8/15/16
London- last day
Good Morning from London! We met up with the Lars this morning to tour Parliament. Until we found out that you have to buy tickets ahead of time or stand in line all day. So we got online, booked our 2:30 tickets and went our separate ways. Free day in London!
Scott and Holly went shopping and Brian and I went to hit up some bookstores on Saville Row. The 1st one was really cool. I wish we had them like this in America. I would be way more inclined to go with Brian. We followed the big, cool one with a million small, vintage stores. Brian got 2 books and we just kept walking. Our plan was to walk to the Tate Modern Museum. But we got sidetracked-- I did a little shopping.
Once we got close to the river, we went to the court/lawyer area of which I can't remember the formal name. It was really cool. Brian loved it. The Royal Courts of Justice was open so we took a look around and then walked through the "Temple." Maybe that's the formal word I was looking for?
One of these buildings would house 30-40 lawyers, even Judges. It was just really cool. Almost every alleyway was filled with cute buildings. We made it to the river and sat down to plan what we should do for the next couple hours. Brian, always with a map..
We decided to skip the museum. We're almost museum-ed out. We drew out a walking path to make our way to Saint James Park. Then we got sidetracked-- again-- and saw bikes. Everyone we have talked to here hates the bikes. They said everyone is stupid and they will die, blah blah. So what do we decide to do? Rent bikes! YOLO.
It took us far too long to figure out how to rent the bikes from the kiosk. We downloaded the app and 2 pounds later had bikes for the next 24 hours. We were able to carry all our purchased in the front of our bikes. I felt so local.
So we took off on the bikes and rode along the River Thames. Quickly the bike lane disappeared and I got a little scared. But I just followed my fearless leader (Brian) so I knew we were OK. We basically followed the locals and acted like we knew what we were doing. It's so crazy! You can basically ride anywhere. Skip cars, ride between them. It's totally bizarre!
We stopped at a Pret-A-Manger and grabbed lunch. Brian held the bikes outfront while I loaded us up. We could even strap the food on the front of the bikes. We're totally legit locals right now. This whole bike situation was so fun. You could use the app to find places to dock your bike. It also tells you how many spots are open.
We took our lunch to Saint James park and ate with the rest of London. SO many people. It looked like everyone grabs Pret and takes their lunch to the park. Business suits, casual, students, people doing yoga, families, everyone.
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| Location of the beach volleyball from the 2012 Olympics. |
After lunch we laid in the park for about an hour and grabbed a quick nap.
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| 10 Downing Street |
Off to Parliament to meet Scott and Holly. The park was really close to our tour. The tour was really neat. Very educational! We got to see where the Queen sits and where she gives the "Queen's Speech." Also the chambers-- the Lord's was very gold. House of Commons was a little more simple. BTW- I'm totally obsessed with their curtains and will recreate these somehow during my lifetime. I loved the green and while theme going on. I've already tried googling images but the Queen has that ish on lock down!
The tour was a little over 2 hours so we left right after it was over to go back to the hotel and get ready for our show. We got an uber to the Queen Theater and planned to find something to eat close by. We picked the place next door-- it was surprisingly really good. Great wine! And again, awesome bread. We've had so many carbs on this trip. But we're also walking 8 plus miles a day. I can justify that, right?!
After dinner, I ran down the road to find a small tote bag for the trip home. Brian and I decided we are going to check our backpacks for the trek home. I settled on the ugliest London tote bag I've ever seen. Desperate times.
On to the show! Very small theater. And can I tell you how much I miss the A/C? No air anywhere, no ice. I don't get these people.
The show started right on time (OH YEAH, we're see Les Mis). It was awesome! I love going to the theater. It's such a production and everything about it is so fun to me. The live orchestra-- so phenomenal! We were on the 3rd row so we were all in the action!
After the show we grabbed an uber back to the hotel and decided to try the pub idea again. We went to this really old, cool bar about a block away. I ordered a grapefruit and nutmeg gin and tonic. Perfection in a glass.
We went back to the hotel pretty early to pack since we had an early morning flight. I DONT WANT TO LEAVE. I packed our bags and ironed. Far too tried to shower tonight. I'll wait until the morning. Hopefully it will wake me up. Leaving for the airport at 6:30 AM.
I'm really not ready for the trip to end. I did end up writing a journal about the trip as a whole and the trek home. So let's stretch these posts out just one more... until then.. XOXO
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