Our accommodations were not that shabby either - our hotel was right on the Thames River, in between the City of London (basically where everything famous is located) and Greenwich (where the prime meridian is)- because I was able to score my Hilton discount! Go me! But, since there were 3 of us traveling, we got stuck in a sticky situation because unlike in the US, there is no room option with 2 double beds, either 2 twins or 1 double and if you have another person, you either have to get another room or pay for the extra person. Well, we are students on a budget and paying extra was just not what we wanted to do, so I requested a double bed and called to request a rollaway bed as well because we didn’t want to be sharing the bed. When we got there and were checking in, I made sure that the rollaway was still going to be sent up and this begins our sticky situation lol The receptionist asked me why I needed a rollaway bed so I told her what I mentioned above. Then she looks through her room availabilities and comes to find that they have a room with 2 twin beds instead. As I knew this wouldn’t work, I had to quickly find a reason to say no. This went back and forth about 5 minutes and she kept asking me why I needed the rollaway bed and if we had 3 people, but I was not going to give up and actually tell her we did (I definitely get this quality from my Mom) so finally she gave in and not only gave us the rollaway but the room with the 2 twin beds! She definitely knew we had 3 people, but hey, no extra charge on the room equals a win for Stephanie!


The first night was very low key; just starting to explore the city. We started off first by going to Piccadilly Circus, which definitely reminded me of Time Square in New York, not to mention a gazillion movies that has this square in it as well. This was also where we found our first English pub to dine at. And to my surprise, they had Strongbow (an Irish cider, which is gluten free) on tap; great way to start out the night!



Friday was a big day for us because we were going to Stonehenge! I was really excited for this because the last time my family and I were in London, we never made it out to Stonehenge. We took the tube out to Kensington for our bus pickup at 12:30pm and by the time it was 1pm we started getting worried that they had forgotten about us, but luckily we were not the only people there, so at this point I wasn’t worried. About 15 minutes later, a bus pulls up…finally! To show that you paid for this excursion, we had to print out the e-mail confirmation we received, so as I got up to the front, I handed the tour guide my confirmation and she looks for my name on the list and it is not there, nor is Lexie’s or Aaron’s names. Starting to panic now, I ask what we are supposed to do. The guide calls their offices to double check because her list may not have been 100% updates, but of course, we weren’t even in their system! We were trying to figure out what to do for about 10 minutes, when finally the bus driver realizes that our confirmation is for a completely different company!! Haha I felt SO embarrassed because I was about ready to become a very angry customer/tourist! Once we figured this out, we now had to worry about finding our tour bus and hope that we didn’t miss it while dealing with this issue. I was panicking because I paid to see Stonehenge and there was no way I was going to miss this! Luckily, Lexie brought her US sim card so as we were phoning the company, another bus turned onto the street and what do you know, almost 2 hours after our pickup time, our bus finally arrived…ahh (to say the least)! The bus ride was about 2 hours long, but I got to enjoy the green, English countryside on the way, and calm down from what just happened. And you’re probably going to laugh at me right now, but as were pulling up to Stonehenge, I really didn’t expect it to literally be in the middle of nowhere- there were sheep roaming around yards away from me!


The Stonehenge tour was so interesting too! We each got a headset that went along with a self-guided tour of the area. There were 9 different stages of the tour that walked you around the entire site. It was crazy to hear about all of the myths and legends that people over the years have come up with and their theories about why it was built in the first place and if there is any meaning to them.


Before we got back on the bus, we grabbed a snack. I wasn’t going to get anything because it was sandwiches and other foods I can’t eat, but as Lexie and Aaron were waiting in line, they called me over and pointed to this cake in the window. It was a Gluten-Free piece of chocolate cake! I couldn’t believe it. Out of all the places to have it, it was at Stonehenge! I just had to buy it and boy was it good!


When we got back, we of course went into another pub for a drink and to figure out what to do that night. One of my good friends from ISP (my school in Prague), Alison, lived in London and we had talked about meeting up for dinner and drinks and I was so happy that our plan came through! After 10 or so years of not seeing her, we got to hang out and catch up on life the whole night, it was so great!! She is exactly the same as I remember too, but with a heavier English accent. And surprisingly, I came to find out that she too has Celiac Disease- it’s a small world I tell ya!


