Our friend from back home, Tara, met us for the next ten days of our trip! We started in London, where we quickly made friends with two Kiwis, Ludo and Ben, and the rest of London was a blur. The End.
Just kidding…London was a blast. One of the first nights, we grabbed a few street beers and just started wandering around the city. We found ourselves in an underground Vans Warehouse skate park (because Maggie and Tara thought it was a shoe store), where we were pleasantly surprised with the free entertainment we stumbled upon. Following the skate park, we ventured closer to the Thames River, where we sat below the London Eye that overlooked Big Ben and the Parliament Building. The night skylines in London were astonishing and seemed to go forever in all directions around you. As we passed the Tower of London, a sea of red poppies stretched across the lawn, giving a slight shimmer as the night-lights reflected off their ceramic petals. Following the walk around the Tower, we then strolled over the Tower Bridge before heading back towards are hostel.
Side Note: London Bridge is very unimpressive. London has more intricate, pedestrian bridges than the London Bridge.
The next day and a couple hours commute from downtown London, we found ourselves at the Harry Potter Studios Tour to celebrate Maggie’s 25th birthday! We spent nearly 4 hours roaming through the sets that the cast and crew spent nearly 10 years living and filming. Nearly everything you saw in the movies could be found here, from costumes, props, and sets, all the way to Naigini the live boa.
On one of our last nights out on the town, we decided to do a pub-crawl. It ended at a club called The Institute. This club was bat shit crazy if I had to describe it. It had multiple floors, with winding passages and staircases in every direction leading to different musically themed rooms. The decorations were similar throughout, focused on a post apocalyptic hospital setting. It was dimly lit, manikins hung form the ceiling, and you could order any shot you wanted in a syringe, or mixed drink in an IV bag. It was definitely a different world while in The Institute, but a pleasurable time for our group.