But don't worry, I am about to provide you with a detailed account of our time in my new favorite city. Friday morning started early as we had 10:00am reservations to ride the London Eye - one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. After a delicious breakfast at our hotel, we figured out the train and tube system and headed into the heart of London. We were absolutely in love with this city and we hadn't even done anything! We made a few pit-stops on our way to pick up our London Eye tickets, and we were ready to tackle the upcoming day!
From this ferris wheel, you can see a distance of 40km over the city - it was truly an incredible experience, despite some rather rude people with whom we had to share our cart. It was a great way to "see" the city before we started off to check everything off of our very long list. After riding the London Eye, we decided to head in the direction of Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Sarah and I are a little bit bummed that we don't have an elf following us around to take pictures of us together because that means we either have to take awkward alone pictures, selfies, or chance asking someone to take our picture. We always manage to find the one person who doesn't happen to speak English! Anyway, we saw two girls trying to take pictures, so we offered to take their picture if they wouldn't mind taking ours. They said of course, and as I took the camera so that I could snap their photo, they asked Sarah to get in their picture. Taken aback, she agreed, and it was possibly one of the funniest pictures that I have ever seen -- I only wish I had documented that moment!
Big Ben and Parliament are just like what you see in the pictures -- only better. I loved getting to see in person what I had seen in so many movies and pictures (for example, Winning London - who doesn't love some MK & A?) We then ventured over to the Westminster Abbey which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and we didn't even go inside. We were planning to go to church there Sunday morning, but it didn't work out with the timing of the trains and our flight. The outside was still breathtaking, though. In case you didn't know, the Westminster Abbey is where most English and British monarchs have been crowned, and more recently, the site of the Royal Wedding just last year. I guess I will just have to make a trip back to London in order to see the inside!
After sitting down and figuring out a game plan for the rest of the day, we headed over to Covent Garden for lunch and some shopping. We immediately fell in love with Covent Garden and the shopping, markets, and peacefulness. It was very busy, but it was absolutely perfect. Definitely one of my favorite places in London! We were looking for the Cyber Candy Store when we came across a Kate Spade store, so we just had to stop in and have a look. After some debate over what to buy, we both purchased a pair of Kate Spade earrings, both agreeing that we would have to return to make other purchases. We wandered around for a bit unable to find the candy store, so we stopped for lunch at a little restaurant called Pret A Manger. It really reminded me of Whole Foods in that the food is natural, healthy, and made that day. The Chicken Raita wrap that I had was absolutely delicious. I also snagged a bag of popcorn for later because I have literally been craving popcorn for weeks now, so I could not pass up that delicacy! Don't worry, it did not disappoint!
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| QE II Lawn |
We quickly learned that there are Pret A Mangers on literally every corner here in London, and we both agreed that the food was so good, we wouldn't mind returning. Luckily, there is also a Pret A Manger located in Paris, where we will be traveling next weekend, so we can enjoy this food for one more weekend! With some food in our stomachs, we were ready to find that candy store, and find it we did! Cyber Candy Store is a store that has candy from all over the world, so yes, we got to see some of our American favorites! I also found some of these Australian cookies that Gayle absolutely LOVES, so I might have purchased a pack or two for her to enjoy upon my return to the States! It was so much fun to be in there, and we had a great time remembering some of our favorite candy, and looking at candy before which we had never seen.
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| Oreo's 100th Birthday! |
After a stop at the candy shop, we were ready to tackle Harrod's - the only one in the WORLD. You could say that we were excited. Harrod's is a department store that covers approximately 4.5 acres and sees about 100,000 people a day visiting the store. It is a luxury department store that has products from every designer that you could ever imagine, and then some. There are 7 floors, 300 departments, 20 restaurants, but only ONE Harrod's. There are toys, books, home goods, more clothes than I have ever seen in my life, shoes, hand bags, food, and so much more. There was so much that we just didn't know where to start. It was very overwhelming, to say the least. After finding the restrooms (it costs money to use the public restrooms in London, who would have thought? I paid 80 pence to use the "toilets" throughout the course of the weekend), and experimenting with the complimentary perfume, we were ready to tackle this one-of-a-kind department store. Unfortunately, after about 10 minutes of walking around, Sarah started not feeling quite up to snuff, so we decided to call it quits and head back to the hotel to get some good rest so that we would be 110% for the following day, ready to cross everything else off of our list. We ate a delicious meal at our hotel, and hit the hay early to prepare for a 6am wake up call. Yes, I said 6am. Bloody early! (Sarah and I practiced our English accents whenever possible, they were bloody brilliant by the end of the weekend)!
By the way, in reference to the title of my post, Mind the Gap is a warning to train passengers to "mind the gap" between the platform and the train door. I can't tell you how many times we heard, "Please, Mind the Gap!"
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