One of my best friends came to visit me this past week! I am so blessed to have had her here, and to be able to go back to all of the touristy sites of London and really culminate my experience abroad. Her stay was jam-packed with adventures, so I'll just get started!
Wednesday
I got up early to pick Kat up at the airport and after making the long trek to my dorm, we began her London adventure with a lunch of fish and chips at The Volunteer. After that, I took her to Covent Garden, which is absolutely my favorite market in London besides Borough. We meandered throughout the market and stopped inside LUSH, which resulted in a less-than fun incident for me. I went to smell a nice-looking hair treatment lotion and let's just say it resembled water more than lotion and I ended up looking like this. At least I smelled nice.
After I cleaned my jacket and purse off, we walked over to Trafalgar Square and then Buckingham Palace just so Kat could see the star attractions. We finished her mini tour at St. Martin-in-the-Field's Cafe in the Crypt, which is one of my favorite places to get afternoon cream tea. She loved it, of course! To finish off the night, we grabbed delicious pork sandwiches and yummy crepes at Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland, which is just so incredibly festive and magical and ugh I just want to live there. Just a recommendation: if you want to see it (which you should!!!), go during the week! The crowds are absolutely ridiculous on the weekends.
Just the best view in London.
Look at this cute little muffin.
Thursday
Thursday brought some sleeping time for Kat, but I had to get up and take a tour of medieval London for my class. We saw the old Roman wall, St. Bartholemew's Church (and hospital for any Sherlock fans), and other historical sites. After I came back and woke the sleeper up, we headed over to Leicester Square to grab Phantom of the Opera tickets. While they were the most expensive tickets that I've had to pay for theatre so far, seeing Phantom in it's original theatre was spectacular. The music was phenomenal and Kat and I both found ourselves crying or with goosebumps through most of the performance. After that, we came back home to Regent's Thanksgiving Dinner, which was an absolute treat for the American students studying here. While the food wasn't exactly my Grammy's cooking, I enjoyed it all the same.
Remains of the old Roman wall
St. Bartholomew's Hospital..sniff
Lot 665...
Who doesn't wear a turkey on their head for Thanksgiving??....
Friday
Friday was the day Kat was waiting for....shopping!! I took her down Marylebone High Street, which is my favorite street in London, and onto the famous Oxford Street. We stopped in The Body Shop, Selfridges, and Boots, and picked up some necessary (and admittedly some unnecessary) products. Then we hopped on the Tube over to Harrod's, which is spectacular as always, but also incredibly packed as always. After a few short minutes of pushing through crowds, we left to meet up at the Tower of London with Pam and Anna. The Tower of London is probably my favorite site in London other than Westminster Abbey. I just absolutely love it.
THEN Kat graciously sacrificed a British meal for an American one, and we grabbed DELICIOUS burgers and peanut butter milkshakes at Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Let me just say if you want heavenly burgers in England GO THERE.
The ravens are looking a bit sluggish...tell Malcom they need new batteries
Pam being a bamf as always.
Saturday
On our final real day of touring London, we started in Westminster Abbey. I had never toured Westminster, but had attended Christmas Eve service with my parents about six years ago (and sat on Lord Byron....sorry, buddy). Holy. Crap. I knew that I had to actually tour it and I'm so glad I did. Westminster Abbey is a brilliant, fantastic place and such a culmination of British history. From Sir Isaac Newton to Elizabeth I to Jane Austen to Winston Churchill, so many important figures are buried here. For a British geek like me, it was so incredibly beautiful to see and pay respects to so many of my heroes....especially in the Poet's Corner. Please, if you're visiting London, you have to go.
Then we hopped over to Borough Market, had some delicious prawn pad thai and honey roasted cashews. We walked along the Thames by Southwark, and across the Milennium Bridge, which is one of my favorite views of London. St. Pauls on one side, The Globe on the other....perfect. The night ended with a summary of London: the See London by Night tour, which was absolutely freezing but beautiful, especially with all of the Christmas lights up.
Unfortunately I was a total jerk and had to work all day Sunday, but it was a good opportunity to just hang out and blow off the dust from the ol' Dutch Blitz cards.
I had SUCH a great time hanging with my girl and seeing some of the best sites of London again. Thank you so much Kat for coming to see me...I had so much fun! See you soon!!
xo
