Last Stop: London

I’ve been kind of slacking on writing my last travel post because I’ve still been trying to catch up on sleep and unpacking! But here goes…

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Truthfully, I was thrilled to be headed back to the UK after spending almost a month traveling around Europe. While we had only spent one day in London when we flew into Heathrow in May, we both were pleasantly surprised at how friendly and welcoming the Brits were. After the whole EuroStar fiasco, it was so nice to finally step foot off the train and onto UK soil. After all, this meant that we were this close from going home! Much to our delight, information booths in London train stations actually provided excellent directions when asked, unlike the lack of help we encountered in French train stations. ha. We were on our way to our hostel in no time, but once we arrived, we found out we couldn’t check in until 2pm. Once we finally were able to get to our room, we were both exhausted and took a 4-hour “nap.” We obviously didn’t go out exploring that day…

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Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

Kensington Palace

With a schedule full of things to do and see, we set out the next morning, beginning in Hyde Park. We stopped by Kensington Palace, where there was construction going on…so parts of the palace were blocked off. It was still gorgeous, nonetheless! Next, we headed toward the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. As a Princess Di fan, I was so excited to see this fountain that I’d heard so much about. We got to the fountain just as it was opening for the day, so we lucked out and got some great pictures before it got crowded. After that, we continued on toward Buckingham Palace, where we planned to watch the Changing of the Guard. Despite arriving almost an hour before the ceremony started, the crowd was already huge! We stood around with everyone else, baking in the (surprisingly) hot sun and listening to a sarcastic policeman attempting to keep the crowd orderly. Once the Changing of the Guard finally started, the crowd hushed and all eyes were on the red uniformed guards for the duration of the ceremony. It was incredible to see this in real life…definitely something to be seen if you are visiting London! It was quite a long ceremony, lasting nearly an hour and a half…its so bizarre (and neat!) that London basically has a parade every day.

Changing of the Guard

Buckingham Palace

After the Changing of the Guard was over, we headed toward Parliament and Westminster Abbey, stopping on the way for lunch. I was excited to try something out of my comfort zone: Fish and Chips. I am definitely not a huge fan of any kind of fish, but I was determined to try this famous British meal while I was in London! I’m so glad I did, too: it was AMAZING. Hands down, my favorite meal of the entire trip. I definitely could not eat like that every day…not only was it a bit unhealthy, but it was a LOT of food! After lunch, we continued on to Westminster Abbey. We originally were not going to pay to tour the Abbey, but once I got there, and saw how spectacular it was, I knew I couldn’t leave London without going inside! Unfortunately, you were not allowed to take pictures inside, but let me just say, seeing it on TV is nothing like actually being there! It was so stunning…definitely my favorite church of the entire trip. They had a special exhibit of Royal Wedding photos, which was very neat. I was one of those crazy Americans who woke up at 4am to watch the wedding take place live, so naturally I thought it was cool to walk through the Abbey where Wills & Kate had just gotten married.

Westminster Abbey

Fish & Chips!

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Once we had toured the Abbey, we stopped on the banks of the Thames for a few pictures of Big Ben and Parliament before heading to the London Eye. We were both excited for the Eye, and it definitely didn’t disappoint! We only waited in line for a few minutes before boarding one of the neat glass-enclosed capsules. The Eye is to London what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris: you get to see excellent views of the city, making the city look much smaller than it seems from ground level! Once we made it around the Eye, we called it a day. We saved the rest of our itinerary for our last full day in London.

London Eye

Parliament & Big Ben

On our last day, we woke up early and made sure our bags were packed to head to Heathrow that night, then we headed out to finish our London-in-two-days itinerary…nothing like cramming it all in…ha. We walked to Notting Hill (yep, like the movie), where we then took the Underground to Abbey Road for a photo op. When in London, right? 😉 After that, we headed toward Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, where I snapped a few pictures. On our way to see Tower Bridge, we stopped at a little pub for lunch, where we both tried Pimm’s for the first time. I actually liked it…interesting flavor, for sure. After lunch, we passed London Bridge and then took a few photos of Tower Bridge before heading to Harrod’s. 

The Globe Theater

Pimm’s!

Tower Bridge

Harrod’s

Harrod’s. Wow is all I can say. This store deserves its own post, but I’ll try to keep it short and sweet! Harrod’s has EVERYTHING. From designer handbags and clothing to displays of chocolates and teas, it was spectacular. It also has five floors…and we spent an hour and a half just on the first floor! We spent a lot of time looking at all of the different candies, and finally decided on some chocolates to bring home. After spending way too much time there, we headed out to King’s Cross Station, where we had another photo op with “Platform 9 3/4” (from Harry Potter, obviously!). Unfortunately, as King’s Cross was under construction, the train station installed a fake Platform 9 3/4 outside of the station. Yes, its still pretty cool, but it looks a bit fake….oh well, you win some, you lose some. Speaking of Harry Potter, there was almost zero reference or memorabilia of the Harry Potter films in the entire city of London! A little disappointing…..

Our last stop in London was per my request: Whole Foods. I loved that London had Whole Foods, because it meant that I could finally find “normal” food! WF is right up my alley in terms of food, so I picked up dinner there before we headed to the airport for the night. Yes, I said “for the night.” And yes, we did sleep in another airport all night. So thrilling. HA. We decided to save money and camped out in Heathrow instead of renting a hotel room. Needless to say, I got all of my pictures downloaded, caught up on my celebrity gossip, and even got a little sleep before we had to catch our flight the next morning! Our flight left London at 11:15am, and because of the 5-hour time difference, we arrived home at 2:00pm. A little confusing…and a lot tiring! Once our flight landed at Dulles, we still had a 4-hour drive home. Thankfully, we didn’t have to drive (which would have been incredibly scary, as we were both exhausted….ha). I managed to go to bed and wake up at “normal” times my first day home, but yesterday was rough for me. I woke up too early, then took a 3-hour “nap” in the middle of the day. I’m still dragging a bit, but I hope I’ll adjust to the time change quickly! I still have some interesting things to write about our trip…but I’ll save those for another day 😉

Crossing Abbey Road!

-xoxo