Day 2 - London

(It was rainy this day so please forgive my crazy humidified hair)

This day we got up and headed to the Tower of London. The Yeoman tour was awesome! Our Yeoman guide was really funny and a great storyteller at the same time! We got to see the crown jewels at the Tower of London. They were so incredible! One of the diamonds was 530 carats! I couldn't believe they were real! We also ate lunch at the Tower, and I got to try some yorkshire pudding. It was nothing what I expected it to be like! I imagined it would be pudding-ish, but it was actually more pastry like and not very good. But now I know!

We also got to see the Tower Bridge (often confused for London Bridge); Which is located right next to the Tower of London.

We then rode the underground over to see Parliament and Big Ben. The underground exit we came out of was basically right beneath Big Ben's tower! I was definitely an awkward gawking tourist as I walked up the stairs! But it was so surreal to be standing right under such a beautiful and iconic symbol of London! As we were walking by, Big Ben began to chime. It was so surreal! There I was standing in London, listening to Big Ben ring out. Definitely a highlight of my trip!

Next we took a short walk from Big Ben to Westminister Abbey. I got see where the Royal Wedding took place and walk the path of William and Kate. The church was absolutely stunning to see in person! Such a detailed and intricate work of art. However, my mom and I laughed at all the ladies we saw buying replicas of Kate's engagement ring in the gift shop. I guess every girl just wants to feel like a princess!

After Westminister Abbey we rushed back to the hotel to change for the play "Love Never Dies" (the sequel to Phantom of the Opera).

Unfortunately it was also the busiest time of the day on the underground and the trains were also experiencing some unusual problems. After a long ride on a very packed train car we were very glad when we reached the Coventry Garden stop. In a hurry to make it to the show on time we decided to take the stairs instead of wait for the long line at the elevators. Wrong choice!! Little did we know that the underground line we were on was the one that runs under all the other trains! And that equals more then 190 stairs to climb in a hot, humid, smelly tunnel! Blech!! It was also a circular staircase so we had no clue of when we were getting close to the top. However, we did eventually make it; in a nice sweaty and tired state! It was still probably faster then waiting for the elevators, but i'm not sure if it was worth it...

When we finally made it to the theater, we had perfect seats on the fourth row and almost exactly in the center. We were seated next to the boy who played Gustave (Christine Daae's son) grandma. She was so nice and was excited to talk to us about her grandson. It was really neat to hear his personal story straight from his grandma! You could tell that she was so proud of him! It was quite precious! 

We absolutely loved the play! If you love the Phantom of the Opera  then you will love Love never Dies! It was wonderful and I hope I can get the chance to see it again someday!

After the play we headed back to the hotel and stopped for gelato along the way. We both got strawberry and were quite delighted with our choice! One thing we learned from our trip is that you can never have too much gelato in Europe! It's that good!!

Day 1 - London

We flew out of Las Vegas at 4:50pm on Monday and after a 10 hour flight and a 7 hour time difference... we finally arrived in London at 10:30am on Tuesday.

We road the train from the Gatwick airport into the Victoria Station in London. Where we decided to take a taxi from the train station to our hotel so that I could get a look at the city.

As we were climbing into one of the cute and classic England taxicabs the driver said to me "I've got your bags love!" And it hit me that I was really in London! 

I quickly learned that London driving is a little bit crazy! Flying down the tiny streets, darting in and out of traffic, and making some very close call stops! But our sweet taxi driver got us to our hotel just fine besides getting a little bit lost. Our room was great! It had a balcony, little kitchen, and a small sitting era; but I was most excited about the towel warmer in the bathroom! A perfect little studio apartment located literally across the street from the South Kensington underground stop.

 

We then headed out for our first adventures in Europe! First stop was the Victoria and Albert Natural History Museum. It is such an awesome old building. While walking around inside I felt like I could be right in the middle of a Harry Potter movie.

After the V&A Museum we walked down to Harrods. Harrods is a ridiculously huge, high-end department store. We had quite the time just walking through the many rooms and floors and seeing all that they had to offer. Designer clothes and shoes, a pet spa, children toys, amazing jewelry, and a full on fresh market were just a small portion of the store that we wander through.

For dinner we had some delicious salmon at the seafood counter, and for dessert we got some FABULOUS gelato. Mom got lemon, and I got raspberry yogurt. We shared and quite enjoyed the delicious combination.

We then went to the bakery in Harrods and purchased rice cakes, croissants, and some bread that we could take back to our room for snacks and breakfast. 

We also saw these adorable cupcakes there.

I don't know if it is just apart of the magical feeling of being in Europe, but I swear that the food is so much better here!

After Harrods we called it an early night and headed back to our room since our bodies were all confused from jet-lag. We needed to make sure to be rested up for all the adventures of the next day!

I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted...

But:

#1- I have been busy

#2- I was out of the country

For a graduation slash 20th birthday present my mom took me to Europe for 10 days! Lucky, lucky me! It was truly a life-long dream come true!

I'll be going into more day-by-day detail of my trip soon, but while photos are still being uploaded and my experiences are being journaled - here is a quick preview of the beautiful cities I got to tour!

I got to spend the first half of my dream trip in 

London, England

And the second half of my dream trip was spent in 

Paris, France 

(and some surrounding suburbs)

Europe = <3