I’m finally getting around to posting some of my London pics!  As per usual with my international adventures this will be a multi-post saga.  So let’s start at the very beginning (a very good place to start ), the night before we left I picked up Chinese take-out on the way home.  My favorite part is always the fortune cookie.  They are goofy but I love them.  And in some instances, they can be quite accurate.  My fortune that night read “An enjoyable vacation is awaiting you near the mountains.”  So that was half right anyway, LOL!  I completed my “London” playlist for my ipod, finished up my packing, and headed to bed.  

The next morning I headed to the airport where I met up with Mom.  We were so excited!!!

After a layover in Chicago we were on our way to London!  As we boarded the plane they were playing what I suppose was meant to be music to get us in the “British mood” but was eerily similar to the score to the movie Titanic.  Not exactly what you want to hear when boarding a giant winged ship.  Add to that our flight was full of children – one whom we had noted earlier running around the airport, screaming, and hitting strangers with a banana with no mother in sight – so we were kinda nervous that we would be in for an 8 hour scream-fest but we were pleasantly surprised to find that most of them slept the whole way, even Banana Boy.  Bless those parents for whatever it was they did to sedate their children, LOL!  We also really enjoyed the United flight crew, who were almost entirely British.  We lovingly nicknamed our flight attendant James Bond.  He was a serious old chap!  Once we got settled in and off the ground I watched the in-flight movie, Monsters & Aliens, which was pretty cute, edited until the battery on my laptop died, and tried to get some sleep.  Before we knew it we were landing in Heathrow!  One thing I like to do when traveling is choose a “quote of the day” each day and upon deplaning I was able to capture the first one.  Mom and I were headed out of the plane and were taking note of what a complete shambles the plane was in (there were even dirty diapers strewn about Banana Boy’s area, gross!) when James Bond piped up and said “Looks like a battle has gone on doesn’t it??  Thankfully we survived.”

Here’s a photo I took when the sun started to rise

And our first photo on British soil!!  (that’s James Bond standing in the background!!)

Once in the airport we gathered our bags, changed over some money (the exchange rate was nauseating but que sera sera) and then we were off to find our hotel.  The Underground was so simple to navigate and I purposely chose a hotel that had an entrance within Victoria’s Station as I didn’t want to have to lug our bags any farther than necessary.  The hotel’s outside walls and lobby were beautiful!  And the location couldn’t be beat.

We got in around 9am on Sunday so our room wasn’t ready for check in but we were able to freshen up a bit and change clothes in the lobby restroom.  And on this trip I was smart enough to bring a hat so my vicious airplane hair wouldn’t frighten small children.  Once our bags were safely locked away with the bell man, we headed out to explore a bit.  Victoria’s Station was giant and amazing. 

In addition to the underground station and the train station, there was also a small mall with a food court where we ate a few times.  It was so convenient and had the comforts of some American fast food so that was nice.  We ate at the Subway there before hoping back on the Underground to find Kensington Palace.  Both the Palace and the huge gardens that surrounded it were amazing.  Mom was completely enthralled with the history of the building and I was stoked because we were allowed to take photos inside if we didn’t use flash (a rarity I would later find out). 

Mom and I outside Kensington Palace (see my cute hat!!) 

Some pics from inside

They had the most amazing collection of dresses worn by Princess Diana on display

There was also an exhibit all about debutants that was very cool

Mom and I goofing off!

This is the bedroom where Queen Victoria was born

And this amazing piece of art was in the gift shop

The gardens outside and some random things that caught my eye 

This statue of Queen Victoria was outside the Palace facing the pond.  Please note the amazing blue sky.  We had THE BEST weather while we were there.  It didn’t rain a drop!

When leaving Kensington Palace, we spotted our first Red Phonebooth!

 

After we finished exploring the gardens we headed over to Harrod’s.  Wow is really the first thing that comes to mind when I think about our experience there.  

The building was beautiful.  I loved all the flags and the architecture but it was a little hard to take it all in because the whole area was so crowded – 10 times worse than anything I’ve experienced in NY yet not quite as bad as Tiananmen on National Day.    I really don’t have a clue how people actually shop there.  Everywhere you turned there were hoards of people!  Mom and I were feeling pretty overwhelmed so we decided it might be best to take a break for some afternoon tea.  We had so much fun ordering our tea and scones and trying to guess what “clotted cream” might be – turns out it’s butter!  I had also never had tea with milk in it before.  LOVED it!!  I might have to start doing that at home!  Afternoon tea at Harrod’s cost more than we paid for our lunch earlier that day, but for the experience it was worth it.  We had so much fun!

Mom and I getting ready to dig in

Detail of our tea time delights!  

After tea we decided to make our way back to the hotel and check into our room.  I should probably tell you that I booked all of our travel arrangements.  If you know me well you know that as a general rule I’ve been fired from choosing the hotel ever since the infamous Atlanta “Crane Man” fiasco.  This was no exception.  I don’t know why but I have the worst luck!!  The lobby of the hotel and the main wing were nice enough, but we were ushered off to a far away wing that could best be described as threadbare, without AC, and directly above the train station (read:scary birds outside our window!!).  It was clean though and I was thankful for that.    

For dinner we went across the street from the hotel to a little pub called The Shakespeare where we indulged in the first of many nights of Fish and Chips

When we got back to the room that night I was brave and took some photos out of our window of the train station below.  Thankfully the birds stayed away. 

That’s all for day 1!  Hopefully I’ll be able to post day 2 soon!