London is a really cool city. There is so much to do, no matter what you're interested in.
After the painfully long trip there (12 hours!) I was exhausted but opted to go on the free walking tour regardless and it was completely worth it. The weather was great and it was a good orientation to the city.
The highlight of the trip for me was definitely the day trip to Windsor Castle. It's about 45 minutes outside of London, making it a super easy and enjoyable day trip. Again, I was lucky with the weather, it was sunny and a little warm! Windsor is one of the official residences of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the largest and oldest fully functioning castle in existence. It goes without saying that the castle is HUGE and absolutely beautiful. Queen Mary's doll house is both charming and impressive; it has electricity and fully functioning appliances! In honor of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee the Drawing Room was filled with 60 pictures of HM over the course of her reign. The grounds themselves are stunning! and because of the much smaller crowd, this is definitely the place to watch the Changing of the Guard ceremony!
Nearly all of the major museums in London are free of charge, thank goodness! The Pound is very valuable (1 P = $0.63) so free museums were definitely my activity of choice. The British Museum is massive and filled with artifacts from Egyptians through Present Day; the National and Portrait Galleries' collections are extensive enough to keep you busy for days and just walking the streets is really nice. Harrods, the famous department store, was really cool to walk around. I bought some fancy tea from the amazing grocery section but other than that no designer prices in this budget!!
Food is definitely not London's strong point, however, they've mastered teatime and cakes. I swear, it seems like the British eat prepared cold sandwiches for every meal! If you plan to visit London, I would suggest eating minimalistic meals and splurging on tea. For some reason British tea is SO much better! and the scones. and the clotted cream. Delish!
I also got the chance to go to the theatre with a friend on my last night! It's pretty easy to come by discount tickets in London so we decided (pretty spur of the moment!) to go see the Wizard of Oz. I really, really enjoyed it! The set, costumes and production were very well done!!
London is such a big city; I would have liked to have done so much more. There just wasn't enough time! Five days goes too quickly! I think I'll make it back there at some point for sure!
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