Experiencing College

SO many awesome stores in London. I did some research before so I was pretty excited.

Here are the places we went:

Greenwich Market: Close to the hostel so it was our first stop. There I picked up a little wooden type initial. 

Portobello Market: It was packed and unbearably hot. We heard it reached 85 that day. I liked looking at all the old stuff and ended up buying a little floral dish that was part of a tea set—yeah cause I needed that…I also impulsively bought a 70s inspired handbag.

Sloane Square area: an upscale, preppy shopping zone.

Cath Kidston: Super cute accessories, all pretty floral prints. I basically wanted to purchase everything in the store. I settled on a travel wallet I had already picked out online.

 Jack Wills: which is basically British Abercrombie. There I picked up a simple tote bag.

Oxford Street: the main shopping area.

Primark: was huge and ridiculously crowded. It was also hotter inside than out (and remember it was 85 that day). I couldn’t last and had to leave. Topshop, loved it but everything was too $$$. It was kinda like Forever 21 but better, bigger, nicer, cooler, and not cheap. Even H&M was huge and loaded with stuff I wish I could buy.

The conclusion of our shopping afternoon was in Liberty. Sigh…if only. Everything was gorgeous of course and I wish I could outfit my house in liberty prints. I would have bought another bag but I was feeling guilty after already buying 3 and I was running low on funds. 

And I couldn’t go to London the week before the Royal Wedding and not pick up a souvenir. There was lots of tacky stuff. I got a nice tote for a fancy department store.

I wish these stores would come to the States. I loved them all….

What I did (and in my opinion the best thing to do):

Find a phone that is able to be used internationally (perhaps your current phone, perhaps an old phone, blackberries work) and get it unlocked.

Come to Italy and buy a good ole international sim card. I got one for 10 euro from TIM, with 5 euro in credit on it already. Chances are you may not even need to put anymore credit on it. And since it’s prepaid it means no surprise bills at the end of the month.

That being said, a cell phone is not necessary at all. I used it occasionally to call people to meet up. It’s also nice to have in case of emergencies. 

Skype is used to call home.