knock knock, london's calling.

do you remember, when you were a little kid, all the times you watched a movie and that funny foreign accent had you absolutely intrigued you? now, don't laugh, but the movie that provided that intriguing accent for me was james bond. yes, Mr. double-oh-seven. something about him being a bad-ass international spy with a sexy UK accent. what's even funnier was that the first one i ever saw was 1964's Goldfinger starring Sean Connery. so yes, blame Sir Sean Connery for my love for all things UK.

now my point for bringing that up was that after that film, my head would always turn towards the direction of a scottish/irish/british accent. as if i could really tell the difference at my young, tender age. then harry potter rolled around & bam, instantly in love. all things british became my obsession. my best friend anj & i had our moms planning an actual trip to london together when we got out of high school as a graduation present because we couldn't stop talking about. i was actually going to go but God had other plans for me.

then this opportunity came: going to europe with Camay for an entire semester. this OF COURSE meant i was going to London. if anything had been planned, it was this specific side trip. i had booked tickets way before i was even on a plane to my first city, Rome. Camay's uncle was so kind enough, and i mean like, an unnecessary super kind, to buy our round trip plane tickets to London for our Spring Break. it would be 10 days of absolute GLORY (insert very obnoxious Hallelujah!) so it was settled. way before i even knew what the hell else i was doing in europe, i KNEW i was going to london.

fast-forward to the end of february & in complete secret, harold's sister bought a plane ticket for Harold to come visit me IN LONDON for his 21st birthday. it was hard enough talking to harold because this whole long-distance thing was killing me and putting a serious strain on our relationship, but then to keep this ENORMOUS secret from him was unbearable. when i finally got to share the good news with him, it all seemed to be falling into place. i was going to the country of my childhood dreams, where i could meet rupert grint and we'd fall in love and live happily ever after in a cottage not too far from hogwarts. well, since harold was coming, that last bit couldn't happen but going was such a blessing.

the days leading up to spring break were killer. classes dragged on, i was a lazy bore watching movies when i was tired of exploring for the day, and i realized i was spending way too much money at Penny's (for anyone planning on going to the UK, penny's is the PLACE TO BE for cute, cheap, UK fashion. the brand to look for is 'primark'). but the day it came for me to leave for the airport, my excitement level was non-existant. hah, it's like my body turned the off switch for it.
people saw me dragging my enormous suitcase down the hall wondering where i was going and when i replied, 'London' they were like, 'Oh hey, cool, I'm going with so&so next week. How long you stayin?' I couldn't help but smile and say 'Next Saturday.' Camay and I were the only ones going away for the entire Spring Break.

i blinked and suddenly i was in the glass airport called Heathrow and it was around 11pm. i vaguely remember the moments leading up to seeing Harold outside my gate, but i do remember that i was suddenly nervous. i don't dress up for flights. i never have. but i was kicking myself this time for not putting some effort into my appearance. i mean, helllooo, it's been months since i've seen my own boyfriend! but everything disappeared after that. all thoughts went into happy mode when we walked out of the gate doors and there's my awkward boyfriend holding a sign that said my name. i mean, there was only like 30 people on this flight and only 20 people outside the gate greeting other passengers, but it was the cutest thing.

the rest of the stay was the epitome of relaxation and adventure. harold's hotel was in an area of north london, 30euro/night (SUPER CHEAP). i recommend that if you want to save a buttload of money to get a hotel outside central london and just buy an oystercard (like an even more expensive metrocard because you pay per zone you enter) to travel. the first night we found our way around london with my little london map from my tourist book and headed to see SPRING AWAKENING. met up with camay & stephanie (from DTW Spain). seriously, UKSA changed my life. i don't think i could've appreciated the USSA as much as I did the UK version. even stephanie (who's seen SA over 50 times in different countries) thought the UK cast was the best. we went around after the show & met with some of the actors. & hey! even met someone from harry potter. unfortunately, not rupert grint.

one Easter Sunday, we got in our Easter Sunday best and walked over to the Catholic church nearby for mass then decided to go to Westminster Abbey for their celebration. what an honor. there were hundreds of parishioners packed like sardines inside this church. i did not stay the whole service because i knew Harold was getting restless. but now he can say, 'I celebrated Easter Sunday at Westminster Abbey!' Mind you, hes's not even a practicing Christian and I'm Catholic but God does not discriminate! (Lemme know if I talk about God too much, ok?) Big Ben is pretty awesome. The whole Parliament itself is an architectural insanity. The details of that building is ridonk.

we went to go see the 'famous' & big letdown called London Bridge. The Verrazano is prettier looking than that thing. But it's the Tower Bridge you see in all the pictures. we walked along the beautiful river then came to the Tower Of London, London's most haunted place. Now that was pretty cool. i love old buildings because you walk back into another era when you're inside 'em and this place was no different. Sure, the refreshment stands and little kids running around picking their wedgies only screamed TOURIST but I couldn't leave London without doing it! Then around Sunset we crossed the Tower Bridge. This was where I learned that Harold was afraid of heights, haha.

Buckingham Palace is beautiful! Changing of the Guards was pretty epic but they're not kidding when they say get there early. I mean, you need to camp out there for hours to be in front of those legendary gates for the ceremony.But really? It's just the guards walking back and forth and shaking hands or something to officially 'switch'. It was cool though. Then we walked through the famous St. James Park, so cute. We found our way to Trafalgar Square and climbed up to the lion and whispered my secret to him so that he could hold it forever in London <3. style="font-style: italic;">Broadway (and I've seen a lot of Broadway) West End seems to put on better productions. we had dinner that night with her and her mom and parted ways. it's so cool to be in another country just 'meeting up with friends'. my boyfriend was kinda amazed by it. after another night around the Leicester Square area, I met James McAvoy (Wanted) who was doing a show, as well. what a sweet man. &then spent another day at a vintage magazine shop. that was heaven.

& who could forget Abbey Road! A must for those Beatles fans! We, ironically, got off at the metro stop called St. John's Wood , and walked around till we found the street. To the naked eye, it's obviously just another crosswalk but wow! You knew instantly what it was if you were prepared. Others were taking photos and cars politely waited. I'm sure the smarter drives found ways around Abbey Road to avoid the constant hold-up my rabid fans. Abbey Studios is quite a wonder, too. Many people scribbled love notes, lyrics, and praise for Mr. Lennon & the fellow Beatles. So many countries, so many people. Music reaches all souls.

harold & i couldn't pass up an opportunity to watch some live music in London so we went to this band's (forgot the name at the moment) CD single release show. it was pretty damn cool. it's the same club where coldplay used to play and it's rinky-dink atmosphere showed london at it's super-trendy best. & of course, the London Eye. we ended our trip by going up for a sunset-night ride on this enormous ferris wheel. the entire ride is about 30 minutes and it casts a wonderful view over the Thames river. we ended our last full day together going on this super romantic egg-ride. afterwards, we walked along the river, next to Salvador Dali replicas & the stringed lights turned on, casting a shadow on the river. it was the most amazing trip of my entire life (& harold's too! it was his fist time out of the country).

i know this entry is ridiculous but it's mostly for me. i know i've still forgotten A LOT of things, but i cannot bear it if i forgot it all. so to round up the trip, some other little notes are that fish&chips are amazing, the tube is too expensive, the red phone booths are disgusting, & despite it being a busy BUSY city, it was so romantic.

saying goodbye to Harold was tough, but getting back on the plane to Dublin meant I only had 3 more weeks left. I had to live it up.