European Adventuring, Part 2: London
Ahhh, where did I leave off??! Ahhh, yes, we were set to depart Scotland and head down to London Town!
We got up nice and early on Friday morning and headed to the train station to take a 4.5 hour train south to London!
This shockingly went super smooth -- I think all four of us dozed off for a bit on the long train ride, and after our jam-packed past few days, it was so needed!
Once we got into London, we took the Tube to our hotel to checkin, which we were still a bit early so we ditched our bags and went for a quick lunch before we were able to get into our rooms.
Once in our rooms, we put our stuff down, go ourselves ready, and headed out to the Imperial War Museum until it closed at 6pm.
The museum was completely different (helllloooo remodel!) from when I was last there 6 years ago in 2012 (for this!). But it was great -- so lots of new stuff to see and Museum Mike came out in full force (golly that guy loves his museums!!) and we were there almost until it closed!
We then took the Tube back into central London for dinner and hit up my favorite Chinese restaurant, the Crispy Duck!
What's funny is that this was the restaurant we went the night Mike proposed, and then it was the restaurant we went back to 7+ years later the night before our 6th wedding anniversary!
Needless to say I had to do a comparison pic.
I think everyone LOVED their dinner -- I mean, we all pretty much cleaned our plates and it was just as yummy and delicious as I remembered!
We then decided to take advantage of the nice night and walk down by the River Thames. They are doing a massive 4 year remodel on Big Ben and Westminster soooooo there's scaffolding everywhere. Ugh. Just ignore that and focus on the pretty sunset, mmmmkay??!?!
My mom had us recreate some of our engagement night pics so that was fun! It was nice having another person (or two, hi dad!) there with us to snap some pics that weren't selfies!!
I continued my jumping through Europe trend...I know you love these pics as much as I do. HAHA!
We were BEAT and headed back to the hotel and PASSED OUT!
Saturday was our 6th year anniversary (awww!) and we started it off by doing a little London photo shoot!
My dear friend Jess, who yes, is a dear friend cause we talk nearly everyday and I feel like I've known for forever, has been an internet friend for 5 years. FINALLY our paths were able to cross IN REAL LIFE and we met up for a quick photo shoot and breakfast!
GOLLY it was just the BEST to meet her and chat in person! I feel like we've known each other forever and I just loved meeting her in the flesh and her two adorable kiddos Archie and Daisy! And her lovely fella Tom too :) It was the BEST morning!
We then walked around for a bit and caught the end of the Trooping the Colours before heading back to our hotel for some rest before dinner...
He clearly needed it :)
We hit up an Italian restaurant before going to see my most favorite musical Wicked! Don't ask what number time this was for me to see it, I've lost count. It was SOOOO good though! As always, I enjoyed it SO MUCH! I think my mom and dad and Mike did too!
On Sunday we shockingly slept in! I woke up and it was already 8:30am! OMG! We were SO TIRED I guess! But I let Mike sleep another hour before getting him up.
We decided to go see Abbey Road since it was semi-close to our hotel and get some pics and visit the gift shop for some souvenirs...and I continued to jump through out trip :)
After Abbey Road we headed to the train station to meet up with my old roomie Grier, who I haven't seen for almost 2 years since she last visited us in STL.
We had a great time catching up -- walking around Little Venice and then grabbing lunch at a local pub (which Mike LOVED the food!).
And more jumping. Are you sick of this yet?!?! #toobadsosad
It was just like old times with her and I cannot believe it was TEN YEARS AGO when I first met her and moved in with her when I lived in Maidenhead while teaching back in 2008. TIME SURE DOES FLY!
We literally bid Grier farewell at the train station and hopped on a train ourselves to go out to High Wycombe to visit another friend, Sandy (and her hubby!!), who I worked with when I lived here!
We then headed back to our hotel and had a drink with my parents in our hotel lobby before calling it a night. We were so exhausted! We had one final day in London before jetting off to Ireland early Tuesday morning.
Monday we got up and had a quick breakfast (yayyyy free breakfast at our hotel!!) before heading out to Churchill's War Rooms (which is one of Mike's (and mine too!!) favorite spots in London).
On our way we passed some of those famous red phone booths, and instead of getting a pic of me coming out of one, why not get some jumping pics in front of them instead??!!
My dad was SO excited for the war rooms and even though it was like my 5th time there I really enjoyed going through it again too.
However, since the movie came out (The Finest Hour) it has been SOOOO crowded the guide said and we had to wait over an hour to get in! Which was crazy cause the last times I went there was no one there and I walked right in.
But everyone loved the museum -- I think Mike and my dad could have stayed another several hours! But I was getting hungry and we wanted to hit up the fish and chips shop that Guy and Hunter went to on the Food Network special (this one). If Guy Fieri says it's good, we go.
