Bon Voyage: Back to Londontown

We finally made it back to London Wednesday night! I told mom and dad that I LOVED having them on the flight with me, because I could lay my head on them. Its really going to suck flying with someone I don't know beside me next time.. Anyways, our driver met us at the airport and we headed to The Langham hotel, right near Oxford and Piccadilly! Since it was so late, we had a bite to eat downstairs with some of the other people on the trip!

Side note-- this was a business trip for Dad & Mom that just so happened to be in London this year, thats why there are other couples involved in most of the stuff we did :)

The next day, we headed to Roehampton!! I was so excited for mom and dad to see where I lived and how I got to and from everywhere (yay for public transportation). However, our day was dampened a little by the mass amounts of SNOW that was falling. Literally, biggest flakes I've ever seen in my life, and didn't stop all day. But, we all took public transport here and they saw my little dorm room and a bit of campus, and I got some clothes and headed back to central to stay with them for the week! We hung around the hotel for the rest of the night and I settled into my cot bed in their room :)

Friday, we had a tour set up with the rest of the people in the group, so we did the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral and other London tourist attractions. Luckily, I had not paid admission to either of these places when I visited before, so I was glad I got the chance to get a tour of both! The crown jewels at the Tower of London was the highlight of the day. They were absolutely beautiful and we were given a very well explained history of the royals and the beautiful crowns and jewels they each owned. That night we went to the play Let It Be. It was basically a progression of concerts The Beatles had and went through the decades of their music. It was so good! I don't know as many Beatles songs as I should, but the ones I did know were performed very well. For my first show in London, I was very pleased :)

The next day, we did a tour of Westminster Abbey and went to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. I have visited Westminster before, but the tour we had was much better this time and more detailed. The weather was absolutely perfect for my first changing of the guards! Our tour guide led us to where the band started and walked us up to the front of Buckingham where we could see the new guards coming in. It was such a great experience! Mom and I then did a bit of shopping that afternoon and got ready for a pub night with the whole group. The company we were with rented out a pub for everyone to enjoy and they had an artist who did caricatures of everyone! Mom looked just like her drawing, but dad and I were definitely a bit off!

On Sunday, we went to Hillsong, and I think my parents really enjoyed it! Its such a moving service, that its really hard not to get into the songs and message each Sunday. We decided that we wanted to do another show, so we went searching for Jersey Boys tickets, and on the way, found a CHIPOTLE! I was ecstatic to get some mexican food! We got tickets for a 5 o'clock show, and since I haven't seen the play since my freshman year of high school, I was very excited to get to see it again and remember how wonderful the music and acting was. It was so beautiful outside, so we decided to go to Churchills Bunker. Basically, it was the secret offices/ war rooms from World War 2, and the entire inside was preserved from the time they shut the doors when the war ended. The history was so rich that you couldn't help but feel like you were right there during the time of the war. From the bunker, we walked to Big Ben, 10 Downing St., and Trafalgar Square, then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the play. It was definitely as great as I remembered, and since I'm a few more years wiser now, I picked up on more things this time around! Definitely a perfect London day/night with my favorite people.

Today, we got up and switched some suitcases around (sent home a large suitcase with mom and dad) and headed to Roehampton. I had to show them what Wagamamas was all about, so we headed to Putney for lunch, and then said our goodbyes back at campus. They fly out tomorrow morning, and I leave for Italy wednesday morning, so today was the easiest day to leave each other.

I am so, so sad their trip went by so fast, but am reminded how blessed I am to have a family that would fly across the pond to come spend time with me here in London (Ireland and Scotland, too). I can't wait to see them again in 6 short weeks!

After a bit of post-departure crying, I got settled into my room again and am preparing for my 10-day trip to Italy!! xoxo