Mind the Gap!

After enjoying Paris, we caught a ride on the Eurostar for a trip through the iconic Chunnel for our weeklong stay in London. Getting off of the train, we were welcomed and comforted by a large multitude of people speaking English! This was something we weren't used to, considering it had been about four months since we were last in a primarily English speaking country. We remember visiting London years ago with our parents, and our fond memories of the city quickly resurfaced as we began to become reacquainted.

As fans of British history (and especially the modern royal family), we loved visiting all of the main historical sites of London. Some of our favorite places were Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, and the Old Globe. We were fortunate enough to find an exclusive winter tour of the state rooms of Buckingham Palace, and we immediately jumped on the opportunity. The tour went beyond our expectations! Arriving at the Queen's Gallery, we were escorted into the Palace, and a tour guide led us through two wings of state rooms, including the Throne Room, the Ballroom, the White and Blue Rooms (where the Queen officially meets the Prime Minister for the first time), and the Picture Gallery. We ended in the East Hall next to the Grand Staircase, where we were given a glass of champagne! Although we weren't allowed to take any pictures, pictures wouldn't appropriately capture the beauty and magnificence of Buckingham Palace. It was impressive to recognize that while this palace is a piece of history, it is still a working and modern royal residence. When the tour ended, we were escorted out the front gates of the palace, where everyone could see us and wonder about our connections to the royal family. This was easily one of the highlights of the week!

Trafalgar Square 

Big Ben and Parliament

Westminster Abbey

The London Eye

A beautiful night on the Thames.

Enjoying some tea and Hobnobs!

The Old Globe

Outside Buckingham Palace after our incredible tour!

Another favorite visit was the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. We, of course, saw the gorgeous and glittering crown jewels, and we also took a free tour offered by one of the yeomen (Beefeaters), who showed us around and offered a wealth of knowledge of the gory history of the Tower. Let's just say, you wouldn't have wanted to be a temporary resident here! The Tower of London is such an iconic and historical monument of London and Great Britain history and was extremely fascinating. We then walked along the top of Tower Bridge, where we experienced the beautiful vistas of the city. 

Tower of London 

Going to go see the Crown Jewels!

Tower Bridge

While in London, we also got our fair share of pop culture. Monday night we bought last minute tickets to see "Billy Elliot" on West End, which was a lively and powerful show to say the least! All of the actors were extremely impressive performers, especially the boy who played Billy! Tuesday we spent the day visiting Warner Bros. Studios London, where the Harry Potter studio tour is located. This studio consists of two huge sound stages (J and K) dedicated to many of the sets, props, and costumes of the films, and we easily spent five hours exploring them! All of the sets that brought the books to life reminded us how these books were such a huge part of our childhood. It was amazing to see people of all ages visiting the studios and being just as excited as we were. 

Harry Potter Studio Tour! 

Entering the Great Hall.

The Gryffindor Common Room

Katie, you're driving too fast!

What do you know, it's Diagon Alley!

An incredible reconstruction of Hogwarts.

Platform 9 3/4 (in King's Cross)

We also spent some time this week catching up with old friends and family. Thursday we enjoyed lunch with a close friend of ours from back home and we spent the afternoon hanging out with a friend from high school. We were also lucky to see our cousin Chris a few times, since he is working in London. Saturday he took us and our friends on a great tour of some of the neighborhoods of London, including Borough Market, Piccadilly Circus, Covent Gardens, and the City of London. Chris was a wonderful and gracious host; he even invited us over to his flat and cooked us Mexican food! The dinner was, of course, absolutely delicious and a whole lot better than any Mexican food we have eaten over the past four months! We enjoyed spending time with him and meeting a couple of his coworkers. Thank you so much for everything, Chris! 

A fun night on the town with Chris!

A wonderful lunch with Amberley!

