Leaving and Loving London

My last day in London. *insert tears here* Even the sky was weeping for me, as it poured buckets for a large portion of my day. 

I had developed a "to-do" list before I came to my grand city, and I had just a few more things to see before I left. Despite only getting an hour-ish of sleep the night before, I headed out early on Wednesday morning to make sure I saw everything, starting with Covent Garden & Neal's Yard. 

Neal's Yard is one of those tiny little scenic places you find and pin on Pinterest time and again. It is nestled off a street in Covent Garden, where you could easily miss it if you weren't looking. There may not be much to do there at 9:30 am on a Wednesday, but it sure is a photogenic little hide-away. 

Oxford walls

I wanted to see if I had fallen in love with London or just England on the whole, so the fourth day of my UK adventure I took a day trip. I can only name a hand full of English towns, one of which is Oxford. What I knew about Oxford boiled down to essentially that there is a college there, and that was enough for me (again, ever-scheming for a good excuse to move to England).  

I googled a few tid-bits about Oxford before boarding the bus to my destination for the day, and off I went. I must say, my internet skills were particularly lazy that fair day, so the only thing that stuck was that The Grand Café had excellent high tea. It's obvious I pay attention to the most important things in life. 

Geek Out Day

Welcome to what I like to call my "Geek Out Day" aka "The Best Day Ever" aka "The Perfect Day in London" aka "Too Many Pictures in One Day" aka "The Longest Blog Post Ever Because It Was AMAZING". All seriousness, though, March 24, 2014 was one of the most exemplary days I have ever had. 

It began with the sun shining in London (a good omen, or so I hear). I strolled through residential streets and into Battersea Park; I learned my first day, that the best way to start a day in London is in a park.

London town wanderings

I get hankerings, and once I get them, they don't let go. I've been fortunate enough that most of this food cravings have evaded me during my time in Italy. However, with the promise of London, home to every possible type of food you could imagine, I needed something so exotic, something so foreign I could get it in no other place than the cosmopolitan metropolitan paradise of London. I needed........ a cheeseburger. 

Ok, so maybe it's not that exotic. Nevertheless, few things are as satisfying as a good burger (and few things are as unfortunate as a bad burger). Thanks to some internet-scouring I had a hunch on where to get a goodin' in ol' London town. On Sunday I found myself at the Byron Burger in Soho.

A tasty Sunday Burger seemed to be a popular idea, as the place was poppin'. Inside there is a very diner-esc atmosphere, though just a little more upscale, probably because proper British people seem to eat there french fries chips with a fork. 

The Tourist Walk

I expected to like London. I had no idea that I would love it. I love Italy, I love Switzerland, but I want to pack up all my things, move to London and never leave. It's that kind of love. The moment my plane touched down that first night and I hopped on a bus into the brightly lit city I was smiling to myself, I'm going to like it here, I thought. 

The next morning I purchased my Oyster card, leapt on an iconic red double-decker bus, and headed into the city center. I couldn't have gotten any luckier with the weather on the first day of my adventure; the giant cumulus clouds made the city even more picturesque.