Westminster

We were fortunate to be in London on a Sunday so we took advantage of Westminster Abbey and went to a morning service. Honestly I expected to be bored. I figured I would just admire all the gorgeous architecture while a monotone priest talked for an hour. But no. It was actually great.

We arrived in London the day after the terrorist attack (the one in front of the army base by two Muslims). The message that morning was about how Christians should respond to these acts of violence. The message definitely got me thinking about how I view people and judgmental thoughts I may have that are not warranted. The sermon was very relevant and applicable to life today. At the end of the service, we sang the song "Holy, Holy, Holy" which is one of my favorites. It was so special to be able to worship in a different country in such a historical place.

And I was also thinking about the fact that Will and Kate got married about 20 feet from where I was sitting. I was basically at their wedding.

After the service, we went to the National History Museum. Pretty cool.

We were hungry at this point so we went off to find PRET. Fortunately we ran into Muriel's Kitchen before we made it there. You can read about that experience here.

I highly recommend this place if you ever go to London. It's right around the corner from the Museum!

Boat Tour and Cupcakes

London Day Three:

We started our day with a little shopping. I've mentioned a few times that it was cold on our trip. We stupidly packed mostly summer clothes. 60 degrees in Georgia is most definitely not the same as 60 degrees in the UK. In Georgia, when the sun goes behind the clouds, the heat still stays. In the UK, not so much. When the sun goes away, the temperature drops immediately. So strange.

Anyways, we were on a mission to find scarves. Would you believe that H&M was the only store not selling summer clothes?! We bought matching wool scarves and were happy campers.

We did a boat tour of the River Thames. The weather was soooo much better than the previous day. Which in turn meant our attitudes were much better!

Just realized I'm wearing two scarves in this picture. Awesome. 

Scarf twins! 

After the tour we found an adorable bakery. We had to buy a cupcake. Obviously.
Then we found a Starbucks so we had a nice little cupcake/coffee break.

After this we went to Harrods. You can read about that and our picnic dinner here. There's a sequence of pictures of me eating a sandwich. I know you don't want to miss that.

Day three was extremely better than the previous two days! London, you might be worth all the hype after all.

Lots of Rain, Wicked, and Kind Strangers

Edinburgh to London.

Method of Travel: Train

Day One:

Our first stop after arriving in London was our hostel. We took a bus most of the way and then walked for what felt like forever. Note to self: Make sure you get off at the right bus stop next time.

Next stop? Food. We walked one street over and were lucky to find PRET. This Panera-like fast food restaurant was our lifesaver. I'm pretty sure we ate here at least once everyday we were in London.

Our two favorites: PRET and Starbucks

Our hostel was right next to Hyde Park so we walked around that for a bit. We walked down a beautiful street with all the consulate houses. We then turned by Kensington Palace. Which...no big deal...is where Wills and Kate are going to live. (PS I'm hearing the royal baby is on the way. So excited!!) If you know me, you know I absolutely love Kate Middleton so this was so cool for me.

Day Two:

It pretty much sucked. It was cold. It was rainy. We didn't have a lot of warm clothes. We didn't have rain boots. And we didn't have umbrellas. All of that combined just made for a miserable day.

Our plan was to go to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. Along the way, we realized our feet were soaked so we stopped in a sports store to buy rainboots. Ten pounds for boots? Yes, please.

We were a little late to get a good view of the guards, but we did get to see a horse freak out, fall, and then run off. The guard on the horse fortunately was okay but it was touch and go for a minute.

We spent the rest of the day inside museums. We saw the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, and something else that I can't remember. I'm telling you...it was a long, miserable day. There was one point when we stopped in someone's front stoop and about gave up. We were not loving London so far.

We had tickets to see Wicked that night. I had never seen it before so I was really excited. We finally made it to the theater. We were wet, tired, and just a little down. The show did wonders for our mood, however. I absolutely loved it! We sat beside a couple from Connecticut and struck up a conversation during intermission. The woman worked in London a lot so we were asking her the best way to get home on the tube. Unfortunately the show started again just as she was starting to answer us.

At the end of the show, she immediately grabbed my hand and said, "Follow us outside. We're going to pay for your taxi home."

Oh my word. Seriously?! I almost started crying. We were so incredibly thankful for that sweet gesture and could not give her enough thanks and hugs. That a complete stranger would pay for a taxi ride home was just the best way to end the night.

London started to grow on us after that :)

Muriel's Kitchen

After going to the National History Museum, we were starving. We planned to go to our trusty restaurant Pret a Manger (we literally ate there every day). But we stumbled upon this adorable place instead. So glad we found it!

Muriel's Kitchen is a great brunch/lunch place. The decorations take you back in time. There are tea cups, plates, decorative spoons, and vintage posters all over the walls. And the food is just superb. I will definitely be going back whenever I revisit London.

Picnic in Front of Kensington

I'm on a roll with these posts! We have a lot of free time today as we're waiting on our bus to go to Amsterdam. Perfect time to update you on our excursions!

On our last full day in London, we went to Harrods. This was my first time and I had no idea what to expect. Holy beautiful. We looked through most of the floors, including the toy room and the pet spa. We were like little kids looking through all the toys and books.

Our main purpose was to get food from the food court. When I say food court, you probably imagine lots of fast food restaurants surrounding a huge room of tables. This is not the case at Harrods. It is more of a fancy market where you can order anything you like. There are deli stations, meat counters, shelves filled with pastries, and even a build-your-own-salad area. Food heaven!

I got a delicious ham croissant and a double chocolate muffin. Rachel built her own salad. The people working there are so friendly and are always smiling! I'm not sure how they do it because there were definitely some rude people in the lines. We got our food to go and headed to Kensington to indulge!

It was a gorgeous, sunny day. Much better compared to the nasty rain we had the day before. We parked it in the grass in front of Kensington Palace, overlooking the Round Pond. It was such a perfect ending to a great day.

I know you wanted to see a sequence of me eating. You're welcome.