Bucket Lists

       It's important to research your host country before going, especially in terms of what you'd like to do while over there. I had only 6 and half weeks to do everything I wanted in London, and as I said earlier, attacking London must be strategic; you have to prioritize and organize to get everything you want done. Pinterest and travel blogs are great places to get ideas of what's worth doing, what's just okay, and what are must do's, as well as finding the little hideaways and secret places others have found on their journeys. Refer to It's Okay to Be a Tourist and Must Do's From Me to You for my opinions on great things to do in London.

My Bucket List:

• Climb Big Ben - Unfortunately, I did not get to do this because you have to be a UK citizen to climb Big Ben, but I very much enjoyed staring at him and taking photos.

• Go the the Doctor Who Experience - It was a whovian's dream come true, and I recommend it for everyone who loves Doctor Who. The Experience is a secret, so you'll have to go to actually know what goes on there, but they have all the costumes and props (including the TARDIS!) from the show. Three friends and I took the train 2 hours outside of London to Cardiff Bay, Wales and spent the day at the Experience and then exploring the Bay: we saw Torchwood tower, street performers, beautiful sites, and had a great dinner before heading back to London. It was by far the best day of my trip. 

http://www.doctorwho.tv/events/doctor-who-experience/


• See a Show at the Globe Theatre - I actually got to see two shows: The Merchant of Venice and As You Like It. Both were absolutely amazing, and though it was painful to stand for three hours, it was worth it to get the groundling experience. It's 5 pounds for a groundling ticket, and worth it to see Shakespeare come to life. 
  
• Ride the London Eye - The morning we were set to ride, my friend Katy and I accidentally got on the wrong Underground train TWICE. We had tickets for 10am, and as we sprinted up Westminster Station steps, we could hear the seconds ticking down. The second my foot hit Westminster Bridge, Ben began tolling 10, and we just made it and were able to meet up with our friends to ride on time. It was an absolutely beautiful view and worth the pain in my chest from running to catch it. 
  
• Have Afternoon Tea in Fancy Hotel - Thankfully, my program, CAPA, took care of this one for me. Our first week, we all gathered at a hotel in South Kensington for proper English tea with finger foods and in fancy dress. It angered me slightly that some students showed up in street clothes, as that is not at all appropriate for tea, but my friends and I had a wonderful time. 
  
• Try Cider - This was the most dangerous thing on my bucket list, for once I tried it I could not stop drinking it, and I have craved it every day since coming home. English cider, unlike American Angry Orchard or Red's Apple Ale, is not as sweet and has a more bitter taste like beer. Because I am not a beer drinker, I doubted I would like it, but it ended up being my favorite drink and was always refreshing after a day of running around the city. Aspall and Strongbow (including Strongbow Dark Fruit) were my two favorites. Old Mount Cider is great if you want a fruity, refreshing drink on a hot day. 
  
• Eat REAL Fish and Chips - It's true that fish and chips are better over there. They're served with peas (either whole or smashed) and tater sauce, so if you like ketchup, like I do, you have to ask for "sauces" (refer to Act Like a Local: London Customs and Phrasing for proper ordering etiquette). I never had fish and chips I didn't like while I was over there, but the pubs know how to do it best, and you can't beat a cider to wash it down. 
• Take the Stereotypical Picture by a Phone Booth with Big Ben in the Background - Of course, everyone should do this because have you really been to London if you don't? It's a popular destination, so you have to be strategic about getting your photo. When we went to do ours, a bride and groom were doing photos, and we had to wait until they left to take ours. The photo's worth the hassle, though. 
  
• Have a Drink at the Old Bell Tavern on Fleet Street - My friend, when she went to London, frequented this pub most nights and told me I had to go and have a drink there. So, one night my two friends, Bridget and Katy, and I found ourselves near Fleet Street and decided to grab a pint. The entire way down the street we sang songs from Sweeney Todd and joked, we sat around a circular table by the horseshoe bar and drank a couple pints, and as we were knee-deep in a discussion of American politics and America's future, a Lithuanian man came and sat next to us. At first, we thought nothing of it and tried to include him in the conversation, but he was so drunk and his accent was so thick that understanding him was nearly impossible. It got better when he took a liking to Katy and put his arm around her. We tried every diversion tactic in the book: bringing up her imaginary boyfriend, telling him we were having a girls night, flat out ignoring him... Finally, I just pretended our friend texted us and that we had to go meet her, but, because we were two pints in at that point and not really thinking, we just went to the next pub on the street, and not two minutes later, once we had our drinks and a table, he walked in wanting to join us again. We got rid of him eventually, but it was a very interesting encounter, and one that has fondly burned the Old Bell into my memory. 
  
• Take a Picture at Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station - A must do on any Harry Potter fan's list. I went twice, once with my friends and once with my family when they came for vacation, and both times were absolutely amazing and fun. Pictures are free and the line moves pretty quickly, plus the store is pretty cool - I got a t-shirt from there that was very comfortable. 
  
• Talk to a Stranger in a Pub - This happened several times, obviously. There was the Lithuanian guy, a Greek man I had a lovely conversation about the English language with, and two men who bought us a round and danced with us at a pub with live music (that night I was also asked by an extremely intoxicated man if he could take me home, which was both flattering and hilarious). 
• Do All the Touristy Things - You have to, you just do, when you're in London. There are so many cool things and historical places that are just fun to go to, and with the London Pass, it's easy to do them all for a very discounted rate. 
  
