London ( Part I)

(right off the plane and ready to go!) I left for London last Friday from San Francisco and had a surprisingly great flight. I flew Virgin Atlantic and was upgraded to buisness class by flashing some smiles at the airport!! After boarding the plane and having dinner, I put on my complementry socks, sleepmask, and blankets, and fell fast asleep until morning when crossiants were being offered for breakfast! WHAT AN EASY FLIGHT. After getting off the plane, I ran into Haley at the airport immediately and we were off to the tube to head into the city! We got Oyster cards and filled them with £20 which was reccomended for a 3-4 visit. After switching lines in the middle we arrived at Bayswater station around the corner from our hostel. We quickly checked in and set out to explore! We were told we had to go to Portobella Market if we were arriving on a Saturday so thats where we headed first. The streets were filled with venders and people of every kind. We spotted Hummingbird Bakery after a few blocks and although there was a line out the door and into the street, we knew we had to stop! (My cousin Kate raved about their red velvet cupcakes!) we got a carrot cake and a red velvet to split, WOW!!! We continued walking around for a couple more hours. We had lunch from a street vender, and then went to Hyde Park to walk around. After stopping at our hostel to grab sweaters we went to look for a place to eat.We checked out at least six menus before finding something that sounded good....was not a huge fan of the food in London. We ate at a pub nearby (we split green beans, tomato basil soup, and a pita thing, haha quite an array)and then split a bottle of wine and drank it on the bars terrace overlooking Bayswater. We met some people who told us we should go to the Soho area to find any nightlife, so we rushed home to change....which ended up being quite a challenge. We were staying in a 8 person female dorm...however, the other 6 girls were much older and aparently not as excited about going out on a Friday night in London. Trying not to disturb anyone, we got ready in the 4 X 5 bathroom! pretty funny. We made it to the tube station right before midnight when it closed and headed out to Ministry of Sound; apparently one of the top clubs in Europe. We didnt find it too special, but had a really fun time, and stayed out until about 4:30am...which I think is a first for me. Im not a night person! Hummingbird Bakery first night in London- Ministry of Sound