We had to walk a bit to the fish and chips shop but it was okay because the weather was just GORGEOUSSSSS. We seriously have lucked out so much and had the best weather!
The shop was called Rock and Sole Plaice and it was definitely quite tasty. We ate outside, literally next to the road, and it was just the perfect place to stop for lunch and a bit of a rest.
After lunch I spotted an ice cream (really gelato) shop and just HAD to stop. Typing this up makes me want to go back and get some more -- the chocolate peanut butter I had was SOOO good!
We then walked to Leicester Square to hit up a few souvenir shops to get some prezzies for the kiddos before heading back to our hotel for bit of down time before dinner and our show (Young Frankenstein) for the evening.
Riding the Tube has been so easy to do while we're here -- and I commend my parents for learning how to use it and not giving up and taking an Uber everywhere! haha!
After we rested for a bit we got ready to go to dinner and to a show for our last night in London Town before jetting off to Ireland early in the morning.
So I have to say my mom is loving my 'jumping' pics (and has gotten in on a few herself!) and has been pushing me to do them alllllll over...
Like in the Tube! WHY NOT?!?!?
The theme of tonight was my dad's face to some of these jumping pics...and just some other pics. Gosh they crack me up!
Isn't he funny?!??! I don't think he loves my jumping pics as much as I do. HAHA!
Anyways, we hit up my mom's favorite spot, MOD Pizza for dinner tonight since they had one literally less than a block away from our theatre!
Consensus: Kirkwood MOD pizza is by far the better one! Friendlier people, faster service, tastier pizza. BUT! I'm glad we went to say that we've had MOD all around the world :) And now my mom can go brag to her MOD crew at home she has tried it in England too.
We then headed over to the theatre to see Young Frankenstein and it was so good! I'd seen it a few times before and it was just as funny and comical as I remembered. Mike and my dad were seeing it for the first time and I think really enjoyed it!
We then headed back to the Tube to head back to our hotel...cause a cab was picking us up at 5:45am (YIKKKKKESSSSS!) to take us to the airport to go to Ireland for our last few days in Europe!
That's all I've got for our London recap part of our trip...stay tuned for the last installment later this week for our last leg of the journey, Ireland! We head home Friday so we are on the downhill slope of our trip and thus far it has been everything I hoped it would be and more! Thanks for reading this novel friends...until Ireland, have a good one!!
This shockingly went super smooth -- I think all four of us dozed off for a bit on the long train ride, and after our jam-packed past few days, it was so needed!
Once we got into London, we took the Tube to our hotel to checkin, which we were still a bit early so we ditched our bags and went for a quick lunch before we were able to get into our rooms.
Once in our rooms, we put our stuff down, go ourselves ready, and headed out to the Imperial War Museum until it closed at 6pm.
The museum was completely different (helllloooo remodel!) from when I was last there 6 years ago in 2012 (for this!). But it was great -- so lots of new stuff to see and Museum Mike came out in full force (golly that guy loves his museums!!) and we were there almost until it closed!
We then took the Tube back into central London for dinner and hit up my favorite Chinese restaurant, the Crispy Duck!
What's funny is that this was the restaurant we went the night Mike proposed, and then it was the restaurant we went back to 7+ years later the night before our 6th wedding anniversary!
Needless to say I had to do a comparison pic.
I think everyone LOVED their dinner -- I mean, we all pretty much cleaned our plates and it was just as yummy and delicious as I remembered!
We then decided to take advantage of the nice night and walk down by the River Thames. They are doing a massive 4 year remodel on Big Ben and Westminster soooooo there's scaffolding everywhere. Ugh. Just ignore that and focus on the pretty sunset, mmmmkay??!?!
My mom had us recreate some of our engagement night pics so that was fun! It was nice having another person (or two, hi dad!) there with us to snap some pics that weren't selfies!!
I continued my jumping through Europe trend...I know you love these pics as much as I do. HAHA!
We were BEAT and headed back to the hotel and PASSED OUT!
Saturday was our 6th year anniversary (awww!) and we started it off by doing a little London photo shoot!
My dear friend Jess, who yes, is a dear friend cause we talk nearly everyday and I feel like I've known for forever, has been an internet friend for 5 years. FINALLY our paths were able to cross IN REAL LIFE and we met up for a quick photo shoot and breakfast!
GOLLY it was just the BEST to meet her and chat in person! I feel like we've known each other forever and I just loved meeting her in the flesh and her two adorable kiddos Archie and Daisy! And her lovely fella Tom too :) It was the BEST morning!
We then walked around for a bit and caught the end of the Trooping the Colours before heading back to our hotel for some rest before dinner...
