My Birthday Trip to London

My birthday was at the end of February and I spent it in London...by myself...visiting my sister who has lived there for the last 3.5 years! It was an amazing trip!!! One of the coolest parts was that the whole thing was a surprise Christmas gift from Paul. On Christmas morning, I opened up one of his "presents", which was a bunch of pieces of paper all folded up. It took me a few tries of reading it to realize that it was a printed itinerary of a round trip flight to and from London. That's when I started crying because I was so shocked, happy, and grateful! So I spent 6 days (1 on each end traveling and 4 full days there) in London while Paul (and my parents and his parents and various other relatives) stayed home with Maura and Ian!! It is an awesome city and I really needed the me time to just relax and recharge. Best gift ever:)

Here's some, ok a lot, of photos from the trip. My sister and her (British) boyfriend just bought a row house south of the Thames, a victorian terrace over a hundred years old. I'll have pics for you in another upcoming post, so exciting!

{relaxing breakfast at "brew"}

{the Eye...various views}

 

{Big Ben/Houses of Parliament...various views}

{Westminster Abbey}

{buds poking through along the Flower Walk in Kensington Gardens, Albert Memorial in the background}

{Duck Island Cottage, St. James's Park}

{Pelicans in St. James's Park}

{view of Buckingham Palace and Queen Victoria Memorial from the Birdcage Walk, St. James's Park}

{Buckingham Palace gate}

{guards at Buckingham Palace...timing never worked out for me to see the changing}

{Changing of the Guards at Horse Guards Parade}

{St. Paul's Cathedral}

{in London I discovered cider! especially like the flavored ones}

{cool old sign inspiration at Borough Market}

{tried my first macaroon and liked it!}

{chalkboards were everywhere over there}

{the Tower Bridge}

{the guards at Stable Yard Road}

{so pretty the way the sunlight hit the side of this church}

{my sister's old stomping grounds...the Churchill Arms}

{stopping in for a quick tart at Jamie Oliver's Recipease}

{old, brass signs and fun, graphic pillows at Portabello Road)

{front gate detail at Kensington Palace...sadly we did not get a glimpse of Kate and William and little George!}

{back gate at the Sunken Garden Pond...Kensington Palace}

Such a beautiful city with so much to see and do! Can't wait to go back. Thanks for having me, Laura and Charlie:)