It’s hard to believe we’ve been home for less than a week. I’ll tell you what, making my own meals and bed each day kinda stinks! In all seriousness it is nice to be home but we had such an amazing vacation. To avoid picture overload I’ll divide our trip into a few parts – there’s just too much to share at one time. If you ever get the chance to visit the places we did don’t hesitate GO!
Our first stop was London, England. We flew into Gatwick early in the morning and met our driver. She dropped us off at our hotel about 90 minutes later. It was quite a drive and there was rush hour traffic although as an Orlando resident it was nothing! While in London we stayed at The Queen’s Gate Hotel. It was fabulous and in a great location just a few blocks from the tube station and walking distance to Kensington Palace and Park.
The first day we wandered around and explored. We visited Harrod’s which was way too overwhelming for me and had lunch at a cute pub. That was an experience for us. The bartender ran the whole place! We ordered our meals from him, he delivered them to us and everyone else who came in. I had a chicken and mushroom pie and it was delicious!
Flowers inside Harrod’s
Our first pub visit!
Lunch!
After lunch we stopped in a few shops and eventually headed back to our hotel to unpack and freshen up. One of the things I loved most about London was all the beautiful flowers and plants! I literally could not stop saying it to my husband – ha!! I am a lover of flowers and sadly our climate is not conducive to the lush gardens I crave.
That night we had drinks at the hotel bar and talked for the longest time with our sweet bartender who had SO MUCH to say about the US government. On our way to dinner we decided to pop into TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer. I just had to see how their TK Maxx compared to our TJ Maxx and yep, it was the same! Marks and Spencer had me curious. I think it’s a bit like the love child of Macy’s and Kohl’s if that makes sense. I scored a cute pair of shoes that were inexpensive but comfortable. Then we went to dinner at a small Indian restaurant and walked back to the hotel. We had an early tour scheduled for the next day and we were pretty tired.
Just shopping and happen to see the police hanging around with machine guns!
The Victoria & Albert Museum was right around the corner from our hotel. Isn’t it gorgeous?
Friday we did a full day Tour of London. It included lots of great sites including the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral. We also saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and the parade. The Tower of London was amazing and we learned so much from our tour guide! The tour also included a short cruise on the River Thames.
Buckingham Palace
Inside the beautiful St. Paul’s Cathedral!
I remember watching the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana!
Tower of London
This Palace Guard came out of his box and marched around for a few minutes. It was so cool to watch!
The Tower of London isn’t actually a tower at all!
London Bridge on the River Thames
Friday night we had fun plans to meet Anna and her husband for dinner! We had a great time along with great Indian food and drinks. Yes, Indian two nights in a row but we were fine with that- it happens to be my husband’s favorite!
These two were so much fun!
Cheers!
On the tube!
I just love meeting bloggers IRL! We were never at a loss for conversation and Anna‘s husband is hysterical and kept us entertained! After dinner we stopped at a pub before heading back to the hotel. We used the tube to get around most of the day EXCEPT when we were headed to meet Anna. I suggested we take a taxi and that was a HUGE mistake. Traffic in London on a Friday night is no joke and the ride was so pricey, we could have been to our destination in half the time for less than a quarter of what our taxi fare was!
On Saturday we slept in and had breakfast at our hotel (it was included but that was the only day we were able to take advantage of it) before heading to Camden Market. My husband had wanted to visit and I am a person with no expectations of anyplace that we just had to visit so I was game. We shopped and shopped. Mostly t-shirts for my boys and records for one of our sons. I did find a few things – the lace duster I shared on Friday and then a blue waterfall cardigan. I also found a gift for my mom.
Camden Market!
Colorful Camden Market Shops!
That afternoon we walked around Kensington Palace and Park.
The beautiful gates at Kensington Palace!
The beautiful gardens at Kensington Palace!
Just down the street from our hotel was the home of Benny Hill! Do you remember him?
Saturday night we attempted to have dinner at Fish and Chips Restaurant (The Laughing Halibut) recommended by our tour guide. We took the tube to the restaurant only to find out they close at 6pm! So we ate at a pub not far from there. It was fine but full of locals who didn’t seem to excited to see us – ha!!! Then when we got up to leave a mouse ran up the wall behind me so there’s that!
Delicious Fish & Chips!
The mouse ran right up the fireplace directly behind me!
You can probably tell from all the pictures that the weather changes in an instant. It may look sunny without a cloud in the sky and then literally 3 minutes later it’s storming! We always packed an umbrella and a raincoat.
Sunday we got up super early to head to the Heathrow Airport to jet off to Edinburgh, Scotland. Well, jet off may not actually describe it. We walked the tarmac to a tiny plane but it got us there! Early morning flights were not our favorite but they really are best because that basically gave us an almost full day to explore when we had nothing else planned. But I’ll save those adventures for next time!
Boarding the plane To Edinburgh!
So, how did we spend this weekend? Trying to fight jet lag honestly because I am ready for bed by 6pm each night! On Friday we went to an Oktoberfest celebration in Sanford, FL at our favorite German restaurant. We had fun! Of course by 8:30 we were home (I snapped this picture in the car – checkout the song we were listening too – party animals – ha!!!).
Our favorite German Restaurant
Oktoberfest with my favorite German boy!
Do we know how to have a good time or what?!
Saturday I worked on the blog before heading to church. Afterwards we watched football and baseball. We adore the Yankees!
Sunday my mom and I visited one of my oldest and best friends, Dana. I hope you had a great weekend and that you enjoyed the first recap of our trip. It was so hard to weed through the photos – we literally have hundreds!
See you back here Wednesday for our Style Six Link Up!!
