Welcome back! Here is the next stop from our trip to Europe last fall!
View from our flight from Dublin to London
I have to say - the main thing I learned from this Europe trip is that I HAVE to stop booking all means of transportation SO freaking early! While my main goal was to get everywhere as early as possible so that we would have all day to explore, we certainly paid the price for it with the lack of sleep. I kinda-sorta forgot the fact that you cannot check-in to hotels until around 3pm.
With that said, we got up around 3am in Dublin to catch a 6am flight heading for the United Kingdom. We arrived at the London Heathrow airport without issue, except for the fact that when I originally booked our hotel, I did not realize there were TWO airports near London. We got in a taxi expecting a 20 minute drive, only to find out we had an HOUR AND A HALF drive ahead of us. Whoops. (Guess that makes two lessons learned - definitely do NOT assume there is only one airport when booking travel accomodations!)
Photo of Tower Bridge after we had walked across
After a hefty taxi fare and giving our luggage to the hotel concierge, we set out to explore London on foot. It is moments like these that even though we are incredibly exhausted (both mentally and physically), it all fades away when I get to explore a new place. Somewhere full of hundreds of possibilities and experiences you could never have imagined is right in front of you! It always creates such magical moments for us, and these parts of our adventures are some of the memories I remember the most.
Anyways, it was a short, five minute walk from the hotel to where we reached Tower Bridge. This place was bustling with both cars and people. We got through the crowd of tourists taking photos and to the other side of the River Thames. From here, we would explore all kinds of restaurants, shops, and businesses along the river for hours. And, without realizing it, we would tick off several of our must-see sights including Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Milennium Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral.
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
It was truly amazing to explore the city on our own and see so much within the first day. However, the exhaustion slowly but surely crept back up to us, so it was time to head back in the hopes that we would be able to check in at least somewhat early. Luckily, we did and immediately took our bags to our room, showered off the long day and then passed out around 3:30pm. I certainly do not enjoy wasting any time while traveling, but my body was aching for much needed R&R. Plus, we had a very early morning awaiting us the following day - as we were to set out to adventure to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, AND the city of Bath!
Stay tuned!
"We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone."
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