Wed 11-19-08:
We arrived around 8:00 AM- hopped on the Tube all the way to Jonathan's, checked into our flat
Walked around Chelsea, Kings Road, Hyde Park
Had our first doner kebab of the trip @ a Lebanese Restaurant in Chelsea
Saw the King Albert Memorial
Jonathan cooked us a fabulous dinner of Lasagna, Salad & Bread
Thurs. 11-20-08
Big Ben
Parliament
London Eye (saw it)
National Portrait Gallery
Harrods
Trafalgar Square
St. James Park
Buckingham Palace
British Museum
*Funny side note.....after we all got home Thursday night Andrew, Erika & I ran to the sainsbury to pick up a few things, when we were done we decided to hop on the tube and just ride anywhere.....we were gone for about 90 minutes. We went to Westminster & just saw the sights @ night! Breathtaking!
Friday 11-21-08
Changing of the guard
Leicester Square
Piccadilly Circus
China Town
Covent Garden
Wicked Musical
Saturday 11-22-08
Breakfast @ Jonathan's
Dean & Jonathan took on us a bike tour of London
Downing Street- place of resident of the Prime Minister
Soldier Memorial
Ride to Southwark- Borough Market...best cheese, meats, chocolate brownie, sausage sandwich
11-23-08
- Today we went to the Hyde Park Ward. We went w/no idea where it was, just new the area it was in. We got out to the bus stop @ about 8:15, it was pouring rain & no buses were coming. We waited about 20 minutes & finally a bus came by.......it drives right past us. Jordan was just about over standing in the rain & I just told him to have faith......well the next bus came about 1 minute later & the first person we saw was a missionary! I walked right up to him & told him that we were going to church & that we were going to follow him!! We made it to the chapel right on time!
- Since church was right by the Victoria Albert Museum, we decided to go walk around. We all instantly fell in love. We had to go back a few days later!.....my personal favorite was the fashion wing!
- After the museum we went to Hyde Park preachers corner. Loved that as well! There were probably about 12 different preachers there all yelling over each other. There was even a bit of a yelling match between an old lady racist preacher & a young man....good times!
- Cabinet War Rooms/Winston Church Hill Museum....fabulous! It was so neat to see what happened during the war & how Winston Church Hill handled it.
- Westminster Abbey- Beautiful! We went to an organ recital there Sunday night. We all actually fell asleep listening to the music, not because it was boring, it was beautiful but we were SO tired. Note: Erika did not fall asleep!
- Dinner @ the Slug in Fulham. Jordan got bangers & mash & I got Fish & Chips! Pretty good!
11-24-08
- Notting Hill- we all loved this area. It was quaint, quiet & lovely! The flats were so cute & I would live there in a heartbeat. We walked up & down Portbello road where Jordan & I had our first real English breakfast. It was so good! Then we went into a bunch of shops where I founds lots of fun things to buy!
- St. Paul's Cathedral- Absolutely Beautiful! This church was SO amazing. It was huge! We walked around the church then went up to the Whispering Gallery. We had to climb up 257 stairs to get up there. It was well worth every step. After the WG were we able to go onto the roof where the view was beautiful. We all got some great shots & then walked back down to the crypt. This was also great but a bit creepy (I hate cemetery's) We had to walk down a few steps in the crypt & Erika fell in slow motion down the stairs. We all found it quite funny.......even Erika!
- Tower of London........really what can I say. All of the buildings in London are so old and beautiful. We didn't end up going in but we did walk around & got some great pictures.
- Tower Bridge- we walked up & down by the tower bridge getting lots of photos!
- V & A Museum- we had to go back & get all the souvenirs that we fell in love with! Some may even benefit!
- We also went back to Leicester Square.....we all love this place. There are lots of people, shops & food around.
