Vivian in Europe: Vivian Goes to London

I met up with my friends Sara and Mariella in London. Sara and I spent 3 days there and Mariella spent a day and a half because she went to go visit a friend in Canterbury. We went to see all of the main sites, Big Ben and Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, etc. and to the Tate Modern museum and British Museum. There were several festivals going on as well, like the Winter Wonderland and the Coffee and Tea Festival. Winter Wonderland is amazinggggg! It's like the Christmas version of the State Fair on crack. It definitely got me in the Christmas spirit. I can't wait to go see my family in Wisconsin for Christmas this year. One month and four more days!!! :)
It was really refreshing being in a country where everyone speaks English. In Norway, people do speak English but everything is in Norwegian. And England is so similar to the U.S., except for the fact that they drive on the left side of the road. I thought it would've been difficult to get used to people driving on a different side but it wasn't that bad. Despite the fact that London isn't really known for food, I had some amazing food there. Of course, I tried fish n' chips. It was pretty good but I prefer burger and fries :). London is very expensive, but I think it's only for tourists. The exchange rate sucks! I've been keeping track of all of my spending and thought I was doing pretty well... until I did the conversion to dollars. It was horrifying.

Overall, I really like London and I think it is a great place to visit... if the weather is good. I got super lucky this weekend and had fantastic weather. There's plenty to do here and it's huge. It is super exhausting walking around London. It seems like most of the main spots are close together when you look at a map but it takes quite a while to walk from place to place.