces, though.  And then we were off on the bus, then the plane, and back to Milano...after an excellent first trip!!