July 2017
I often find myself reflecting on this trip. Originally intended to be our shared adventure, it held the promise of being a surprise journey from you to me, a special experience for just the two of us. However, life had other plans, as a last-minute training mission demanded your immediate attention. Regardless, you surprise me with the plane tickets, which i thought was so thoughtful at the time. I couldn't help but feel a mix of nerves and anticipation before going, realizing that it would mark my inaugural solo travel experience.
I meticulously organized every aspect of the trip to the T, leaving no detail unattended. I found this planning app that mapped out everything, tracked various locations, curated a list of activities, and compiled all necessary information. In my search for budget-friendly accommodations, I managed to secure the cheapest Airbnb known to mankind. And most importantly picked my outfits for each day.
Honestly, the details are somewhat blurry, but I
vividly recall landing in London and feeling utterly bewildered. It was late at night, and my memory consists of finding myself on a street surrounded by buses and a crowd of people, my thoughts oscillating between "What the fuck?" and "Where the fuck am I right now?"
Did I just walk and figure it out? I can hardly remember fr. I might have tried to walk to the closest hotel for the night and chilled there till the morning. Or walked to a bus to get close to my location. I honestly have no clue. All I remember is that morning someone was kind enough to walk with me and figure out where to go. He was my age, black and honestly
seem like he had a good head on his shoulders. He looked so worried about me walking alone though. Said there actually are some really dodgy people out here as we walked past the sketchiest triangled block corner store.
Everything was bigger and more complicated than I imagined it but still so simple. I pretty much planned to use the metro the entire trip. They honestly have an amazing metro system. Very affordable and easy to figure out from what I remember.
My Airbnb was what appeared to be a tiny townhouse split into mini apartments. Mines was honestly smaller than a hotel room. Literally my bed was staring into my shower, but they still managed to fit a microwave and mini fridge filled with snacks in there.
I went just about everywhere you could go in 4days. Like literally I was on a mission to see and do as much as I could. Meanwhile my man was on a mission to plow some anorexic polish girl he been talking to for months behind my back.😔 He honestly stayed cheating with a couple of hoes, but he was such a vibe. I guess he knew he was about to do some ain't shit ass shit and tried to ease it over with a little trip. 🙄
Anyways, I was loving the trip.
The weather was beautiful.
I could walk any and everywhere.
They had endless things to do during
and nice eats. I'd give street food a literal 10 out of 10. One of the museums
had the best pesto pasta salad
I ever had in my life. I dream
about that pasta often.
Restaurant food was pretty good but surprisingly the seafood was so so. I again somehow linked up with a local guy walking the street. He was chatty, kind of annoying but really nice. He asked to take me to lunch to this restaurant he swore up and down was everything. It was this super boujee seafood restaurant. We get there and he's going on and on about Caribbean music. Says Cardi B's music isn't sexy enough and her best song was Back It Up. I'm over him at this point cuz you not about to act like my Bih ain't got some lowkey hits, plus he was greasy, and ate with his mouth open.
Check comes and I clear it because surprise surprise he's a brokie too. Wow, I'm just a walking lick to these bum ass niggas. Anyways we make it back to his place and he hops in the shower and comes out like he's about to reward me with dick like he the bitch and I'm the nigga. Bitch what type of hell is this? Must be used to fucking with old bihs fr. It just came of so sleezy, weird, and gross. I dipped. He kept the dick.
One thing I could depend on was a local ~Kang~ to help me if I even looked lost for a second. Idk I must have been in one of the nicer hoods. One of the area's where delis and metro are on the main street and kids are running around. Idk if I looked lost this time but I must have looked approachable, cus this young guy came up to me out of nowhere again chatting me up telling me about the neighborhood. Like I ain't learn my lesson the last time I let him chat. Idk the last guy definitely had weird energy and I ignored it, but this guy's energy was very innocent. I can't remember if it was him or the first guy that
taught me English slang, but it was almost like I had a personal tour guide of the area lol. He seemed really cool and even took a couple of pictures for me.
Fast forward, he completely cussed me out and referred to me as a broke girl attempting to fill my pockets, back when I got hacked. I guess he got scammed. Nonetheless, we're cool now, I guess.
Again, I did all the classic touristy things. Including visiting the castles. One of which was about 3-4 hours from London but worth the trip because it was absolutely beautiful and the town surrounding it as quite quaint and cute. I would say it's a day to half a day trip. I had to get an Uber there, but I took the metro back so keep that in mind if you decide to go outside the city. It's probably best to get a car or plan for the metro a head of time.
I honestly can't believe I didn't make it to any of the clubs. I was so tired at the end of the day and without my boyfriend or my best friend harassing me to get up I didn't have the will power to actually wake up. But I definitely want to go back just to party. You know I was fashion nova down back then. I was too cute in my grey lounge two piece; the one Kylie Jenner wore with the tight stretchy crop top hoodie. Yea I could not stop get stopped and looked at. As one pale local yelled on his way down the mall escalator, "body bangs babe".
Twos Twos London was pang. Is it peng or pang???