One of my oldest and dearest friends arrived back in the UK after travelling for 21 hours from California and it was great to see her again! I got up in the early hours of the morning to travel to Heathrow Airport to pick her up from the airport but still managing to arrive late (shameful, I know!). Unfortunately we didn’t have a lot of time to hang out together as her train back to Aberystwyth left in roughly 3 hours after I picked her up but we did get the chance to reconnect after what has been a long time since speaking to each other. It also gave us the opportunity to tuck in to some doughnuts and do crosswords together! 
We’ve been through a lot and I expect we still have lots to look forward to. I’m especially looking forward to the idea of visiting Liverpool soon, a city I have not yet experienced as well as being able to explore almost everything Beatles related!
After she left I was able to take the day to look around London – a city I’m completely in love with and it always seems refreshing every time I visit. I’m not sure what it is about the city but I seemed to be completely captivated every time I go. It has so much culture to offer, both old and new, that you can rarely get bored.
After lunch I decided I felt a little too queasy to ride on the underground so I decided to walk down from Charring Cross down to Parliament Square and witnessed an interesting sight of pageantry that I have never really seen in any other city before. Just outside the Horse Guards Cavalry Museum I watched the changing of the guard and it fascinating to see! The guards looked very impressive in their uniforms as well as being entirely in sync with each other. I can sort of understand how one could be so patriotic, especially in times before the average person had a television, as the entire event is wondrous on the eyes.
As I arrived at Westminster I sat at a bench on Victoria Embankment reading a paper and enjoying a drink as the London Eye slowly turned in front of me. I felt so peaceful sitting there as the evening was slowly setting in. It had been a fantastic day and I’m thoroughly grateful I had the ability to travel so easily to help a friend, visit some new friends and take the time to enjoy only a minute handful that London has to offer. I hope that one day I can live in London and experience it all on my doorstep! But for now, it has certainly fuelled my desire to travel and I’m thoroughly looking forward to my next railway adventure!
