Winning London

During the last week of May, I had the amazing opportunity to go to London, England. London is one of those places I have always dreamed about visiting, so when I found out the fashion department at my school was going, I was instantly sold! I turned my deposit in and then the year long wait began. When May 25th rolled around, I was beyond excited! Plus, what can be better than exploring one of the biggest cities in Europe with your friends?

Day 1:

Technically, our first day was traveling, but that's boring and there isn't much to talk about there. When we landed in London it was Thursday morning (8a.m. to be exact). Running on about two hours of sleep at most, my body was telling me, "Caitlin. Sleep now." However I knew I had to keep going. After quickly dropping my luggage off at the hotel, I went over to an area called Covent Garden. This area had so much shopping, it was really neat to walk around. My favorite part was a hidden gem just down an alley way off of Coven Garden. No, it wasn't a creepy alley way, it was an adorable area known as Neal's Yard. There were tons of cute boutiques, bakeries and extremely colorful buildings. I've never seen anything like it before.

After a little shopping, my entire group went to a fish and chips dinner. I think this is the one thing you have to eat when you go to London. It was yummy. So after dinner my friends and I went back to the hotel. Yes, it was only about 7p.m. but I almost fell asleep during dinner (that actually happened). So, it was time for bed.

Day 2:

During my second day in London, everyone started it off at Windsor castle. Let me tell you, this castle was HUGE. I thought it was just going to be a regular castle you walk in and out of, but man was I wrong. The detail and decoration in the castle was absolutely stunning. The whole castle itself was amazing. We walked through the rooms, saw the changing of the guards, and got to briefly explore the surrounding town. Who knew there was a whole town with stores and places to eat around the castle?

Next on the agenda was a bus tour of London. I got to see all of the typical touristy things, like Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, and West Minister Abbey. After that, it was time for even more shopping. This time I went with my friends to Oxford Street to hit up some store there. If you ever get the chance to go to a Primark, DO IT! This store is the epitome of fast fashion. It is like its own world that sucks you in and doesn't let you go until you buy something. There is so much clothing here and it is all so cheap. We also went to Selfridges, one of the most well known department stores in London. Sadly, I couldn't afford anything, but it was fun to look around. For our last shopping adventure, we had to go to Victoria's Secret. Nope, not to buy anything, but to see Taylor Swift's dress she wore in the London Victoria's Secret fashion show. It's on display at the store, you can touch it and it's so cool--major fangirl moment.

Day 3:

Saturday was our third day in the city, which meant Portobello Market was happening. We got up early to go right at 10a.m. This is a mixture of a flea/vintage market that takes places every Saturday in Notting Hill and it's popular between locals and tourists. I loved looking around here and I even bought a few rings too! It was such a cute place to shop around and the crepes that the street vendors made were delicious.

After the market we headed over to meet with Jacque Azugary, a fashion designer based in London. The entire group I was with was able to go to to his store. He told us about his journey in the fashion industry, what made him wasn't to pursue fashion, and even even held a little Q&A. My favorite fax he told us? He was good friends with Princess Diana and he was able to design a few gowns for her. The gowns are on display in the store and they are gorgeous.

When we were done meeting with Jacque, it was time to shop. That's right, more shopping. My friends and I went to Liberty of London and Harrods, the two other big department stores in London. I was amazed by the size of Harrods, just like I was at Windsor Castle. We didn't even make it to all of the floors in Harrods. There is also a food hall in Harrods. It is extremely high end food and desserts, but you can practically get any kind of food you want; it's crazy! We also decided to go check out Saville Row. Saville Row is the street where bespoke tailoring first started. Since all of the suits created here are custom made, they cost thousand's of dollars; how insane is that? After dinner, we went on the London Eye and sunset. It was so beautiful. If you go to London, you absoluelt have to go on the eye. The view it probably one of the best views you can find; you'll see everything. And coming from someone who doesn't like ferris wheels at all; it's not scary one bit. This was probably one of my favorite things I did on the trip. 

Day 4:

My fourth day in London was cold. I checked the weather and saw it it was supposed to be 70 degrees that day. So silly me thought, "I'm going to wear a romper and sandals and everything will be great." No. It never reached 70 degrees and I was freezing all day. But other than that, the day was great! The first thing we did was go to the Tower of London. The history behind this place is crazy. We got a tour and saw the crown jewels. After we were finished here, we went to the Victora and Albert museum.

This is another really big place (that seems to be a theme in London). So we didn't have time to look around the entire museum, but we did make it to the fashion and the theater exhibit. Those two exhibits were really neat and I'm so glad I got to see them since they're two of my favorite things.

That night , my entire group went to the musical, "In the Heights." I saw this show once before, but how it was performed this time was extremely different. The stage was in the middle of the room and the audience was on the two sides. I've never seen a show performed this way before; it was so interesting! I'd recommend seeing the show, it was super entertaining and the music was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (the writer of "Hamilton").

Day 5:

The fifth and sadly our last full day in London. However, the good thing was that the entire day was a free day. My friends and I decided to venture out to Kensington Palace. After a little mix up on the tube, we made it there in one piece.  It was so amazing to get to see the palace, and the gardens surrounding are incredible. The gardens went on for miles and miles; you could honestly spend an entire day here. We ended up renting bikes, which was so much fun! This was probably one of my other favorite activities I did in London. It was so simple, but it's not everyday you can ride a bike around Kensington Gardens.

After spending more time than planned (that's a good thing though) in the Gardens, we went to Tower Bridge. At Tower Bridge, there's a catwalk across the top that is glass. You can look down and see the River Thames below you. Now I know what you're thinking, "Isn't that really high and extremely scary?" Well, yes and no. It isa high up, but it isn't scary at all since you're in an enclosed space. I'd definitely recommend trying it out. You can people watch from up above, so how cool is that? 

The week I spent in London was absolutely incredible. I had experiences I couldn't get anywhere else, and made memories I'll never forget. I'd describe London as a mix between New York City and Paris. London has the history behind it like Paris does, but there are many parts of it that are more modern, which feels like you're walking down a street in New York City. Plus, not having a language barrier is a huge bonus. I'd go back to London in a heartbeat.