London 2018

After leaving Brighton on Sunday, we made our way to London. We took the train, got a taxi from Victoria to the place where we were supposed to pick up the keys to our flat. We were early but we had arranged to drop our bags off while the cleaner was there. The place we were supposed get the keys was closed and the host couldn't get ahold of the guy. So we had to stand on the street, in the sun for like 45 minutes waiting for the cleaner to walk by and take us to the flat. It was one of the worst AirBnB check in experiences ever.

After dropping our bags, we went and met with Tom to grab lunch and go to a London flea market! I didn't buy anything, but Tom and Teresa did, so I'd say it was a successful outing. After the flea market, we went to the Curve Garden, which is a garden/bar. We had drink and then we headed back to the flat to get settled in.

Monday, we got ready and headed to Hyde Park to go paddle boating! I have been wanted to do that for years! It was difficult. Since my mom has bad knees, Teresa and I were the ones who were peddling. I ended up doing most of the work, she was just resting her feet on the pedals while I was dying. My legs were wobbly when we got done. There were TONS of birds and it was kinda scary. I do not like birds. After paddling, we went to Harrods, had lunch, and then wandered around a bit. Oxford street was our next stop because we each needed to buy a new suitcase to bring stuff home. So we went to Primark and headed back to the flat so we could get ready to go to the Warner Brothers Studio Tour!

The Studio Tour changes every time I go.  This was my 7th time now and it was different, even from October last year. They had the Goblet of Fire on display with an age line drawn around it. We were almost late because I accidentally had us take the overground instead of national rail. We had to grab food and run in because we were almost going to miss the last tour. It was incredibly stressful. It was basically two hours of me having goosebumps. I got to have Butterbeer for the second time this year! And it was great. In the US, Butterbeer is better. It's sweeter. I LOVE sugar, if you didn't know. They are building a whole new part of the studio tour out front and I am SO EXCITED about it. We didn't get back to the flat until almost midnight and it just felt like a really, really long night.

Tuesday, we got ready pretty slow, then we walked down to the big Sainsbury's to get all the sweets we wanted plus Nando's stuff. We bought too much and had to drag it all 1/2 mile back to the flat. After that, we packed a bit and then headed out to Oxford street once more. We went to a couple stores there, wandered around Little Venice, and then met up with Tom for dinner in Paddington. After dinner, it was too early to go back to the flat, so we found a cafe near Paddington to have dessert and a coffee and just sat and talked for awhile. It was a good time!

Our final full day, Wednesday, was BUSY. We first went to meet up with Lucy and her sister, Amy. We had planned to go to a tea shop, but it was closed when we got there. We started wandering and ended up at St. James's Cafe in St. James's Park. We each had a scone with clotted cream, jam, and a pot of tea. We walked farther through the park and then said our goodbyes to Lucy and Amy. From St. James's Park, we walked to Trafalgar Square. We decided to go to the National Gallery because none of us had been. We got to see Van Gogh's Sunflower painting, which was pretty cool.

After the galleries, we walked to Westminster Pier and got on a boat for a Thames river cruise. It was pretty cool. It took us to Greenwich, where we got to get off. We walked up to the Royal Observatory and went to go see the Meridian Line, which was pretty cool. We took our pictures, headed to the gift shop, and then had to run back down the hill to get back to the boat so we could get back. We met Tom at Nando's, because of course we had to have Nando's as our last meal. After Nando's, we came back to the flat to drink the rest of our alcohol, watch Big Bang, and go to bed because we have to be at the airport EARLY.

Getting to the airport was a nightmare, but we made it and we are home! This trip was GREAT. I am exhausted. We've walked over 120 miles, over 300,000 steps, I've eaten a ridiculous amount of carbs and had more alcohol than I've had in months. The only thing I wish we would have done is Plymouth. This is the first time I haven't been down there in 5 years and it makes me really sad. I love Plymouth. It's so nice down there. A rest day somewhere in the middle of everything would have been nice also, but I survived, so we are alright.

I'm so grateful for my friends here who took time out of their lives to come see us and for my mom and Teresa for coming with me this year. I had an excellent time! I can't wait until I can plan my next trip over here!