Gatwick

Wheeze cough, cough sneeze then ahchoo again. I should have listened to Jack.

Since I have family in London that I haven’t seen in a while, I knew it was one of the places that I definitely had to visit while in Europe. A quick 2-hour flight landed me in the city of double-decker busses and fish and chips. My phone service only works in France  so I knew that I was going to rely heavily on Wi-Fi connection to get in contact with my family. When I finally connected to Wi-Fi, 35,000 feet above ground, my aunt sent me a message telling me to take the Gatwick Express to Victoria where my uncle will be waiting for me.

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The weather was grim.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I haven’t seen my aunts, uncles and cousins in about ten years? My aunt attached a photo of my uncle to jog my memory even though he looked exactly how I remembered.

When I finally arrived in Victoria, I was surprised to see the massive amount of people in the train station. Everybody was quickly shuffling to his or her destination, squeezing by, shoving through, my “excuse-me” finally held ground and was understood.

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With no Wi-Fi connectivity and in possession of only euros, no pounds, I did what I had to do. “Excuse me, may I borrow your cell phone?” I said to a station worker.  We spoke for a little bit and I got in contact with my uncle but not before getting into a friendly argument with the worker about who will be the 2014 NBA champions. He, being an overly- ambitious New York Knicks fan, declared that The Miami Heat would not win the Eastern Conference Finals this year. I had to defend the home team.

The first stop in London was to get food. When I say food, I mean fish and chips. I’ve never had it before but it was really good. This is very popular over here and I’m glad I had it.

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A little bit after we ate, my uncle took me on a night tour of London. I was able to see a lot of things that I’ve only seen in textbooks and on television my whole life. It was surreal.

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul’s Cathedral

London Eye
London Eye
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Shard
The Shard
I was able to capture the London Eye, Big Ben and Westminister Abbey all in one photo.
I was able to capture the London Eye, Big Ben and Westminister Abbey all in one photo
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace

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A few of the pictures were blurry. Speeding through London in a 7 series, windows down, sunroof open, these were the best that I could capture. Sorry.

Being on top of the premier league at the time, the Arsenal stadium was a must-visit location as well. My uncle and I went to the stadium and walked around the entire thing. I was even able to buy a jersey at the Arsenal store. Even though the jersey cost more then my flight over to London, I had to get one.1377993_10202375266481233_2004008946_n

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I also met a few semi-pro skaters at the stadium who were filming a video. Ironically, only one of them supported Arsenal. IMG_2211 IMG_2214 IMG_2216IMG_2218

My cousin, Gabby, turned 21 while I was in London so I was able to celebrate with her and my family. I had a great weekend and I look forward to coming back again.

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