This past weekend was a whirlwind of a trip! Three of my girlfriends and I crossed the pond over to London for a quick 36hours and then hopped over to Ireland for two days. Exhausting. But amazing.

Leaving my house at 3:30am, I met the girls at the Barcelona airport bright and early for our 6am flight. We arrived in London at 8am and the crazy day began from there. After busing from the Stansted Airport (about an hour out of the city), we dropped our bags off in our hostel in the hip area of Camden Town. Our hostel was above a bar/restaurant and was filled with young people from all over.  We cashed out later on the food and drink deals given to travelers staying above- a great deal indeed where the British pound is worth more than the euro and a lot more than the U.S. dollar.

Deciding to get the real Londoner’s experience, we decided against a tour bus & opted for the subway system, known as the Tube, to get us to the sites. After a few months of mastering Barcelona’s metro, it’s great feeling confident navigating subways worldwide now! Bring it on NY. We rode the London Eye, a big ferris wheel-type thing with great views of the city. We saw Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey (where Diana’s funeral was held). We also made our way to Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace.  About 10miles (really!) of walking later, we wrapped up the day with dinner while chatting with locals and listening to Open Mic night in the bar below the hostel.

On Friday, we went to the famous Camden Market. The market was full of souvenir shops, cool clothing, handmade jewelry, and many other cool crafts. Later in the afternoon we headed back to the airport and were off to our next destination: Dublin!

The London Eye:

Gorgeous views!:

Big Ben:

Westminster Abbey:

Buckingham Palace:

Hyde Park:

Camden Town: