London, I will always remember you

by Camila Dama (Brazil)

I didn't expect to find United Kingdom

It is funny to think that the choice of my birthday present, being visiting anywhere in the world, would be influenced by a pop band, known as One Direction. And even though it wouldn't be worth it, it was. I didn't expect to find such a loving and remarkable London. Travels are moments full of challenges and always lead us to some learning. If you are from Brazil like me, don't be surprised when you get into cars in London, is their steering wheel on the wrong side, or is it ours? The Indian taxi driver who took us also did not know the answer, in fact I think he did not understand anything that we were talking about. That is the consequence of traveling in the middle of the english course, at least we were not hungry, there was a McDonald's every two blocks. Like good tourists, nothing better than touring. I didn't expect to meet the queen when we went to see Buckingham Palace, and I didn't. But I confess that I wanted to live in that place. I love horses, and I didn't expect to find some there, since I was little I go to the farm and the love for these animals started there, and as soon as we arrived at the Palace we went to the royal stables. Beyond to the royal carriages, we saw official horse coaches from the British government, drivers and carriage drivers, about thirty horses and some royal cars, everything were extremely organized and beautiful, especially the horses. For me it would be enough to have seen only the royal stables, but we also went inside the Palace, we saw some rooms, a lot of importante paintings, the garden and secret passages, which made the tour even more cool. I really don't know how they clean everything up, it is such a big place, the Palace has seven hundred and seventy-five rooms, and I can barely get my room tidy. It was an incredible and fun experience, we talked with a few people from other countries who were in our group. When the visit was over, an American lady told us that there would be a change of guard and that it would be unmissable, and it really was. I didn't expect to see those guards so close, I confess that I almost made them laugh, well I don't think so. We loved the London Eye so much that we went three times, yes it is true. The first time my mother didn't want to go because she is afraid of heights, but the second time I convinced her and she loved it, I didn't expect to see such a beautiful London with a sunset, mainly because everyone knows as dark and cold. If your father calls you for a walk, which involves going from the hotel to Big Ben, taking the metro and walking for 10 minutes, just to see and hear Big Ben clappers, go. I did not expect to live such a remarkable moment because of a watch. We saw couples, parents with their childrens and many others, just to enjoy the view, it was a moment to thank God for the opportunity. We also went to Clevedon Pier, where one of the clips of the band One Direction was filmed, I loved it. I did not expect to go out to visit parks, the most beautiful park we have here in Brazil, in my opinion is the botanical garden in Rio de Janeiro, but the ones in London, as Hide Park and Kensington Gardens are wonderful, it is normal to see people having a picnic, sunbathing, reading their books, nature is beautiful and diverse, riding a bike has never been so pleasant. Anyway, I did not expect that the trip would end as fast as it ended. But I understood that traveling is the best thing we can do, getting to know the culture of a country, talking to people from different parts of the world, laughing and crying, paying attention to details. I realized a dream, and I can't wait to go back.