Well another week gone and so much has come to pass. As you can probably tell from the title, last week was spring break...and what a lovely break it was! While some of my adventures will be covered more in depth in other posts, this will give you a general sense of how I spent a week in and around London with my wonderful folks!
The first amazing feat was that I managed to drag myself out of bed before 9am on Friday whish was our first official day of break. (Usually I just skip Friday mornings all together!) But for my lovely parents I made my way to there hotel and met them at some hour of the morning which should be unspeakable. And because I am the best daughter in the world, I even managed to get them coffee and pastries before rushing over to their hotel and exchanging plenty of hugs and kisses.
After letting them rest for a short amount of time, we were off to explore London! I walked them over to my flat and showed them where I've been living since January. We talked here for awhile before venturing back out onto the streets. We made Holborn Station one of our first stops so we could purchase Oyster Cards for my parents which would allow us all to travel by bus or tube for the remainder of our stay. After that, we set off walking, without really a destination in mind other than to see what London has to offer.
We walked past the British Museum and ended up in the wonderful area of the West End (London's Theatre District). Here we saw all the theatres and the shows that they are currently running, and we even visited a shop called the Hotel Chocolate. We stopped at a pub for lunch call Bloomsbury's where may parents had their first official British meal and they were highly impressed. We walked back to the hotel and them finally my flat where we laid out a game plan for the things we wanted to see in London for the upcoming days. Finally, we ended the night eating at a wonderful Italian restaurant a short walk from my flat called Santore. There food is amazing! We ended the meal with the best Tiramisu in London (it tasted like eating a cloud!) and called it a night.
The next morning, we met at the hotel before setting off for Oxford Street (the main shopping street in London). The weather was beautiful, sun in the sky and no need for a jacket, and we spent time looking up and down the street at all the shops. We went into Selfridges, a huge department store well known in London, and ended with a quick romp through Primark to show the difference in shops along the street. From there we walked to the Marble Arch, which is the entrance on this side to England's famous Hyde Park. It was the perfect day to explore the grass landscape and walk essentially from one end to the other (with only a short stop for ice cream along the way.)
We walked along the paths and some of the ponds until we ended up in Kensington Gardens at the back of Kensington Palace. After leaving the gardens, we stopped at an American themed diner for lunch where I had REAL cheese fries for the first time since arriving! Then, after a greasy and much needed lunch, we went to the infamous Harrods department store. Essentially if you want it, Harrods has it...for a price. But it was very cool to see. That night, we decided to try our luck at one of the ticket booths in the West End for last minute tickets to a show. We were very lucky, and got to see Wicked! None of us really had any idea of the depth of the plot or music going into it, but we came out very entertained and it was very much enjoyed.
Sunday, it finally felt like we were in London. We woke up to overcast skies and the threat of impending rain, but we made out way down to Buckingham Palace anyways. We waited for almost an hour and a half but we were there for the changing of the guards, before we made our way over to Parliament to take in the palace, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. After that, we headed to Trafalgar Square and into the National Gallery. We spent some time exploring the paintings before heading back out into the rain and into an English Pub for some good old fashioned Fish and Chips!
Monday (which will be explained in more detail in a different post) we spent the day in Paris, France. And Tuesday was back to London, and another beautiful day. We walked to covet garden, and explored the market as well as the shops that this area of London had to offer. It was a mix of a flea market and food vendors, a pretty great way to spend the day. From there, we headed back over to the West End and explored it from the other side making our way through Piccadilly Circus (London's Time's Square) and to the edge of Soho. We had an early dinner at another pub with excellent food, before we headed back to the Queen's Theatre for the production of Les Miserables. It was everything I wanted it to be and more! Bravo!
Wednesday, was another long day starting early as we went on a coach bus to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath (also explained in other blog post). Thursday, parents last full day in London, we took the tube to Greenwich, an area filled with cute shops and a large market, the maritime museum, and the fastest cargo ship of its time, the Cutty Sark. We spent time shopping the market which was filled with antiques and hand crafted originals. My dad toured the ship and then we all had a wonderful lunch at the Gipsy Moth Tavern right next to the Cutty Sark. Afterwards, we left for their hotel, and arrived back with enough time for my parents to start packing. We concluded the night with a late dinner at another Italian restaurant where we had some fabulous dessert!
The next morning, I saw my parents off to their cab as they made the trek back to the airport and then finally the states. It was a wonderful spring break and I am glad we got to have this wonderful experience together.
Cheers!
