So here's the short version:
The trip was AMAZING! It was 99% exactly what I hoped for (I'll get to the 1% let down later on), was filled with fun, culture, exploration, good food, good drinks and lots of time with my TKO.
And on to the long version...
Starting with Monday, April 8!
I managed to fully pack myself up over the weekend because I had to go to a full day at work on Monday. I pretty much squirmed in my seat with excitement the whole day until it was time to leave. Our flight wasn't until 10:50 pm so we didn't have to leave until about 8:45. Finally the time came and we were off to Boston Logan Airport!!
The flight was really easy, and with a healthy concoction of wine, Dramamine and Melatonin I actually slept for most of it. In just 7 short hours, we arrived in London for the morning! We took the tube to our first hotel, The Rembrant in South Kensington, got settled and changed, then headed out to explore London! My amazing friend Maja put together a walking tour for us that hit up most of the tourist attractions plus some extra special local spots. We followed it pretty much to the t and it was a really amazing help in such a large city.
My first (and lasting impression of London) was "Holy shit, this city is REGAL." I really can't come up with another word to describe it. I was so overwhelmed by the architecture, and just the whole grandiose nature of the city. Every single building was beautiful. Now, we only explored a tiny part of London so I'm sure it's not like that everywhere, but everything I saw looked like somewhere the royal family would live.
And now, here's what we saw on day 1 (These are out of order and lots are stolen from Tom)!
The Covent Garden market reminded me a lot of Quincy Market here in Boston, but a lot bigger! It was very cool but we didn't do much shopping (here, or anywhere on the trip). Here I am looking out over the balcony at the performers -- there was a group playing orchestra instruments and dancing!
The Prime Minister lives at 10 Downing Street, which is in the photo through the gates. You can't really get close and it was kind of funny to see so many people taking pictures of a black door you can barely see!
We walked down the mall to get to Buckingham Palace. It was lined with parks and I imagine would be such a beautiful and relaxing walk in the springtime/summer. Technically it was spring when we were in London but it felt like winter! I wore my winter coat the whole time and sometimes even needed gloves.
I believe this was our first view of Big Ben! So exciting!! In this picture I feel liek you can get a bit of what I was saying about the regal-ness of London. There were statues everywhere and even the streetlamps looked royal.
We passed by this guy on out walk down the Mall. I can't believe they just stand there with their eyes covered and never move. I also was surprised they had real weapons with them. I guess that's silly because they are there to protect, but I just can't imagine that guy stabbing someone with that sword thing. Does that ever happen? I also feel like they must have mastered the ability to sleep standing up. How can they just stand there all day!?!?
Here I am on our lunch break! We stopped in a little pub (can't remember the name) so Tom could get fish and chips. I wasn't feeling the typical London fare so I opted for a cheese sandwich and chips.
Here is the tube station near our hotel. I really liked the South Kensington area. It was busy but not crazy, and seemed less touristy than the central area we spent most of our time in. Also, we never heard anyone refer to the tube as "the tube" -- they always called it the metro. Does anyone call it the tube?
The London Eye from the Mall. I love this picture with the yellow tulips!
We spent quite a bit of time in the Soho area exploring, getting drinks and eating dinner. We picked a small place called Mother Mash to settle at to east and it was AWESOME. You basically order two bangers (sausages) and a type of mash (mashed potatoes). Soooo good!
Here we are in front of Buckingham Palace! I wish we could have gone inside somehow. This place was ginormous. Tom and I counted 103 windows just on the front!
Here's our drinks during dinner...I like that it says "London Pride" :)
Of course I needed the typical shot in the red telephone booth! These were really all over the place...and they worked!
This was the view outside of our hotel -- the V & A Museum. Unfortunately we didn't have time to actually go to the museum, but it was certainly a nice view! This photo also has one of the very first red double decker buses we saw in London! I always thought the buses were solely tour buses, but once seeing them ALL over the place, realized they are actually for public transportation too. So weird!
Here are the Canada Gates outside of Buckingham Palace. This picture definitely doesn't do it justice -- it was so beautiful. The Gates are part of the memorial to Queen Victoria and form the entrance to Green Park.
London has some beautiful parks and I really wish the weather had been nicer so we could hang out and picnic. We took a long walk through St. James Park which was gorgeous despite the chilly weather. Side note, there were SO many birds in this park.
Trafalger Square (below) was just a very cool, cultural little spot with so much to look at! What you see behind us is Nelson's Column which is "guarded" by 4 gigantic bronze lions.
Soho was a very cool and cute area and I'm so happy Maja recommended we spend some time walking around an exploring. We stopped at one loungey place for 2 for 1 drinks before dinner. Yum.
That's it for day 1 in London! More updates to come soon!
I loved reading this! Can't wait for your other posts :)
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