Ashley, I'm so excited for you as you open this new door called international travel. To many it's a dream they may never invest the effort to reach it. For others it has become a drudgery and commonplace. They have forgotten the wonder and the beauty of going somewhere unknown and experiencing the beauty and oddity of another culture.
I hope you won't find me too pedant or haughty if I offer you a few tips and guidance on your trip to London. Here's a list of sorts I've complied of a few places I've visited and enjoyed when I went to London.
FIrst off, you have to go to Padington Station, and if you fly into London by Heathrow airport you will have to pass through it by default. You'll be tired and ready for the hotel so go there first but you will have to go back. It's one of the main train and underground hubs of the city. There are shops and cafe's there that are fun to visit, but most of all you must take a photo with Padington the bear statue. I wont tell you where he is, because finding him is half the full. I will say that he is by the escalators. Then, of course, you must buy a Padington bear upstairs from the store.
Visit Buckingham palace and take photos in front of the gate and at the foot of the monument there. The Tower of London! is always a good place to go and see the Crown Jewels. Take the Underground and purposefully visit these stations.
Then, of course, there's the Eye, which is an amazing tourist sight...a photo must. Take some time to go to Piccadilly Circus, chase the pigeons, and take photos with the lions. Walk through china town, take photos of the ducks hanging in the windows. Have dinner at a Thai restaurant called Thai Tho on Shaftesbury Avenue in Soho.
Visit the London bridge, walk down St James Street, King and Pall Mall and visit the stores the Royal Family shops at, they have the royal family seals on the posts of their doors and are called Royal Warrant Holders. These places are to visit and tell others you went. The prices there may make your hair fall out. Lol
Then you need to visit Big Ben and take a photo with it in the backdrop. Have lunch in Hyde park, and feed the swans.
Have fish and chips a few times in different places so you can compare and claim to know which one is the best. (Tip: the trick is in the batter)
Go to the Brit shop and buy some memorabilia. Have high tea somewhere nice and enjoy the pastries. Take photos and look fabulous.
Go on a double decker bus.... sit on the top. Take a ride in a cabbie. Visit St Paul's Cathedral, the Westminster Abby, and Trafalgar Square.
Finally, have coffee at a cabbie shelter. They are green huts along the road. Here is a link to show you what they look like. They are supposed to have the best coffee in the city. And even if they don鈥檛 you can say you've tried their coffee and that's a major deal for travelers in "The Know".
http://www.urban75.org/london/cabmans-shelters.html
Above all else, seek the uniqueness of the city you visit and compare it with the cities you have lived in. Relish in the fact that you are in a city that has existed long before the Americas was even known. Remind yourself of the stories and history those streets have seen and the lives those buildings have experienced.
Live.
