On Tuesday morning, I woke up, saddened by the fact that I would be leaving the dreamworld I call Iceland later on that afternoon. Sam and I went to our favorite little coffee shop 2 blocks down the road and had some coffee with a chocolate croissant. After coffee, we made one last visit to Hallgrimur’s church to take the lift to the top so we could see the beautiful view of Reykjavik that everyone had been telling us about.
After viewing Reykjavik from the top of the church, we went back downstairs to find an organist playing so we sat down and listened for awhile. Finally, we went back to our hostel, then gathered our belongings and took a bus to Keflavik airport. Keflavik airport is one of my favorites that I’ve been in. It’s extremely modern and clean. We went to duty free and both bought some Icelandic chocolate, and I grabbed a variety of Icelandic shots to take to Newcastle with me.
After waiting at our terminal for quite some time, we realized that no one else was around so there had to have been a mistake. We found out they switched our flight due to inclement weather. We finally found our gate and boarded our plane to London. I was excited because I had never ridden on a plane where you walk outside and up the stairs to the plane. It sounds like something silly to be excited about, especially for someone who has taken as many flights as I have, but I’ve always ridden on massive jets so they have the inside walking gate directly to the plane. This was something new that I had only seen in films.
After 3 hours, we arrived at London Heathrow airport, exhilarated to finally be arriving in our new country of residence for the next year! It’s a huge airport and we had to walk through long and winding corridors to finally get to customs. After waiting in line, I walked up to the customs officer with my visa. She asked me what I was doing here and for how long, as well as what uni I’m attending and what I’m studying, then she stamped my visa and that was that. I’m always daunted by customs, because the United States’ is so intense, but it was actually rather simple.
Sam and I went on to find the entrance to the London underground and bought tickets for the Piccadilly line to King’s Cross, which was £5. Upon arriving at King’s Cross, we got our first real taste of London. It was crowded, loud, and bright… a lot like New York, but much nicer and cleaner. We asked for directions to King’s Cross Road, so we could find our hostel, Clink78. Clink78 used to be a courthouse where Charles Dickens worked while writing Oliver Twist. It is also where the Clash went to court for shooting a prize pigeon in 1978.
Our hostel was £16 a night, and was at a pretty central, easy to find location. They charge £2 for a towel (which I got out of by fumbling with my change long enough) and £3 for wifi during your stay. They have two old courtrooms that they have turned into a computer room and tv room, as well as a lively bar and kitchen in the basement. I would say that it was pretty decent for the money, but very crowded, so if you like more privacy, it might not be for you.
After checking in, Sam and I went to dinner at a small Italian restaurant a block away. I ordered my first English cider and a gnocchi gorgonzola, it was delicious. Then we walked around for quite some time until we were thoroughly lost and finally found our way back by midnight. We went to the hostel’s bar where everyone was hanging out and I ended up talking to a guy from Belgium, named Robin. He was in London looking for a place to live because he’s a chef and just got an internship at a very nice restaurant in the city.
When the bar closed, Sam went to bed and I went outside with Robin. We walked around for awhile and then I saw a bus going to Trafalgar Square so we decided to be spontaneous and chased it down. He had an Oyster card, which I didn’t know about at the time, but it’s a card you can use in London for buses and the underground. It’s only £1.40 for a bus if you have the card, but £2.40 when you have cash… so I recommend you get one if you’ll be in London. Very useful.
After the hassle of digging for my change, we just sat down in the first seat but then I remembered that it was my first time on a red double decker bus, so obviously, I had to run to the top. We sat in the first row and I was like a little kid in a candy shop the whole way to Trafalgar Square. We finally got there, and walked through the square, Chinatown, Hyde Park, past Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye. It was so perfect because it wasn’t crowded, especially since it was only a Tuesday night. By the time we had seen everything, it was about 5am so we searched for a bus to King’s Cross and went back to the hostel. I climbed into my teeny tiny little hostel bed, snuggled up to my belongings, and went to sleep, dreading waking up in 3.5 hours.
More from London coming soon!
Forever wandering and wondering,
Brianna Leilani