Our last day in foggy London town

Our last day of vacation!

The last day has come. It feels like we havebeen gone for months! This trip has brought us closer than ever and I'm so happy I got to take this trip with my best friend and now fiancé. Ryan is very excited to go home to start planning this wedding and so am I.

Around 11 am we had our East London private walking tour which took us to many places around London with hidden history and stories. We got to see the place where Lady Jane Grey was tried before taken to London Tower. we saw the church where "Amazing Grace" was written and first performed. The pastor wrote it after his separation from the slave trade and how he saw the error of is ways. The London fire of 1666 was so fascinating, we were told all about it while standing by the Monument and looking over Pudding Lane. The coolest thing was learning about the Blitz and seeing this shell of a church that survived. The walls are still standing and where the inside would be is this beautiful garden with a small fountain and gold colored ivy climbing the walls. With all of the stories we heard about London, they all had one thing in common: London keeps going. "keep calm and carry on" was actually true. Even during the daily bombing from Germany, people kept going to work and school. In fact, there was a huge baby boom in that time. It goes to show the human spirit will rise to the occasion.

Now, what better way to end our time in London other than seeing a show? We saw the Lion King which was incredible! Ryan and I were sitting on the edge of our seats the entire time. The singing was dead on, the sets were enchanting and the best part, the British accents! Haha. This trip was so amazing. I am so happy to have a story I can tell my grandkids about the time we got engaged and got to travel around Europe. I feel like we have gotten even closer, if that's possible!

8 Days to go! Ben, here we come!

ALLO GAVNAH! Did you miss me, Ben? Cuz I sure have been missin you! When Bobbye Jo and I first arrived in London in 2008, the first thing besides showering was of course to get a few beers at a pub. After our naps, we decided to explore a little. Not really being familiar with the tube, we got off of what we thought was the wrong stop and walked smack dapped into this:

That dear old chap took my breath away! Since I haven't posted much about London, here are a few of my other favorite pics:

Abbey Road

Good ol Bobby!

London Bridge

Tea and cucumber sandwiches

I am obsessed with the movie "Hook" and I swear this took all day to find in Kensington Gardens but we were so happy when we did!

And with that very mature pic, I will leave you for today! I have loads of work to do plus some sorting of clothes to pack! More tomorrow for the ONE WEEK COUNTDOWN!

Day 12 - SHOT-SKI!

I am so excited to go out while in London! I think Halloween night we're planning on doing our own pub crawl to some really cool places. One of them being the Ice bar in London!

Located at 31-33 Heddon street, you can find a bar made completly of ice!

We can be Eskimos for Halloween!

Day 26, have a spot of tea!

I am very excited for the tea in London. I've been on a tea high lately and I can' wait for our special high tea at Fortnum and Mason! We have a 6pm reservation for scones, crumpettes, tea, and finger sandwiches! I better get my facinator so Duchess Kate will approve!

(http://www.jupiter-land.com/jupiter/blog/?p=155)

For a less formal tea adventure, here are another great places to get your tea on.

The Tea Rooms located on 155 Stroke Newington Chruch st and is best known for it's gingerbread (yum) carrot cake, and shortbread.

The Vintage Emporium is located on 14 Bacon Street and is one of the best kept secrets in London.

 If you stop by, check out the apple pie, I hear it's to die for!

The Humingbird bakery on 133 Portobello Road (hold the song) is known for it's amazing buttercream or cream cheese frosting cupcakes. One of the best parts is that the cupcakes come in mini sizes which only means you can buy more to taste! This strawberry milkshake cupcake is perfection!

I'm so excited for rainy, cozy London I can't even stand it!

"But I want to be in the ballet"

London will be the last leg of my Euro trip this fall. I love London, which I think I've made clear in earlier posts. There's something about the rainy weather (which reminds me of my best friend, Lauren), cute accents, beer, and amazing sites that warms my heart and feels like home. I swear I was meant to live in London. If only I was a little bit richer...

