First Night in London

So my first night in London. It was interesting to say the least. Well after getting checked into my hostel, I managed to figure out how to lock up my big backpack in the locker under the bed. Changed my shirt (I had been wearing a heavy red sweater), and then decided to go out for a walk on the town.

One of the fist things I saw (and the first photo I took) was the Natural History Museum.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to go inside, it was getting late and I wanted to see other stuff first. But it was a beautiful building. And next time I'm in London I'll definitely stop by.

So anyway, I kept walking. I took another photo, this time of a statue.

And then I stumbled onto a beautiful little church. It was called the Holy Trinity With All Saints Church on Prince Consort Road. It was my first European church (but definitely not the last!), and it was lovely.

A lady was out front sweeping the steps and luckily a sign said it was open to visitors. Side note: not all churches are open to the public. And even those that are have very specific visiting times. But like I said, I got lucky. It was the perfect introduction to European churches. I was very impressed. Especially once I learned that it wasn't even remotely a big or impressive church by London standards.

After wandering around the church for several minutes (taking a few photos), I decided to continue exploring London. Another side note: not all churches allow photography. Be sure to check signage and if in doubt ask someone. Anyway I left the church and kept on walking. I took another photo of an impressive building.

And then I realized, by looking at my map, how close I was to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Another side note: most museums and art galleries in the U.K. and Ireland are free to visit. Most just have a donation bin in the front. But always check, a few do charge entry fees.

Anyway, I figured since I was so close that I would try and see as much of the museum as possible before it closed for the day. It was a wonderful museum, I only wish I had had more time to explore it fully. It had amazing artifacts from all over the world. I took lots of pictures. Especially of the beautiful four poster beds, there were several!

There was also a lovely room called the Norfolk House Music Room that I took a video of (my first video so forgive me!).

There were so many beautiful things to see it would take forever to try and list them all. Plus I saw so many museums in Europe, so some collections blend together. But I did take a few photos and overall it was a great first museum to visit. 

It also had a gorgeous odd glass ornament hanging in the entryway. I got a blurry photo of it, but it was beautiful and really large, it's just hard to get that from the photo.

But I tried to keep my visit short since I knew they would be closing soon. So after about an hour I moved on. By this time I was pretty hungry. I hadn't had a real meal since the plane, besides a few snack items. So I decided it was time to look for something to eat.

I walked around the South Kensington neighborhood, and there were a ton of restaurants. Luckily most of them had their menus on display outside so I knew what their prices were. I walked around for a while, looking at prices and trying to decide what my first meal in the U.K. would be. I debated fish and chips, but the prices were a little high for me. Plus I'm not a big fish person anyway. So I decided on a little restaurant with decent prices that had some good burgers on the menu. I know, I know, going to London to eat a hamburger, shame on me!

But I wanted something filling, since I knew I wouldn't be eating anything until breakfast the next morning. So I got a burger that came with an egg on top, and it was delicious. In fact I couldn't even finish the whole thing!

After eating I decided it was time to get back to my hostel, since it was getting dark. I figured since I was a woman travelling alone, walking around after dark probably wasn't the safest. I got a little lost on the way  back to the hostel, I had wandered around so much I couldn't remember what direction I came from.

But on the way back to the hostel I saw this guy!

Yes it was a man playing a tuba, not that interesting right? But what the picture doesn't show you, the video hopefully will.

Yes, he was a fire playing tuba man. I don't know how else to describe him. He was also playing a lot of polka music, and yes I may have known all the words to some of the songs he was playing. I blame my grandfather for my inordinate amount of polka knowledge.

After watching tuba man for several minutes, I kept going. I finally found my hostel again and went to take a hot shower. After getting clean, I got on my tablet and uploaded all my photos and let everyone know I was still alive. Then I went to bed around 9:30 pm like an old person. But jet lag was killing me at that point.

So there you have it, my first night in London. I'll post my other adventures soon!