On a brisk Tuesday night, we both arrived at the largest city in the United Kingdom. Our plan was to stay in London for two nights, just so that we could sightsee and redial our biological clocks a bit before going to our first farm. 
We stayed at the Meininger Hostel, located in Central London near Hyde Park, a handful of museums, and just a short tube ride away from the London Eye and Big Ben. It was everything that we could have wanted in terms of cleanliness and convenience.


Heading out to explore the city, with the vast overstimulation of a new environment, we felt like the world was unfolding before us. It was also really chill knowing that there wasn't a schedule that we needed to follow. Walking about the city for a day felt just like freedom.

In many ways, this was a perfect start to our trip. We planned an entire day's worth of sights and destinations, only to run out of time around halfway through the list. But what we did manage to see, we were very happy with! We started off with, of course, a Full English breakfast at Caffe Forum, which was just a short walk away from our hostel. Toast, sausages, egg, tomato, beans, mushrooms, bacon, tea, and orange juice. Each of these items I've had for breakfast individually, but I guess there's something classic about gorging yourself on a plateful of everything. Rachel and I shared one delicious order.

After a stroll through the Science Museum and Hyde Park, we took the tube to Somerset House—part of the King's College campus—to meet up with an old friend for lunch, and then walked along the Thames. Afterwards we split to Soho and the British Museum.

Some advice: if you visit London and plan on using public transport, get an Oyster card! The discount it offers is great. Each of us bought a card with 10 pounds of credit, which was just enough for the whole day. Transport is kind of ridiculously expensive in London, so the Oyster will help save your wallet from some pain.

As the London Eye and Big Ben lit up for the night, we went into the Westminster tube station, where we saw a man with a thick Russian accent selling his artwork of scenery on the Thames. Rachel even bought a beautiful little watercolor from him.

The next morning, we left the comfort of our hostel for Victoria Coach Station, from which we took a bus to a much smaller town—Taunton.