I flew into London late last Friday night, and my dear friend Alanna was fighting off her jet lag waiting for me at the hotel. I told Alanna that I was going to London about 2 weeks ago, and being the fantastic friend she is, she bought a ticket across the pond just to hang out with me for a few days. I guess she was tired of hearing me complain about traveling solo.
We got up early Saturday morning to hit the town. Naturally, the open top double decker tour bus was a MUST so we got our tickets first thing - we even splurged and got the 48-hour deal. Being California and Texas natives, we skipped out the door sans-coats...the sun was out so that means it's warm right? WRONG. You better believe that we stayed on the top of that bus for the entire loop. And we loved every second, regardless of the fact that we were loosing feeling in our fingers which is pretty obvious by my terrible photography. After one loop, we decided that the only way to stay warm was to head to our first London pub...
SUPER excited about the bus
St Paul's Cathedral
Tower Bridge
London Tower, which is NOT a tower, it's a fortress
Big Ben
I loved this little guy
Driving across Tower Bridge
The London Eye
I could stare at this view for days....Westminster Abbey from the London Eye
Entrance of the Buckingham Palace
Alanna had done some fantastic research on the oldest pubs in London, so we mapped out our route taking the Tube (subway) from pub to pub. The first, The George Inn, established in 1676 was perfect in every way. I indulged in my first beef and ale pot pie and decided that if I was a local I would definitely be a regular. We had 10 pubs to get to, so after our meal and an ale we headed to The Jamaica Wine House, est 1652, then Lamb & Flag, est 1780, then Ye Olde Mitre, est 1546....ALL CLOSED. Alanna and I were completely confused, tired, and most of all thirsty. None the less, we continued on Citte of York, est 1695. We got off the Tube at the Blackfriar stop and stumbled on Blackfriar's pub, which was not on the list but happened to be the cutest things ever established in 1873 (I guess that's not old enough to make the cut). We had to stop to rest and refuel.
The George Inn's claim to fame....delicious!
Jamaica Wine House, closed, Alanna's confused
Leadenhall Market, just the cutest place ever, Lamb & Flag, also closed.
Ye Olde Mitre...this would have been the BEST, but it was closed. Alanna is still confused.
SUCCESS! Blackfriar's
It was very difficult to leave Blackfriar's, but we still had 6 of the oldest pubs in London to try and get to. We were super close to #8 on the list, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese est 1538, so we modified our route and headed to the Cheese. Little did we know that this is where we would spend the rest our night with bitter beer supplied by a bunch of Scotsman. For the record, the bitter beer was served at room temp and is not good. Over the course of the night, Alanna fell in love with the man of her dreams, Stuart, so we shut down "the Cheese" with the boys of Scotland. Luckily, one of the guys was the Scottish version of my love, so I called him Chad and we sat together and I made him tell me every detail of his upcoming nuptials while making fun of Alanna and Stewy all night.
SUCCESS x2!
We got back to the hotel just in time for me to realize that it was wedding time back home! I attempted to FaceTime Mom, but of course there was no answer. Thankfully, my sista had her phone on her and I called moments before Mr and Mrs Kristopher Johnson were introduced to the reception! I got to hear Julie's dad welcome and thank everyone for coming to the wedding. I couldn't tell you anything that he said, but I know that he mentioned my Nana and Papa and that's when the water works started. I just sat in the lobby of our hotel and watched the first dance, the daddy/daughter dance, and mother/son dance just balling my eyes out. I had kind of gotten it together when someone started passing the phone around. I started at the kids table with all my cousins and the Kennedy's, then I saw my mom and dad and lost it again. By the time I got to the grandparents/aunts and uncles I was a blubbering mess and THEN I got to the bride and I couldn't even get any words out. Thank goodness the band was loud, it would have been super embarrassing if everyone would hear me wailing. It was bad enough I exposed my hideous crying face to the entire crowd. I did not expect to be so pathetically emotional, but I couldn't get it together...I'm just so thrilled to FINALLY have Julianna in our family.
Needless to say, getting up Sunday morning was a very slow process. The combination of bitter beer, walking for miles, and crying myself to sleep made getting out of bed pretty difficult. On top of that we had to change hotels, and 10am came much quicker than expected. Luckily, Alanna and I had an unspoken understanding that we were going to check-in to my home for the week and get ourselves back on that bus for the rest of the day. And that's exactly what we did. I think we spent at least 7 hours cruising around London learning fun facts for the second day in a row.
I was super jealous of Alanna getting to beep bop around London Monday and Tuesday while I was in class, but it was so nice to have someone to hang out with in the evenings...she's a really great date :) Just by coincidence, I had emailed one of my old friend/co-worker from Bakersfield (who happens to be married to a friend from high school's older sister - this world is REALLY small) and he was in London for the week. I adore him and his sweet family (I used to babysit his boys), so we were able to get together for dinner on Wednesday night. We had such a great time catching up and talking about how wonderful it is to be able to see each other on the other side of the world...did I mention that this world is really small??
My BFF, Kate Middleton, was really busy this week, so I didn't get to see her or George. I really have no other choice but to get back to this city as soon as she let's me know what her schedule is like. This trip was so last minute,she just didn't have time to pencil me in, but I was super busy too so it's fine :) I feel like I've only touched the tip of the iceberg of this amazing city, and I will definitely be back for more sooner than later!
So long London...
I'm heading to ROME tomorrow after class to meet my Mom and Dad, and I couldn't be more excited! They have been exploring Italy since Monday, and I cannot wait to hear about their adventures. I realize this sounds ridiculous, but I feel like a proud momma just thinking about everything they are getting to see and experience. They are 100% out of their comfort zone (especially Lisa), but I am just so thrilled that they agreed to take a trip across the pond to see the everything the rest of this world has to offer...well, Italy, for now ;)
xoxo...
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