03 | 05 | 18 

L O N D O N. 

Hello love. 

Beware this post is long! 4 days worth! Writing you today straight from The Smoke itself! This is my first official post after starting our Journey, last week Thursday, and boyy let me tell ya, it's been a little CHa-CHie!! (Abbie lingo for roughin it) ;) 

After eagerly anticipating our take off on March 1st to Dublin, Ireland you could say Bailee and I were less than thrilled to find out due to a freak snow storm, which hasn't happened to Europe in over 10 years, the Dublin airport would be closed till Sunday. Our original plan was to be in Dublin til Monday then fly to London. Nope. No flights in. No flights out. 

After arriving in London on Friday, once again, for which we thought was a layover...and learning of this disappointing news in the airport, things only got worse… we decided it would be best to retrieve our luggage and book a hotel room. Problem being, the extremely rude United booking agent informed us we wouldn't recieve our bags until the next day for "security purposes." Uhmm okay? Thanks to my amazing parents, whom felt a bit bad for us, they helped us out with our hotel and it was absolutely fabulous!! The location was even better; it was right in the heart of Westminster in Trafulgar Square! 

Since we arrived at 9 am London time, it was 3 am back home. We'd gotten no sleep in almost 24 hours, and given the stress of being on our own, the snowy weather, no trip to Dublin, no luggage and the fact that we couldn't check into our hotel room til 3p.m…we crashed. Thankfully the hotel staff gave us access to a Club Lounge and we slept for a few hours in some comfy chairs. When we woke, we were able to check into our room and had just enough energy to venture out and buy some clothes to wear for the next day, since we wouldn't have any. 

On Saturday we slept till noon and woke up refreshed! We decided we needed to get out and explore! We walked down the road to find all the amazing old parliament buildings that London is famous for! Westminster Abbey, The household of Calvary, Elizabeth tower, Big Ben (under construction) and much more! We crossed the bridge and made our way over to the London Eye to see an overview of the city! After the wheel, we went on an interactive London Dungeon tour that dragged on way to long, if i'm being honest. We hopped an Uber back to our hotel only to find out still no luggage. We tried to stay as positive as we could and try not to dwell on it. We went and ate at a quaint little italian restaurant near our hotel, I of course had to have pasta. Ugh, carbs. :/ 

Sunday, my favorite so far, still no luggage, we planned an all day tour to Oxford and then, the Harry Potter Production Studios. Neither of us knew what to expect for Oxford in the morning but it was absolutely UNREAL. I've never seen anything like it, the architecture made me feel like I was looking at some sort of movie set I could push a hole through. All of the buildings on and off Oxfords campus were just breath taking, which is why J.K. Rowling was inspired by them for the Harry Potter films. Hence why our tour included visiting the site! After our morning well spent in that beautiful city, we hopped back on the bus and headed over to Hogwarts! The tour lasted approximately four hours and we needed every bit of it! The studio was so cool and Im not even a die hard Harry Potter fan. All of the props, outfits, sets, production processes blue prints, behind the scenes footage, really anything and everything you can imagine that would go into 10 years worth of films before any digital animation really existed was at this place! Bailee and I enjoyed our butter beer and flicking wands! By that night we were dead tired and got back to our room to immediately pass out! 

Today, Monday the 5th, we took it easy and checked out of our hotel at 1pm after having a whirlwind morning dealing with the airlines who still have yet to locate our luggage. After becoming a little discouraged and alot frusterated, we went to the famous Oxford street, not town. And wandered in and out of the high end clothing stores. It was hard for me to keep in mind I was currently jobless and only 21 when all I wanted to do was shop like Kate Middleton. LOL. We then retrieved our carry-ons and headed to our scheduled Airbnb in London's Lambeth area just across the River. We walked to a tavern for a small dinner and now just getting settled in! I would be lying if I said I didn't already miss the location and the luxury of our hotel… 

All in all, this trip was not meant for destination. Its about the Journey and all it has to offer. It's been stressful, exciting, very difficult at moments, but very much still worth it! If you're still with me, I commend you!! Stay tuned for my updates on this magical adventure and check out my pictures below! 

As the locals would say,

Cheers, 

Abigayle 

Whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. | James 1:2-4