OMG, you guys! I am in love with London! Jordi and I arrived on January 30th and it has been a whirlwind of awesomness! It was hard to pack my whole life into a 20kg suitcase, but when I arrived at the airport, my bag weighed exactly 20 kilos. So perfect. When we arrived at Gatwick Airport a few hours later, we bought a train ticket to Vitoria Station which is a major tube station for the underground railroad in London. Upon arrival to Victoria, we bought tube passes to last us a few days. When we had lugged our bags underground, the tube was about to leave. Jordi made it on with her suitcase without a hitch, but I got caught behind this Italian family who didn't know to move over for me. The door started to close as I only had half of my suitcase inside and I could not push my way in for the life of me. Jordi was yelling, "Seester! Get on!" Suddenly this little British dude shoves my suitcase in, picks me up with one arm while the other was holding the powerful door open, and thrusts me into the train. It was so fucking funny! I thought it to be a humorous way to introduce myself back into the underground system.
When Jordi and I finally made it to our hostel (after getting very lost), we were so stoked. We walked into the Generator and were immediately made to feel at home. The staff is awesome and there are travelers our age everywhere. They make breakfast and dinner, have a club/bar with a resident DJ, a lounge, laundry, and a luggage room. We were a bit apprehensive about choosing a hostel over a hotel, but it was the best decision we could have made. We have met SO MANY people from all over the world. These are people we will be friends with for life, and who can be contacts should we decide to visit them in their home countries. Everyone is on the same page as you: living out of a suitcase, anxious about the unknown yet wide~eyed and excited to learn and travel, and just all around accepting of everyone. I love Newport with all my heart, but I feel so disgusted knowing I will soon have to go back to judgement and fake people. Here, it doesn't matter what you wear, how big your boobs are, who you know, or where you're from.
We are staying in a double, which is 2 beds in one room. It is much more expensive than the dorms (which house up to 16 people), but I feel safer leaving my belongings in a room that is just ours. We stay in a bunk bed, but they're really comfortable (especially after a night of pubs and clubs). The shared bathrooms and showers are well~kept and clean. And the staff are really helpful and nice.
We have been eating in pubs (which almost everyone does here), drinking and dancing our nights away to the best house music. The shopping here is fucking phenomenal, and I have put a dent in my credit card that will take a while to repair. The tube is so fun to ride! It's soooo easy to navigate around the city, and you feel so cool doing it! Aside from the tube, we walk A LOT. I have lost a ton of weight and my legs and ass look great. Haha! I feel healthy and I haven't been this happy in all of my life. Jordi is the best travel partner ever...we laugh all the time. Getting lost is so much fun, and looking for the next cool sight or shop is always an adventure.
We have seen Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben, London and Tower Bridges and all of Picadilly Circus among other things. So amazing!
We leave for Dublin early tomorrow morning, and we are going to meet a couple of friends from Australia over there. I can't wait to go to the Guinness factory! We will be there for about 4 or 5 days depending on how our livers hold up! Our plan was to go to Paris directly from Dublin, but we opted instead to come back to London for a few more days. This will cut into our time we planned to spend in France, but it will be so worth it. I could live here! If only circumstances were different...
I really miss you all and hope life is good in the states! Gotta go pack for Dublin...
xoxox, Kati Grae
