Home Sweet Home... But Missing London!!!

I went to meet Ellyn on Wednesday so we could go to our hotel that we had booked right by Heathrow since we had an early flight the next morning. I must have been giving everyone in my neighborhood quite the show because I had to bring 3 suitcases with me all the way to my bus stop. I eventually made it to Ellyn but I was shaking because it was so hard to carry all the luggage. Ellyn and I made a system where we figured the best way to get our luggage from point a to point b. Once we finally got to the hotel we sat in the room and did not move for a while... we were exhausted! We eventually got up to go re-pack our suitcases and then go to sleep.

The next morning we took a taxi to Heathrow and checked our bags in. We found out once we got there that our flight was delayed 2 hours.... we decided this was a sign that London didn't want us to leave. I quickly messaged my parents to tell them about the delay in case we missed our connecting flight to Saginaw. We waited around some more and then found out our flight was delayed another 20 minutes. We knew there was no way we would make our connecting flight so I asked my mom if she could just pick us up in Detroit. I didn't have much time left on the free wifi so I had to get off and just assumed I would see my mom in Detroit.

We finally got on our plane and we both watched movies the whole way back. Once we landed I called my mom on Ellyn's phone to see if she was there. She thought we would be able to go on another connecting flight at 5, but knowing we still had to get our luggage, go through customs and go through security again I didn't think we would make it. We later found out that flight was booked, and our original connecting flight was delayed until 9:30 that night! My mom picked us up in Detroit, and my dad, Erik and friend Maggie were with her! They even had signs for us.... it was pretty adorable!

We met Ellyn's family in Frankenmuth since they live far from Detroit. Ellyn's mom had Welcome Home balloons for us! It was so strange to say bye to Ellyn because we traveled so much together.

We're home! (Our sings have the Eiffel Tower on them because there was no London cut-out... plus we went to Paris with our mom's!)

Adam came home for a bit that night and I handed out souvenirs for them. I think they all liked the Bueno Bars!

I saw more family and friends over the weekend. People will jokingly ask if I saw The Queen and when I say yeah they get excited. When I tell them I saw the whole Royal Family their jaw drops. This always reminds me how lucky I was to see them!

I experienced more culture shock coming home than I did going to London. I'm used to being around people with English (and Australian!) accents, hanging out with my friends at the pub, and going to a big city all the time. Now I'm surrounded by Americans (my family does say "bloody hell" as a joke now...), going to Starbucks to see my friends and going to Walmart is probably the most exciting thing to do.

My final bracelet... America, England, Germany, France, Scotland, Ireland and my 20th birthday

London was the best decision I ever made. I don't really know how I can beat the experience I had while there! Not only did I get to travel to so many places I only dreamed about going, but I also gained a lot of self confidence, friends I know I will stay in contact with (and visit someday!) and memories that I will never forget.

People always ask me if I liked London and if I ever plan on going back. My answer is always yes. 100% yes. Some people also ask if I want to live there someday and seemed shocked when I tell them that I would love that. I guess going from the shy person I was to now wanting to go live in a different country would be shocking to hear. I just wish I could show everyone how beautiful London is and how amazing the city is. I've tried to put my experience in words through this blog, but I still don't think I gave the city justice. I just hope if anyone gets the opportunity to go to London that they take it. Yes, it is expensive. Yes, you will always be on the go because there is so much to see, but that is one of the greatest parts of London... there was always something to do! Even after living there for 5 months I still feel like there is so much I could have seen!

Everyday my mind wanders off to think of London. I don't think I will ever not be able to think of it! To anyone who is looking for a sign about if they should study abroad, this is it. Go abroad! Study, travel, create amazing memories. I wouldn't change anything about my time in London.

Another Item off the Bucket List!

It's so strange to think that in less than 48 hours I will be back in Michigan. I have been having such an amazing time in London that I almost thought it would never end! Yes, I knew that my plane ticket was booked to go back (my dad makes sure to remind me of that when I talk about not wanting to leave), but you never imagine leaving something that makes you incredibly happy. Also, I never imagined London would make me this happy. I had hoped that I would love it, but I thought that when it was time for me to go home that I would be ready. I am excited to see my family and friends and can't wait to have home cooked meals again, but after living in such a large city I realized I am going to have to make Michigan exciting. Challenge accepted.

