Hi again!
So I was surprised with some extra Britrail passes and got to planning on where else to visit. Couldn't pass up getting to visit with my roomie from Leeds of course! Had such a nice time getting to catch up and explore the city. There are quite a few cool shopping centers. We also took some breaks for table tennis and drinks. Leeds is quite a neat city and I'm so glad I got to stop by, even if it was only for a few hours!
We planned our final trip for one of our last days in London and went to Brighton. We all really wanted to see the ocean so we went to the closest point on the coast. Just stepping out of the train station the salt-water air was refreshing. We ended up walking all the way down
Brighton Pier. There were carnival rides and food stands galore. I had never seen so many donut and crepe stands in my life. It was a pretty exciting place and wish we had more time to explore the beach and shops. Still, it was worth the short trip just to see the coast. From the area we could see, the beach was rocky instead of standing but looked really inviting on another sunny, breezy day.
Back in London we got to visit the Ice Bar! It was a super cool experience, pun intended. Even the tables are made out of ice and that doesn't include the many sculptures and etchings on the walls of ice. We are even sitting on a throne of ice in our photo! The music and drinks were great
too. I would totally recommend going to anyone who gets the chance. It's not something you get the chance to do everyday and it's a great way to cool off. Before we headed back to the flats we went shopping for souvenirs and finally stopped by Primark. We also found a toy store that was several stories tall and just like you would see in a movie!
On our last day in London we did our best to check off all of the things we still had left on our list to do. Our first stop was Westminster station to get photos by Big Ben. It maybe a typical tourist thing to do but there's no way we could leave London without it! We took a bus when we first stopped by Big Ben so it was surprising to walk out of the station and be right under the tower. I hadn't had a chance to stop by Buckingham Palace yet either so that was our next stop. Even the walk from the station through the park was nice. If I get the chance to go back I'd love to take a tour of the palace!
After visiting the palace is actually when we took our trip to Brighton. We got back, train delays and all, in just enough time to go out for one last pub night and meet up with the rest of the group who spent the day at the play. It was definitely a crazy day but worth it. An amazing way to spend our last bit of time in London!