In the spirit of wanting to do everything possible on this trip, I must see a show! There are three I'm really interested in seeing: The Lion King, Billy Elliot, and Wicked. I have no idea if Chicago is still playing but I'm pretty sure I'd run up to the stage singing and dancing and get myself thrown out. One of my boot campers (Shout out, Michelle! You're awesome) is going to London and Dublin this week. So lucky! She used this source to get cheaper tickets:
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts/

Now, which to chose. I'm pretty sure Val will kill me if I don't see "Wicked." Her favorite anything is Wizard of Oz. She practically lives to collect another stupid (sorry!) figurine haha. I never got into this movie. Sure it's pretty, and it's really sweet that she was home all along but it totally freaked me out as a kid. The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, and Willy Wonka were put on this earth to tell me a few things. 1. If you ever run away from home, you're screwed and will never find your way back. 2. Don't lie, you'll turn into a donkey. 3. and never, NEVER, drink from a chocolate river. "Leave me alone I'm SHHTARVING" Totally creepy and how are these kids movies? Pinocchio is still to this day, the scarest ride at Disneyland. Don't judge me.

Billy Elliot would be amazing because again, the accents and the fact that I used to run around and jump off Jackie's couch screaming "Billy!" Now, the Lion King would be incredible. in fact, once at Nationals I was so cold and tired I started screaming the words to "Circle of Life" with Lauren from the locker room. Then to my horror, everyone...I mean everyone at the competition could hear the echo of "MAAAAAA SWEN YAAAA BADDA BEE SINN YA MAAAAA!" Horrible. But Ryan really wants to see it, so that will probably be the one we go with.

This post really took a turn for the weird, and I apologize but I've already been up for about 6 hours, no coffee, and have a really long day ahead. Now back to dreaming about my trip...I leave in exactly 5 weeks!

London...what I love about you (day 1)

London, you are dear to my heart. The first time I went to London was June of 2008. After a very long and sweaty plane ride, is it just me or do they not air condition planes enough? I stepped a ballet flat out to a muggy and over cast city. All of a sudden I'm overcome with my "London soundtrack" playing in my head with out any hesitation (or ipod for that matter). As "London Calling" blasts and I sing along in my head, I hope on the tube ("mind the gap") and get off at King's Cross Station.

Now, having been a few places with subways I have the expirence to say London is the idiot's survival guide for getting places. It could not be easier. That said, even my jet lagged behind could find my hostel. After checking in to the Ashley House hostel, not too bad but have you people ever heard of an elevator bigger than a litter box? thanks. The only logical solution was to find a real English pub...

Are you thinking perhaps we stormed in to find Prince Harry and his rugby team? Wrong. What did happen though was the soundtrack to Grease. The whole soundtrack. Every hair slicking lyric. After I was through standing on a chair and pumping my arm a la John Travolta we ordered what the bartender reccommended. A lovely, delicate, lady like drink - "snake bites." Hello, I'm drunk.

After the snake bites wore off, we showered, completly broke the hair straightener, we decided to do a little night walking to see the sights. Those of you who have been to London understand when I say, London has a "feel". It has a way of wisking you off your feet, to this day I still remember the way I felt the first time I saw Big Ben.

This picture is in fact false. Yes I took it but that was not the first time I saw Ben. The first time was by mistake, at night, remember how I said the tube was idiot proof? I'm the idiot who got off on the wrong stop and landed with my nose against ...

So here you go, my first night and my first real view of Big Ben. I almost think I see peter pan flying around somewhere. That night truley was incredible (minus the scent of burnt hair). After walking around Parlament, we walked all the way to Buckingham Palace (Kate Middleton, who?) to get our private view of the place. Just as magical as I imagined. Looking back, I wish I had been more prepared. Why, you ask? I wish I had thought to research a decent adaptor for all things electric. Unfortuantly, I did not. And this mess is the result of it.

Also, if you'll notice this is front of Buckingham Palace. Class all the way.
Since we landed late afternoon this is pretty much all we had time for the first night. There is more to come, much more, but for now I leave you with some thoughts. Do NOT let a guy named "Sam" who works at the corner liquor store cut off your hair curler cord in attemps to make it fit into the outlet. Do NOT tell him "sure" when he asks to come pick you back up from your hostel to hang out. This is how horror movies are made.