Last Friday I went into the city by myself. I never had a day to myself to just walk around and see the sights I wanted to see. I went to Picadilly, Leicester Square, Harrods (and got lost multiple times... that store is huge!), Green Park, St. James Park, Buckingham Palace and eventually met Ellyn at Trafalgar Square. We were going to get some dinner together but neither of us were hungry so we got ice cream instead! She was lucky enough to see The Queen and Prince William earlier that day!

Saturday was another day by myself! Ellyn's host family has a free pass to the palaces in London so she let me borrow that to go see Hampton Court. It was really cool because we got to see some rooms that we hadn't seen in other palaces. The gardens were my favorite part, though. They were so beautiful! The trees were shaped in really unique ways and there were so many different gardens.

Sunday I had set aside for packing. I am an awful packer, and considering I don't want  to leave..... let's just say packing isn't going so well for me. But as of now I am almost done and I think I can get everything to fit!

Ellyn and I went to the London Zoo on Monday! Our first stop was to the reptile house so we could see the place where Harry set the snake free in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. We were very happy when we found it! We also saw gorillas, tigers, penguins, monkeys (they were adorable!), pigs... just your average zoo animals! 

We met Maddy in Chiswick for our last Nando's meal that night. She texted to say that her parents rented a flat in the city and said that we could stay with them for the night! That was perfect because we had planned on going into the city early the next morning and we didn't want to say bye to Maddy that night. The flat ended up being right by Trafalgar so it was in a prime location! 

The Queen and Philip

Today was the coronation celebration for The Queen. It's her 60th year on the throne and had the coronation service today. It was at Westminster Abbey. We set our alarms for early this morning, got Starbucks for breakfast and walked to Buckingham Palace just to see what was happening. We did see a few ladies dressed in fun hats waiting to see The Queen, but we decided to walk to Westminster to see how the crowds were there. When we arrived there were more people, so we decided to stay there. We had second row! We saw all of the guests go in with their fascinators on their heads.... I was quit jealous. Then a police escort came through and the car behind it had the Duke and Duchess of Kent in it! They waved to everyone waiting. We waited some more then a big group of royals showed up... Beatrice, Eugenie, Zara Phillips, Princess Anne and I can't even remember all of the others! We waited some more and then the ones I was waiting for showed up: Will, Kate and Harry! Will and Kate were in a car together and they both got so excited when they saw everyone waiting and they waved to us. Harry was in the car behind and didn't really interact with the crowd. I was in between Ellyn and Maddy and I looked at Maddy at this point and we both giggled uncontrollably for a little bit. The lady behind me told us we had to calm down, but then the lady next her asked us "Isn't this exciting?" We weren't being obnoxious or rude so we didn't get why we were told to calm down! Oh well.... A little later Camilla and Charles drove by and then Philip and Queen Elizabeth drove up the the Abbey. 

Camilla.... Charles is in the car too

We left after The Queen went in and we kept looking at each other saying "Oh my god.... we just saw the entire royal family!" We could not believe it! We went to a cafe by Trafalgar to have a quick lunch, then went to St. James park to soak up the sun (I even got tan lines on my feet and a little bit of a tan on my face... never thought I would say that in London!). Maddy's parents eventually called and we found them. Ellyn and I were getting ready to leave since we both had packing to do. I didn't think I would cry when saying bye to Maddy since I was so happy with what just happened, but I was wrong. It's so incredibly hard to say bye to someone that has become one of your best friends knowing you won't see them in a long time. Fingers crossed she can come to America next summer!

Kate (in the beige) and Will

Harry, Kate and Will

Camilla and Charles

Ellyn and I made our way to Big Ben to see it one last time (and take pictures ... we looked like tourists again). It just seemed surreal to us. Even when we were walking away we were saying how we felt like we will come into the city tomorrow. We walked past the London Eye and made our way to Waterloo for our last train ride. I was in such a rush to mine that I got on the wrong train! I realized this just as it was pulling away, but thankfully this one also made a stop at another station I live near. I started crying on the train when I saw the London Eye and Big Ben.... people must have thought I just went through a break up or something because I probably looked ridiculous! 

Thinking back to when I first found out I was officially going to London I came up with all of these crazy fantasies in my head.... I would meet One Direction, go to fancy parties in the city, make friends that I could potentially live here with one day, see a royal (or meet a prince and fall in love.... but that one I knew was just a hopeful wish). Looking back at my experiences, I came really close to all of these thoughts, I even achieved a few! I have said this before, and I stick to my words when I say that there is no luck in London. It's all fate.