Hello Everyone,
This was my first trip in Europe all by myself! Boy did I learn a lot. Thankfully God kept me safe and comforted the whole time and I had a blast. It was so much easier to travel when you know how to speak the language! who would have thought.. I really enjoyed being able to speak english for a weekend it was funny because in the beginning I kept wanting to speak in French (the little I know). I took the Eurostar from Lille France and arrived straight into St. Pancras International train station around 10PM at night.
I realized that this train station was the one with Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter so I asked around to find it. I was so excited for this to be my first sight that I saw in England. I'm not a Harry Potter fanatic but I sure did get giddy to find it and pose like I was running. heheehe
I was able to catch the Tube every easily with some directions from the ticket man and went toward Hyde Park where my Hostel was. This was my first time staying in a Hostel as well and I loved it! The atmosphere was so fun and everyone was so friendly. When I arrived to my 6 person all girls room all the girls were so nice. There were 2 girls from switzerland, 2 from germany and 1 from Czech Republic and what was amazing to me was that they all spoke english! Here are some pictures of the Hostel I stayed at. These two people are the receptionists..
This is the lounge where everyone could hang out or go online..
Saturday Morning I woke up bright and early and walked to find the Big Bus Tour to buy a ticket for the day. I was so excited to go on a double decker bus in England. They had earphones and you clicked your language you wanted and some busses only had a live english speaker. I found those later in the day with my hop-on hop-off pass, those buses were a lot more fun.
Me on the bus by Hyde Park..
This is the Trafalgar Square where the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and Nelson's Column are. I would love to go back there and have a picnic with my husband someday, it seemed like the most relaxing place and good for people watching :)
It was nice doing the bus tour because I was alone, I felt more safe because there were other people with me and it was a guided tour. I really enjoyed the bus and totally recommend the top deck for sure. The first stop I got off on was Westminster Station where the Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Eye and the House of Parliament were at. I found this to be my favorite stop out of all the places I was able to go to because there was just so much to see.
The London Eye.. I didn't have time to ride on it, but maybe next time. Its the tallest sight seeing ferris wheel in the world and was built for Y2K along with a couple other things in London.
I was able to ask someone to take my picture with the classic telephone booths which are all around the city. So fun!
From here I hopped back onto the bus and I was able to see some really cool sights leading up to Buckingham Palace, which was perfectly timed to see the changing of the guards.
From here I hopped back onto the bus and I was able to see some really cool sights leading up to Buckingham Palace, which was perfectly timed to see the changing of the guards. 
There were so many people there to watch.. 
And really cool looking British Police!
From there I took a ride around for awhile on the Bus and ate my lunch, there were so many photos I could show you but hopefully these ones sum my trip up...
Horse Guards on WhiteHall street
The Royal Courts of Justice
Where Prince William and the Princess got married at St. Paul's Cathedral!
I thought this was one of the cooler monuments that I have seen, someone built this in remembrance of London and the Great London Fire.
Finally we got to the London Tower Bridge, which I was really looking forward to seeing besides Big Ben and the London Eye. It was my favorite kind of weather all day which made traveling and taking pictures such a delight, cloudy and cold just the way I like it :)
I walked like a million miles and got lost ALOT to try and find my next stop. Luckily God kept me safe, I was smart about where I was walking but a lot of sketchy areas were around me to get there. Once I finally found it, it was closed. I was a little bummed because if the bus stopped there and if I knew where I was going I might have been able to make it in time to see the inside of Shakesphere's Globe Theater.. But heres the outside
As I walked back to the Bus stop I saw this museum and thought that would be pretty cool to go into, but I didn't really have time because I had to catch the bus, to my free boat ride that came with the ticket. The boat would get me to the area I needed to be in to take the tube on the circle line to Victoria Station because earlier that day I bought tickets at a discount booth to see the musical Wicked! I was so excited! But really had to hurry to make it by 7:00PM to get my ticket at will call.
To be honest I didn't even know what it really was about going into it. But I thought it was so funny! I sat way up high in the cheap-o seats, but I had a blast I ate my dinner during the show and laughed my head off and the songs and the jokes about the Wizard of Oz. If you have not seen it you definitely should go if you like musicals.
Right after it was late at night so I headed back to my Hostel for a great nights sleep. The next morning I woke up and decided to head back to Westminster Station to find a place to have some English Tea and a Croissant. I was so thankful to find one right by Big Ben where I was able to eat my apricot croissant, drink breakfast tea, read my Bible and just stare out onto the beautiful scenery. It was absolutely the best morning I could have had with God. After I finished I had planned to catch a church service in England because I have been craving for a good Biblical teaching (in English). Thankfully the night before I found a Calvary Chapel not too far from where I was at so I gave myself an hour to get there and boy did I need it. I had to ask so many directions and got so lost. But I was blessed to make it on time. Or so I thought.. The website said 11AM but the service actually started at 12PM and I could only stay until 12:15PM because I had to travel all the way back to the train station to catch my Eurostar train in the chunnel. Here is what the church looked like from the outside...
I wish I could have shown you the inside. It was beautiful! It was all dark wood and you could tell that its been a place of worship for many many years. It was wonderful being able to stay as long as I did. I didn't know it was an all african american church, everyone looked so sharp with their sunday hats, suits and dresses on, and I only had on street clothes.. I was amazed how many people reached out to me and how everyone was so welcoming and so wonderful to me. I realized that is how churches are suppose to be to anyone, and I was defiantly not their normal church goer, all the people there were such good examples to me of what christians should be and I was truly blessed to be a guest there at there church. I was able to sit in on one of their small groups because I was early and see a few minutes of the service. I loved every minute of it and was bummed I hard to leave to catch my train. But all in all that was probably the best ending to my trip that I could ever ask for. Hope you enjoyed my pictures and stories. Until next time.. Au Revior
Love and a Hug,
Nicole
P.S. Sorry about the funky underlined and font changes I don't know why its doing that but its late so I will go to bed and try to figure it out another time.. Hope its not too distracting!
