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!
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| Trafalgar Square |
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| Big Ben and Parliament |
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| Westminster Abbey |
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| The London Eye |
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| A beautiful night on the Thames. |
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| Enjoying some tea and Hobnobs! |
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| The Old Globe |
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| 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.
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| Tower of London |
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| Going to go see the Crown Jewels! |
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| 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.
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| Harry Potter Studio Tour! |
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| Entering the Great Hall. |
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| The Gryffindor Common Room |
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| Katie, you're driving too fast! |
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| What do you know, it's Diagon Alley! |
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| An incredible reconstruction of Hogwarts. |
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| 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!
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| A fun night on the town with Chris! |
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| 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.
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