• Find a TARDIS - I did find one! It's outside Earl's Court Tube station, which also happened to be the station for my family's flat when they came over for vacation. 
  
• Get a Great Family Photo - This was the first time my mother, father, sister, and I have ever been on vacation together because my parents are divorced and my sister is my half-sister, so I've never had the chance to be with just them somewhere else, and on top of that, a picture of the four of us together never actually existed before this trip. So, thank you to my wonderful roommate Bridget for taking such a wonderful photo of us.
  
• Ride a Double Decker Bus - Another must do in London. Buses are a bit difficult to figure out and are certainly not more convenient than the tube, but are fun and not a bad way to get around London while still seeing everything, considering the tube is very much underground. 
  
• Go to the Natural History Museum - I'm not one for museums, but they are free in London, and the Natural History Museum was amazing and full of interesting artifacts. 
  
• Go to a Night Club - This is a bit of a cheat, since I counted my "night club" as a bar with dancing and live music. Clubs aren't my forte, but I did enjoy the pub we went to. Koko in Camden Town, though, is, from what I hear, a great club to go to if you're into that kind of thing.
• Take a Picture with the Royal Guard - Another must do, of course. They're every where, but it is difficult to get close to them. The closest we got was at Windsor Castle. 
  
• Go to the IceBar - Absolutely go! It was so much fun. You have to prepay online and book, but it's right in central London, and for your admission price you get an awesome cloak, a cocktail in a glass made of ice, and 40 minutes. It's actually not that cold, and really the only reason you're there is for the awesome photos, but the cocktail was delicious, and we had a blast. 
  
• Climb to the Top of St. Paul's Cathedral - 528 steps to the top of St. Paul's dome for a gorgeous view of London. Bridget and I dragged ourselves to the top, and it was worth it in the end, but my legs were definitely not happy the next day. We were dying, but we still looked pretty from the top!
  
• Find the City of London Crest - This one was actually given to me by my boyfriend, and at first I didn't understand where I was supposed to find this mystical crest, but as soon as I went from Westminster into the City of London, it was literally everywhere. 
  
• Find a Piece for my Wall - I have a wall in my room covered in random things from all over the world, from Shisa statues from Okinawa to Italian masks to a preserved spider from the Middle East, so I knew I needed something from London to add to my collection. I ended up finding many things, including a painting and several photos from all around London that I am very excited to put up. 
  
• Go to the Bedlam Museum - Unfortunately, this was put to the side and I never got to go, but I did so many amazing things that I'm not too upset about missing out on one museum. 
• Go on the Jack the Ripper Tour - Katy, Bridget, and I ended up going on this tour together and it was so much fun. Our tour guide was the most amazing man, completely hilarious and entertaining, which you don't think of when you go on a Ripper tour, but it actually made it that much better, and he was very knowledgeable and took us around the sites where the women were found. 
  
• Go to Hatchard's Book Store - Hatchard's is the Queen's bookstore and the oldest bookstore in London. I ended up buying two books and a journal, all of which were very good buys. It's just one of those spots you should see. 
  
• Kenilworth Castle - This was a site my program took us to see. It's a castle in ruins with a recreated rose garden in the back and was said to be the home of Queen Victoria's lover. It's an amazing place, and we had so much fun running around and taking pictures. 
  
• Cardiff Castle - Because I was only in Cardiff for a day rather than a weekend as I had planned, I didn't get a chance to go, but hopefully I will get to go back and see it some day. 
• Stonehenge - An obvious tourist destination, but it is absolutely wonderful and worth the trip outside London to see. I could feel the energy and history of it, and though we will never truly know how it was used or built, it's mystery makes it that much more appealing to curious humans. 
  
• Bath - The Roman Baths were really cool; however, the tourists were absolutely awful. They all had the audio tour which made them stand in the middle of everything without moving. My favorite part was sitting by the baths and writing. 
  
• Princess Diana Memorial Walk - It goes across four parks, but we only did a bit of it in Hyde Park because, quite honestly, we got distracted by food and had a hard time finding the plaques we were supposed to follow. We ended up having a very nice day, though, as we rented a paddle boat and went out on the Serpentine for an hour and sang to Taylor Swift. 
  
• Read Shakespeare in the Park - I did this several times, as I was taking a Shakespeare class and parks are the perfect places to read. My favorite day was reading The Tempest in St. James' Park with the animals frolicking around me and people walking by. 
  
• Windsor Castle - It's everything you want a castle to be! It is slightly touristy, but you can see what a working castle looks like and it's absolutely beautiful. Bridget and I began our London Pass week here, and we had a wonderful time and sat for a nice lunch at a place called Bill's before heading back to London. 
  
• Frolicking on Castle Grounds - Because who wouldn't want to do this? Natalie and I skipped in the grass by Kenilworth castle, holding hands and laughing. It was a beautiful, sunny day, barely any clouds in the sky, and felt pretty magical. 
  

Bucket Lists really help to keep your priorities in line, and there's no harm in adding as you go. Mine streamlined what I really wanted/had to do, and now it's a fun thing to share with people who ask about my trip.