He clearly needed it :)
We hit up an Italian restaurant before going to see my most favorite musical Wicked! Don't ask what number time this was for me to see it, I've lost count. It was SOOOO good though! As always, I enjoyed it SO MUCH! I think my mom and dad and Mike did too!
On Sunday we shockingly slept in! I woke up and it was already 8:30am! OMG! We were SO TIRED I guess! But I let Mike sleep another hour before getting him up.
We decided to go see Abbey Road since it was semi-close to our hotel and get some pics and visit the gift shop for some souvenirs...and I continued to jump through out trip :)
After Abbey Road we headed to the train station to meet up with my old roomie Grier, who I haven't seen for almost 2 years since she last visited us in STL.
We had a great time catching up -- walking around Little Venice and then grabbing lunch at a local pub (which Mike LOVED the food!).
And more jumping. Are you sick of this yet?!?! #toobadsosad
It was just like old times with her and I cannot believe it was TEN YEARS AGO when I first met her and moved in with her when I lived in Maidenhead while teaching back in 2008. TIME SURE DOES FLY!
We literally bid Grier farewell at the train station and hopped on a train ourselves to go out to High Wycombe to visit another friend, Sandy (and her hubby!!), who I worked with when I lived here!
Just like with Grier, it was SO GOOD to catch up with her and truly feels like no time had passed since the last time we chatted. Fortunately Facebook keeps us nice an updated on what's going on with each other so we are able to stay in touch that way. But it was SO NICE to visit in person!
Mike destroyed his dinner -- he was loving his very British meals today!
We then headed back to our hotel and had a drink with my parents in our hotel lobby before calling it a night. We were so exhausted! We had one final day in London before jetting off to Ireland early Tuesday morning.
Monday we got up and had a quick breakfast (yayyyy free breakfast at our hotel!!) before heading out to Churchill's War Rooms (which is one of Mike's (and mine too!!) favorite spots in London).
My dad was SO excited for the war rooms and even though it was like my 5th time there I really enjoyed going through it again too.
However, since the movie came out (The Finest Hour) it has been SOOOO crowded the guide said and we had to wait over an hour to get in! Which was crazy cause the last times I went there was no one there and I walked right in.
But everyone loved the museum -- I think Mike and my dad could have stayed another several hours! But I was getting hungry and we wanted to hit up the fish and chips shop that Guy and Hunter went to on the Food Network special (this one). If Guy Fieri says it's good, we go.
We had to walk a bit to the fish and chips shop but it was okay because the weather was just GORGEOUSSSSS. We seriously have lucked out so much and had the best weather!
The shop was called Rock and Sole Plaice and it was definitely quite tasty. We ate outside, literally next to the road, and it was just the perfect place to stop for lunch and a bit of a rest.
After lunch I spotted an ice cream (really gelato) shop and just HAD to stop. Typing this up makes me want to go back and get some more -- the chocolate peanut butter I had was SOOO good!
We then walked to Leicester Square to hit up a few souvenir shops to get some prezzies for the kiddos before heading back to our hotel for bit of down time before dinner and our show (Young Frankenstein) for the evening.
Riding the Tube has been so easy to do while we're here -- and I commend my parents for learning how to use it and not giving up and taking an Uber everywhere! haha!
After we rested for a bit we got ready to go to dinner and to a show for our last night in London Town before jetting off to Ireland early in the morning.
So I have to say my mom is loving my 'jumping' pics (and has gotten in on a few herself!) and has been pushing me to do them alllllll over...
Like in the Tube! WHY NOT?!?!?
The theme of tonight was my dad's face to some of these jumping pics...and just some other pics. Gosh they crack me up!
Isn't he funny?!??! I don't think he loves my jumping pics as much as I do. HAHA!
Anyways, we hit up my mom's favorite spot, MOD Pizza for dinner tonight since they had one literally less than a block away from our theatre!
Consensus: Kirkwood MOD pizza is by far the better one! Friendlier people, faster service, tastier pizza. BUT! I'm glad we went to say that we've had MOD all around the world :) And now my mom can go brag to her MOD crew at home she has tried it in England too.
We then headed over to the theatre to see Young Frankenstein and it was so good! I'd seen it a few times before and it was just as funny and comical as I remembered. Mike and my dad were seeing it for the first time and I think really enjoyed it!
We then headed back to the Tube to head back to our hotel...cause a cab was picking us up at 5:45am (YIKKKKKESSSSS!) to take us to the airport to go to Ireland for our last few days in Europe!
That's all I've got for our London recap part of our trip...stay tuned for the last installment later this week for our last leg of the journey, Ireland! We head home Friday so we are on the downhill slope of our trip and thus far it has been everything I hoped it would be and more! Thanks for reading this novel friends...until Ireland, have a good one!!
