The sunset from the roof of The SparrowHawk
Our second port was Southampton/London, England!! We lucked
out with amazing sunny and warm weather in London, thank goodness! I had three
great friends to travel- Dylan, Hannah, and Kelsey (my roommate).
Day 1: We docked into the Southampton port early in the
morning again, we were woken but the incredibly loud and shaking engines coming
to a stop in the port…I have a feeling I’m going to have to get used to this
for the next 12 stops haha. My friends and I met up around 930 to get off the
ship and walked up to the bus station (about a mile or two from where our ship
was docked) and got there in just enough time to catch the 1020 bus direct into
London. By the time we got to London all four of us were starving so we checked
into the hotel and immediately asked the front desk where we should eat. He
directed us to a little Italian restaurant across the street where we ate the
most delicious meal; we all ate so much food! Then after recovering from our
food comas we headed over to the main shopping area in London-Oxford
Circus/Carnaby St. It was about a 15-20min walk from our hotel. I couldn’t
believe how many people were out and about in this area, pedestrian traffic was
crazy! But fun nonetheless. Dylan had to buy a new backpack because his had
broken on our walk through Southampton, so we found a Northface store where he
could grab one. Then we journeyed
back to the hotel. We had reservations at the Ice Bar that night so we got
ready and headed over there. The Ice Bar is a bar completely made of ice (hence
the name) where they give you a parka when you walk in because it is below
freezing inside! That was really fun but after half an hour or soon your toes
begin to freeze so we took a million pictures and then carried on. We tried to
go to a couple of other bars/clubs we had been told about but since it was
Wednesday they were closed so we ended up sitting in a quiet bar and since
there was only a few people in the bar we became friends with everyone in
there! It was a great night!
Day 2: The 2nd day was not our most productive
day, we slept in for a while and then caught the overland train into one of the
surrounding suburbs where my friend’s uncle owns a restaurant. The restaurant
is called The Sparrowhawk and it’s really nice. He showed us around the restaurant
and took us up to the rooftop terrace where you could see the whole skyline of
London. We ate a delicious dinner and then went back onto the roof for the
amazing sunset. The chef in the restaurant was giving us tips on places to go
that night, and then called his brother and got us on a guest list to the Vogue
after party of London fashion week in one of the popular clubs in central
London. So we headed over there and got in pretty quickly (with a pretty steep
cover charge). We had a lot of fun dancing and seeing all the really dressed up
people! We made some friends who were happy to pay for a few of our drinks.
When a person bought a huge bottle of what looked like very expensive alcohol
(which happened quite a few times in this swanky party) a line of people would
walk out with sparklers and put on a whole light show on throughout the club!
It was a really fun night and I’m glad we got to go!
Day 3: We woke up early because we only had half a day to
explore the last parts of London, so we got on the underground train and took
it to the area where Big Ben and the London Eye is. We ate breakfast at a restaurant right next to the London
Eye. Then we rode around the London Eye and watched a bunch of the street
performers and took lots of pictures. It was such a beautiful day that we got
some ice cream and just sat on the grass next to the river and relaxed. We had
a bus to catch at 4pm so we got back on the underground train and headed over
to the bus station. We made it to the bus station just in time, the driver
didn’t look too pleased with our timing, but let us on regardless! After we got back to the ship, Rory
(Camp Wayne ski co-counselor) picked us up. We got dinner and then Rory went
and picked up his older brother and we sat at a bar and caught up. It was a
hilarious time and I’m glad I got to see Rory and his brother hahah. They
dropped my friends and I off at the ship and we all went to bed pretty early.
Day 4: We slept in til 930 and then my roommate and I didn’t
have any plans so we decided to just go wander around and see Southampton.
There was a cute farmers market that we wandered around. I ended up buying a
blanket (the ship is very cold and the blankets aren’t very warm) and a long
skirt that will be perfect for travelling around Africa. We ate lunch in a
yummy little café and then came back to the ship nice and early and took a nap.
It was a fantastic trip around London, I had a blast and got
to see so many things!!
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