London Trip

Brian and I were very fortunate to have an opportunity to go to London together. Currently, one of the countries Brian works with is the UK. He had an event on a Friday that he needed to attended as well as one on the following Tuesday, so he had to stay there over a weekend. So, Brian came up with the great idea that I should join him! At first I resisted, feeling bad about leaving the kids, etc. But, he finally convinced me and I sure am glad he did! He had enough frequent flyer miles to fly me first class over! My parents were so generous to watch the kids while we were gone and they had an awesome time with them.

We left on a Wednesday evening and arrived in London Thursday afternoon. Here is me by Paddington Bear at Paddington Station when we first arrived from the airport.

We stopped off at the hotel and then Brian took me on a quick tour of the surrounding area. Our hotel was right by the London Eye which is their giant ferris wheel. It was also across the Thames River from Parliment and Big Ben:

After walking around for awhile we stopped into a pub for dinner. I wanted to get fish and chips....mmmm....it was yummy. They serve it with mashed peas, which surprisingly weren't too bad...



The next day, on Friday, Brian had to work all day. So, I took one of the double decker buses around the city to see all the sights. It was perfect because I couldn't get lost and got to see everything that Brian has already seen. Here's some of the highlights...

St. Paul's Cathedral where (among many other things) Diana and Charles got married.

Tower Bridge

Westminster Abbey

Later that night Brian and I met back up again and went walking around. We went down to Piccadilly Circus which was really crowded with people. It was amazing to see all the people out and about. We eat dinner in Chinatown that night.

Piccadily Circus

The next day we took a train to Windsor to see the castle there. We took an audio tour around the areas that were open. The Apartments were closed for cleaning, but we did get to see Queen Mary's dollhouse, the drawing room and around the outside.

After the tour it was lunch time. I got another traditional meal which is a pie filled with meat, mushrooms and gravy. YUM

We took the train back to London, took a little afternoon rest, then headed out that evening again. We did TONS of walking this night. We went over to the Kensington Palace area and made our way to Harrods to see that lit up:


Later that night we ate at an italian restaurant and walked around the neighborhoods a little more. I was tired that night!

Sunday we finally had A LITTLE bit of blue skies! It lasted for maybe a couple hours before it got cloudy and rainy again. We headed out in the morning to see Buckingham Palace.


After that, we made our way over to the Tower of London. This is the place where many prisoners were held and people were hanged. Here is the spot that some of the most famous people were beheaded as well:

After that tour, we took an afternoon break and walked around the Oxford Circus area for the evening to see shopping and restaurants.

Monday morning I was on a plane back to the states by myself as Brian finished up his business!

This was my early 30th birthday present from Brian and it was amazing. I am so glad that he convinced me to do the trip. I am also especially grateful to my parents who watched the kids for 5 days while we were gone! No easy task as they take a lot of energy!!

THANK YOU Bri!! The trip was amazing and I will never forget our special time together in London!!