Saturday rolled around- too fast I might add- but it was our touring day! First things first, Lexie and I went to Leicester Square to try and get half price discounted tickets to Wicked for that night. As we were standing in line, I asked the guy who was walking up and down the line giving us a list of all the shows that are in town and I asked him if they had tickets for Wicked, and thankfully I asked because they do not sell any type of discounted tickets for Wicked! I was really surprised by this, especially because they are the main company that sells these types of tickets. But I took my chances and went to another ticket office to buy my Wicked tickets, and what do you know, I was in luck! I saved around $60 USD by buying my tickets the day of and I was SO excited to be able to see it again...it is by far one of my favorite musicals around!


After dealing with this, we headed to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards! We got there about an hour before the event was supposed to start and there were so many people it was crazy! We all didn’t expect it to be this crowded, but we squeezed our way up to the front and waited. We were too far away to see them actually change the guards (they do that within the gates of the Palace), but we did get to see them parade in, which I think is the best part anyways.


Buckingham Palace is right next to St. James’s Park, and because it was such a beautiful day, we took a stroll through the park. The pictures turned out gorgeous!


Our day also included seeing Westminster Abbey


Big Ben and Parliament

The London Eye and the Aquarium

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

 London Bridge,
The Tower Bridge

The Tower of London

and St. Paul’s Cathedral (where Princess Diana was married)


On our way to the Globe Theatre, we also came across this amazing cathedrale and market (Borough Market).

Oh my goodness, the market smelt so tasty with the many different types of delicious foods they were cooking from Greek, to Spanish to Indian food. They also had a fruit, vegetable, fish, flower, spices and dessert section of the market….it was massive and packed with people, but the part we entered was the dessert section. And just like Stonehenge, more gluten-free products!!
I couldn’t believe it! I was so shocked to see this in a market and it wasn’t just one product, there were at least 20 different items I saw that were gluten free. I wanted to take them all back to France with me! I decided to try this muffin looking cake with almonds on top and I am so glad I did; it was absolutely delicious!

After our fun-filled day of touring, it was finally time to head back to the hotel and get ready for Wicked! By the time everyone was ready it was 7pm. Man, we totally lost track of time and we didn’t have long at all- the show started at 730pm! We asked the front desk how long it would take to get there on the tube and from the hotel to Victoria, they told us at least 35 minutes. Well shoot, that was not an option anymore. As we were talking amongst each other to try and figure out what to do, the hotel suggested we have one of the drivers take us. I knew that was going to get pricey, but I asked how long it would take them to get us there. The driver said he could get us there in 30 minutes (I know, I know, we were cutting it WAY too close). I look at the driver and before even telling him yes, I say, “Will you speed?” His eyes lit up and I knew he totally would, but his answer was “Well I will do my best to get you there on time.” From the moment we hopped in his car until we arrived at the theatre, we were going in, out and around cars, zooming past them and made it to the theatre in 20 minutes! Our driver was the bomb!


Wicked was absolutely amazing! Patrick took me to see Wicked in San Francisco as my Christmas present this January, but seeing it the 2nd time was even better, because I noticed so many more details and enjoyed it more because I knew the storyline. Overall, I want to say that the production was, in my opinion, better than the first time! Maybe it was the English accents, but boy could these actors and actresses belt it!
Defying Gravity is one of my all time favorites and Elphaba (the wicked witch) really hit it out of the park when she sang it…gave me goose bumps! Wicked was the perfect way to end such an amazing weekend! I will definitely be coming back sometime in my life…3 days is just not enough!




Here are some other pictures from our Saturday fun day of touring!

And back to reality and school I came to find out that I missed a midterm. A “pop” midterm I might add! Can you believe it? In the 3 months I’ve been in Grenoble, I’ve never had a test or anything that I really need to study for. When my professor told me I had to take it Tuesday after class, I thought to myself, wow I am going to actually have to put some effort into studying- I mean I haven’t studied (real studying) since December for finals! haha

Not only do I find this out, but come to class Monday morning at 8:30am to find that after waiting for about 30 minutes for my professor, our class was changed to the afternoon! No warning or email or anything like that, just a note posted that same morning to let us know…oh how I am not going to miss this part about France…

Au revoir pour maintenant!

Steph