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

Changing of the Guards

Awesome, awesome show!

More changing of the guards

do you see that sky?! You would almost think i'm back in NC!

some of my favorite people in the world

xoxo

Churchill's Bunker

Blessed with another beautiful day in Londontown

Inside the War Rooms

"This is the room from which I'll direct the war"
inside Churchills Bunker

Churchill's Kitchen

Winston Churchill's Bedroom

How precious is she?!

Tower of London!

St. Andrews

We flew into Edinburgh and then a driver met us to drive us 1 hour to St. Andrews, the home of golf! Our hotel was right on the old course, which is forever old, so it was an absolutely beautiful view! Anybody that knows me knows that I am a daddy's girl, so as we were checking into the hotel, dad was coming in from a round of golf! I was so excited to see him, and I'm pretty sure he was excited to see me too :)

St. Andrews is a really small town, and golf is engrained in everything in the community. Right past the golf course is a beautiful ocean, and luckily, the weather was great (much different from when I was in Edinburgh last) So when we went to dinner that night, it was just up the street! There were 6 of my parents friends' in our group and they are so much fun, so dinner was very entertaining, AND I finally go the steak I have been craving for 3 months!

The next day, Mom and I headed to the pro shops while dad and the other guys played the new and old course. We walked the length of the town and saw the cathedral, castle, beautiful water, world's best ice cream shop (that was the name of it, but it literally was the worlds best ice cream!) We did a bit of shopping, but since we were heading back to London the next day, we just did a lot of sightseeing! Of course, we had to go by the campus of St. Andrews Univeristy, where Will & Kate met and went to school! It was such a beautiful campus, and I even got a souvenir t-shirt. Go St. Andrews!

After a full afternoon of sightseeing, we waited for dad & the others to finish up at the 18th hole of the old course and got to walk with them the last few holes. We got pictures on the really famous bridge there (don't remember the name, but golfers will know what I'm talking about!) and then went back to the pro shop, our 4th time that day! That night, we had dinner at the hotel and went to bed pretty early since everyone was exhausted from such a long day.

The next morning, we packed up our stuff and went to the golf museum. Since I'm not a golfer, it was pretty cool to learn the history of the sport and see where it all started. We went back for a lunch at a pub near the hotel and waited for Dad & them to get done with their round of golf so we could head to the airport and leave for London!

I absolutely loved St. Andrews for the pure beauty and history that makes the small town so unique. London post coming next :)

View from our room!

St. Andrews University campus

St. Andrews University

I mean seriously, how pretty! St. Andrews castle

remnants of St. Andrews Cathedral

Cathedral

Go Dad!

The Bridge!

Ireland

So, after 10 days with my parents, I think the easiest way for me to do this is doing a separate entry for each place we went, so here goes!

On Saturday, I flew to Ireland to meet my mom and two other ladies that went on the trip, and was SO happy to finally see her! We had a quick lunch and then a driver took us around Dublin to do some sightseeing from the car since it was freezing. We went to St. Patrick's Cathedral, which was beautiful, and then went to a castle, an alley where U2 recorded music, and many other Dublin sights! That night, we all headed to a wonderful dinner at 37 Dawson, it was SO GOOD!

The next day we did the typical Dublin experience and went to Guinness factory as well as the Jameson Distillery. The Guinness factory was absolutely amazing, but the drink was disgusting. I think I have only had one Guinness before the factory, and don't think I will ever drink it again! Mom had been there before during a previous Ireland trip, so she took pictures while I became a Guinness certified pourer at the Guinness Academy! Basically, they showed us how to pour the perfect glass of Guinness, and we got a certificate and everything! The Jameson Distillery was not as cool as the Guinness factory, but the product was SO much better. It took you through the process of how the Irish Whiskey was created, and at the end you got to sample a Jameson and Ginger (yum).

Sunday night, we headed to Merry Ploughboy's restaurant, which actually has a stage for traditional Irish entertainment! We had dinner, and then the Merry Poughboys came on stage and sang some Irish songs. They were so good, and I officially love Irish music!! During one song, I got called onto stage for not participating in the clapping, so they embarrassed me a little, and then gave me a free CD! One of the singers had actually just come back from Charleston, so he came over and talked to us some after their performance. After them, the Irish dancers came on stage to perform a few numbers. It made me super nostalgic thinking about my dancing days! Well, they said they were going to be doing audience interactions, and I got called on stage AGAIN! This time, I had to dance with a male Irish dancer, so although it was fun, I traded seats with mom after I got off stage and thankfully didn't get called on stage again! We got back to the hotel and mom and I stayed up until 3am talking and catching up, which made us exhausted for our flight the next day, but allowed for some good bonding time :)

The next day, we had breakfast and got ready to head to the airport to fly to Scotland! My dad and the husbands of all the ladies in Ireland were there playing golf, so we joined them for 3 days there! I think Ireland is my favorite place I've been thus far, it was so beautiful and has so many lively people! Their accents don't hurt anything either!

Stay tuned to my Scotland post :)