London

Hello guys and in today's post I am going to run down one of my recent trips to the big smoke - London. 

London. A place of dreams, history, delicious food, wonderful shopping and glorious views. London is a place I love and consider it my second home.

London is a place I visit every year without fail and this because most of my family are from the capital and I have been able to go endless amount of times which  love. This year was a far from normal as this was the first time I was going to London on my own which was daunting to say the least. What made this years trip to London different is that a good friend of mine, George, whom I've known for almost fifteen years studies Politics at Westminster University and kindly invited me to stay for a few days and get an outlook of London life through a students pair of eyes which was ever so exciting.

We keep in contact and talk almost every week which is important because it's special to me to keep in contact with old friends. For a few months now we discussed the idea of me coming up to London and staying a few days to experience Uni life in it's fullest and see the world George now lives in.

It wasn't till January of this year that we settled on the idea of me coming to visit London for a few days in early February and then it became all so real. What made this trip exciting and daunting was that it was the very first time I was going to London on my own - but this meant no free backseat drive and I had to organise travel all by myself (sigh)

As I have previously mentioned going to London by myself was something I found daunting due to me being the anxious sort of person but soon enough I found myself relaxed around the whole situation once I organised the travel, and this brings me on to the travel, organising a trip to London by myself was much easier than I first imagined, it required nothing but a taxi, bus and a two hour coach journey from the ever so delightful company that is Mega Bus which I just discovered.

Then along came the 5th of February in which I woke up in the early hours of the morning to catch my taxi to town, fetch my bus to Bristol and patiently wait along with others for the Mega Bus journey to London.

I'm one to love long journeys as I find them therapeutic and relaxing as it allows me to unwind, listen to music, write a few blog posts and have deep thinking sessions (odd I know). After a two hour and a half journey I found myself in the capital which was all so exciting as I couldn't believe I made it there by myself (and alive)

After a small and patient wait at the coach station I met my good friend George which was nice as this allowed us to catch up over things such as Uni, London and our home town of Weston whilst we walked to the tube station to fetch a tube to Wembley Park.

After the busy tube journey to Wembley I couldn't comprehend that George's accommodation was just outside Wembley Stadium: like I'm not kidding his bedroom view was of Wembley Stadium and the ever so flashy shopping complex, he was so lucky. 

Once I arrived at his accommodation I took full opportunity to unwind, unpack my bags, chill and catch up on life. It was nice to relax after a lengthy journey as they can be very exhausting. The afternoon and evening ahead was nothing major as tiredness soon kicked in but we went for lunch at Frankie and Bennies and dinner at Wagamama's which was just so delicious. 

Along came the next day where we slept in till noon, took full advantage of a lie in and prepared our day ahead. See what's so exciting about London is that everything is open till late therefore getting up midday feels as if you haven't missed out on the day. After showers betweens us, spending a lengthy amount of time doing our hair and getting ready along came two o'clock where we took a visit Westfield Shopping Centre which has become my one true love - no, I'm not kidding you. 

Westfield Shopping Centre was something I wasn't so familiar with and therefore it was all so new and exciting going there for the first time. Now if you've been lucky enough to go there you'll understand how amazing the shopping centre is, it has every store I love including, Topman, Zara, All Saints, Urban Outfitters, River Island and more. It was unbelievable for a keen shopper like me to find all the stores I love under one roof which is a rarity in Bristol where I'm from. 

Even though I was in a place I considered heaven, I decided to not buy anything as saving for driving and a car is that the top of my agenda, although it was painful to leave so many amazing things behind. 

Westfield Shopping Centre proved to be a success to say the least and it has been the forefront of ideas for my 19th as taking a shopping trip here for the day would be something I'd adore. 

After scouring the sites and stores of Westfield we then decided to go for food in one of my favourite places, Gourmet Burger Kitchen. The delightfully tasting burgers and ever so scrumptious skinny fries were something we couldn't turn down therefore we grabbed a table, talked about what to do next whilst eating some of the best burgers I've laid my eyes on. 

If you haven't gone to Gourmet Burger Kitchen I'd highly recommend it, costs are high, but the sweet taste of the Taxi Driver burger, skinny fries and elderflower fizz is something you can't say no too. 

After a successful day at Westfield and eating our body weight in burgers we then went back to his accommodation, relaxed, watched a Katie Hopkins documentary and chatted away. 

Now what came after this was going to be the best night of my life.

If you didn't know from endless amounts of tweets or you may have read my Very Inspiring Blogger Award post in which I explained my love and passion for Big Brother. When coming up to London we knew that going to see the Big Brother final was the penultimate part of the weekend and something I had wanted to do since I was little, we were lucky enough to get tickets and this was the most exciting thing to ever happen to me.

Big Brother is my one true love and is the next best thing after oxygen and music in my eyes and I couldn't fathom the idea of being able to see the final after years and years of passionately watching it.  

Me and George made our way to Elstree and Borehamwood by getting two tubes and I couldn't believe I was off to the place I only ever dreamt of. We took a short walk to the studio in which we lined up to wait and watch the final, unfortunately a member of staff eventually came to us after an hour and said a few people ahead of us and the rest behind could not watch the final as it was too over crowded - and without sounding dramatic this is where my heart literally shattered, everything I dreamed of was becoming so real and I could finally fulfill my dream but for it to be taken away from me in a split second was mortifying.

In true Charlie fashion I fought my hardest to get in, I tried sneaking in, attempting to cue for Big Brother's Bit on the Side and beg the producers -  but everything failed, this led a sad me and George to eventually walk back to the tube and make our way home. I had never been so gutted about anything and it still bothers me to this day as to why they released so many tickets and then turn away people whom all had tickets but I've always been told everything happens for a reason but it didn't stop me from throwing a three year old tantrum and write a few angry Facebook statuses and tweets.

Despite being turned away from Big Brother we made our way back to George's bedroom in which I chilled in bed for the evening whilst George went to catch up with a few of his friends - George kindly invited me but being devastated after previous events I wanted to relax and have a chilled evening enjoying YouTube videos.

Along came Saturday which was indeed my last day in London and I couldn't believe how quick my little trip went. We spent my final day heading to Central London to wonder around the sites, take a few polaroids, get a Starbucks and eat a Yo Sushi, the last day was tons of fun but it was a shame it had to end so quickly.

We wandered around Big Ben and the London Eye in which I took a few polaroids to add to my collection despite the odd looks I got from on-goers as I whipped out my huge vintage camera. After strolling around London we made our way to Yo Sushi for the first time which was ever so daunting as Sushi was not my thing - however they had a range of food on offer in which I had the Beef Teriyaki Rice which I must say was delicious although I was afraid of doing a Miranda Hart and get stuck on the conveyer belt but this didn't happen in the end.

Once we finished polaroid taking and eating delightful food I headed back the coach station to fetch my coach back to my birth place of Bristol. I had an amazing trip to London, spending time with an old friend, seeing life through a Uni student's eye and getting to catch a glimpse of the Big Brother studio despite not being able to go.

I'm hoping to come to London a few more times this year, for my birthday, to hopefully see Big Brother and visit Camden Market again so I'll keep you updated if I do.

Hope you enjoyed this post and an insight to my trip - have you been to London? and if so what did you do and did you like it?

Have a great day.