tourist tuesdays: london with danielle!

hi guys!  hooray for another round of tourist tuesdays!  today i'm very excited to introduce you all to a girl who might love traveling more than i do.  i met danielle in a travel and tourism class last fall and it was a blast getting to know all about her and her crazy travels.  man, this girl has been so many different places! but today, she's sharing london with us.  i love london and it's so fun reliving my travels in england through this post.

and ps - she just started a blog!  make sure to stop by and share some love.

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So far in my 20-something years of life I’ve been able to travel to quite a few places. Nothing, and I mean nothing has taken the title of my favorite country in the world, which is England. 

I’ve been to England three times. Once with my mom to introduce me to our family over there and to take me to all the touristy spots we could go to in two and a half weeks. The second time with my grandma who upgraded our tickets to first class and took me to some places my mom never got the chance to show me. Then the third time with my boyfriend to visit family members I hadn’t seen since the first time I went and to show him around my favorite country! 

I can’t really pinpoint the exact reason why I love England so much. I think it is because it’s so old and full of history, or the gorgeous architecture. Maybe It’s just the fact I’m in another country that has a freaking cool accent that I wish I had. I don’t really know. I just love being there. 

London is my favorite city in the world and the countryside of England is absolutely beautiful. I wish I had better words to describe it but I don’t. London satisfies the city aspect of traveling. They have the underground or ‘Tube’ which is a great time to ride and really easy to use even if you don’t have a particular destination in mind. The Queen lives there and you can go stand outside Buckingham Palace and marvel at how gigantic and beautiful it is, or hope to catch a glimpse of someone royal. The London Eye is a great way to see the city from above. My cousin took me at sunset one time and it was fantastic! Then there is Harrods...should I really get into it? It’s like Costco in that you can eat your way through it for lunch. They have restaurants, an ice cream shop, all the most expensive and fancy clothes, handbags, liquor, and everything you could ever want. If you’ve ever been to South Coast Plaza in Orange County it’s like that, times fifty...maybe one hundred. There’s so many other things to do in London it would take me forever to mention everything. The best way to sightsee around London by yourself would probably be to buy a guide and a map of London (and the underground) and it will show you all the places you must see, how to get there and how much everything costs.

Then there’s the countryside of England. The rolling green hills, the small village life, quaint towns, tiny roads, etc. It really is peaceful here. My great great aunt lives in Ross-on-wye in a rectory with some of my cousins. They always show us around and fill us up with the best home cooked food (sometimes vegan). There’s no rustle and bustle of cars or trains, its just somewhere you go to really relax and take in the beauty. Its a great area to go horseback riding, I did this once and be prepared, they use English saddles. You could even rent a motorcycle somewhere and go on a scenic drive around the area. I recommend doing this in the Spring or Summer because it gets quite chilly in the winter time. If your a big Harry Potter fan like I am, Gloucester and Heresfordshire have quite a few areas where parts of the Harry Potter movie were filmed. 

With that I’ll leave you with some more pictures from my latest trip across the pond! Enjoy! 

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thanks for sharing danielle!
& don't forget to link up in the comments!!