- Well in the square we decided that we wanted to see another musical before going home. Sound of Music it was. Jordan opted to not go & let me just tell you......he missed an amazing show. It was SOOO good. I loved Wicked & you really can't compare the two. If it ever comes your way.....go see it! Andrew, Erika & I can't stop singing all of the songs. I think Jordan wishes that we would stop however :)
- South Kensington- we walked around some shops, bought some yummy pastry's & bought a delicious loaf of olive bread!
11-26-08
- All of us but Jordan got up & went & had an English Breakfast down the street from our flat.
- West Brompton Cemetery......once again, I hate cemetery's but I totally took one for the team. It was actually pretty cool. It is really old & grown over. There were TONS of squirrels & pigeons we fed them for a bit & are now convinced that the squirrels understand us because as Matt was telling us girls to go sit on one of the graves & feed all the animals, a squirrel decided to climb up Matt''s leg! It was pretty funny watching Matt squirm a bit :)
- We finished our day shopping on Regent & Oxford Street. We also went to a store called Liberties...........LOVED it
11.27.08- Paris
- We took a boat ride on the river to Greenwich-Where time begins. It was actually not that cold. Greenwich it It was pretty cool. Well there of course we went to the market, had lunch, all the boys & Erika had fresh roasted pig sandwiches, I had this amazing fresh Turkish bread w/feta & spinach & Dalea had some Chinese. We stopped by the National Maritime Museum where we were able to drive a boat in the simulator & then went up to the Royal Observatory where the longitude it at 0.
- Dinner- we made Jonathan fajitas tonight. They were so good of course. Why would we eat/cook something that wasn't just fantastic? Then for dessert we had some spotted dick! It was good as well!
- Tonight we all packed & we are off to Paris in the morning. We have a full schedule there & I am already convinced that we will be a exhausted by the time we get back to London.
11.28.08
- Took the Euro star to Paris in the morning. Checked into our cute boutique hotel & headed out.
- Saint Chapel. The stained glass in this old cathedral is absolutely breathtaking. It is a must see when visiting Paris
- Notre Dame. Also a must see while visiting Paris
- Latin Quarter. Love this area of Paris. Lots of food & shops. We started off with a baguette, crepe, pain chocolate & some amazing roasted potatoes- yum!
- Left Bank
- Arc de triumph via Champs Elysees
- Christmas Market
11.29.08
- Sacre Coeur
- Musse d 'Orsay
- Musee d' Louvre
- Moulin Rouge- don't worry we didn't see a show however, Jordan was begging me to go!!!!!!! J/K
- Erika used a street toilet.......SICK
- Fondue Dinner in the Latin Quarter.....Yummy!
11.30.08
- Flea Market- we found lots of fun treasures
- a long nap
- A long walk around the Latin Quarter followed by one of the best donner kebabs & gelato
12.1.08
- Back to London where we were greeted by Jonathan & a delicious curry dinner. Dean, David & Beth also joined us for the night.
- Relaxed for the first day in two weeks!!!!!
12.2.08
- Shopped, Shopped & shopped some more. We went to Regent, Oxford & Carnaby St. We also went to Covent Gardens where we founds lots of fun things!!!!!
- Ice Skating @ the Natural History Museum
- Dinner @ Pizza Express followed by ice cream of course
- Back to Notting Hill- had to pick a few gifts- Rained Buckets!
- Lunch at a really cute Cafe..great pizza, roasted carrots & potato's w/ rosemary
- Imperial War Museum- very fascinating. The Holocaust exhibit was almost too much to take in. The entire time we were thinking about how much our friend Russell would love this place
- Harrods- this place is so big & expensive it is crazy the only thing that we could afford was chocolate :)
- Leicester Square- went to Lillywhites to shop & to get another donner kebab.
All in all so far this trip has been so much fun! So many memories made & so many pictures taken!!!!!!
*Mental note: Next time we come to Europe in the fall we will pack like 7 really cute/warm coats. I am sure that you have noticed that we all always have our coats on! The other day I had to wear two coats!