After a week in this welcoming city, we realized we could have easily spent more time exploring the many historical sites, museums, and neighborhoods of Greater London that we didn't have time to visit. We also discovered one of our favorite new snacks: English Breakfast Tea (with milk and sugar) with Hobnobs, a cookie that you eat with tea. We were never big fans of tea, but tastes can change when you add enough milk and sugar! We even enjoyed afternoon tea in Harrod's one day after wandering the beautiful Hyde, Regent's, and St. James Parks. 

A walk through the parks of London.

Harrods!

Afternoon tea in the Tea Room, Harrods. 

The Peter Pan statue 

The National Gallery

With so much to experience in London, one of our good friends was absolutely right when she told us, "London is always a good idea!" All in all, it was the perfect city to end our four week vacation before returning to Rome for a second semester!

Americans in Paris

As our parents departed for home, we continued onto our next destination, Paris. Taking a taxi into the center of the city, we were struck by the classic Parisan architecture and an European vibe we had never experienced before. We quickly began to appreciate the differences Paris provided in setting, culture, language, history, and food. During our first day we explored our cute neighborhood in the fifth district near Saint Germaine and the Latin Quarter, and we visited the Musee d'Orsay, a wonderful museum with one of the best collections of Impressionist art in the world. Let's just say we were in Impressionism heaven! 

Musee d'Orsay

We spent our days visiting the major sites such as Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower, exploring the museums, enjoying the delicious cuisine, and wandering through the beautiful streets of Paris. In order to see the city by both night and day, we climbed the Eiffel Tower twice. When we went in the evening we took a lift to the second level (the top level was closed for the month) and saw the city sparkle with light. The next day, in order to save time and money, we decided to walk up the stairs to the 2nd level, all 670 of them! We're still not sure whether that was a genius idea or not, but we can now say we literally walked up the Eiffel Tower! 

Notre Dame

The Eiffel Tower!

Arc d'Triumphe

Yes, we walked up that many stairs.

To indulge our art history/history selves, we toured many museums, including the Army museum/Napoleon's tomb, Musee Rodin, and the Louvre in addition to Musee d'Orsay. We hit the Louvre at the right time, after 6pm on Wednesday, when it is open late. It was the best decision we made in Paris for we easily walked the rooms of the Louvre without having to fight the crowds. There was actually barely anyone there, and instead of seeing tourists snapping pictures in every room, we watched artists sketching works or small groups of classes talking about a specific work. We could even stand right in front of the Mona Lisa! 

The Louvre

Napoleon's Tomb

The 'Thinker' by Rodin.

Paris Opera House

As a day trip from Paris we enjoyed the pleasures of Versailles, the French palace built by Louis XIV. Although it was a rainy and unpleasant day weather-wise, we could still imagine the luxurious rooms and the vast gardens as they may have been in the 18th century. Our favorite room was the Hall of Mirrors, a room designed to show off the exuberance and power of the French royal family. No picture will ever do it justice! In addition to the main palace, we strolled the gardens and the outer estate, which held Marie Antoinette's private home and hamlet. Her house proved to be her escape as the rebellion was rising in the streets of Paris, and we could sense the comfort and warmth from the smaller home. A little more off the beaten path was her hamlet, a little country village and working farm to remind her of her roots in Austria. This small village seemed to come out of a fairy tale, with whimsical buildings and picturesque scenery. While it proved more difficult to fully appreciate the gardens in the winter, they were still magnificent and impactful. We even found the patch of trees in which grows a tree our grandparents donated to Versailles after a storm. 

We're going to Versailles!

The spectacular Hall of Mirrors.

Marie Antoinette's hamlet.

Enjoying the gardens of Versailles. 

We found Grandma and Grandpa's tree! (It's in there somewhere)

This short experience in Paris reminded us of France's wonderful history and culture. Like all of the previous cities we have visited, we tried to get immersed in the culture as much as we could, even with the obvious language barrier. We both even ventured well out of our comfort zone by trying escargot! 

While we didn't have the opportunity to hit all of the museums and nearby cities we wanted to visit, we think it's only an excuse to come back soon!