Hey Jen!: ✈ Travel Series

May 10th-17th, 2013: My parents and I took the train from Paris to London, crossing under the English Channel. According to... well, everyone, London is dark, rainy and miserable most of the time. I guess we just got lucky as it only rained once in the entire week we were there. Otherwise, it was sunny and pleasant. We stayed at the Presidential Apartments in Kensington. It was a nice place, really beautiful apartments. The concierge was extremely helpful too. They got reservations for us and tickets when we needed them. Anytime my brother (Rob) came over or called for us, they let him in or took messages. I can't tell you how many times they stopped us in the lobby to give us another message.

The first thing my parents did when we got to the apartment was head to the pub down the street for dinner but I wanted to wander for a bit. We were staying out in a suburb of London so there wasn't much to see but I was happy just listening to people talk. I love that accent! The next morning, we started with a traditional English breakfast at the pub.

Less bread than France but a lot more beans

After we ate, we took the train into the city. We started with Trafalgar's Square. But they had the inside of the square closed off for some kind of sports related event so we just walked on. Just like we did for Paris, we purchased London Passes ahead of time and with the pass, we got free admission to the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace. We took a tour through the mews which was pretty interesting. We saw the horses the royal family uses for their events. We also saw the carriage used in the royal weddings as well as the coronation carriage which as you know hasn't been used in 60 years.

Interesting fact: the queen only owns one car. Can you guess what it is? It's a Range Rover. A Range Rover! I never would have guessed.

After the mews, we finally got in touch with my brother. He had been busy with work up until this point. He told us he was on his way to our apartment so we went back to meet him. I was so excited. I hadn't seen him in about 4 years so for the first time since his boot camp graduation, the whole family was together again.

The four of us went went back into the city. We stopped in a French restaurant for dinner. It was pretty good but a bit pricy. We walked around the Parliament and Big Ben, then stopped for a drink in a pub before heading home. Rob spent the night with us at the apartment so he could hang out with us the next day.

We started that Sunday (Mother's Day!) with a trip to the Tower of London. What a sad place. So much death and torture in its history.

Well, that and snazzy cannons

The worst story is the Princes in the Tower. After their father's death, two little princes were locked in the tower and looked after by their uncle until they disappeared. It's assumed that the uncle killed the boys in order to take the throne for himself.

After the tower, we went to Picadilly Circus. I was in heaven! I couldn't believe the amount of stores on Regent and Oxford Streets. I didn't want to leave! Don't get me wrong, I love my Mag Mile in Chicago but honestly it has nothing on London. Any store you could imagine, Picadilly had it. Any item you could possibly want, it was there.

Including whatever is going on here

Sadly, my brother had to go back to the (Air Force) base that night. He had to be at work the next day and the base is about two hours outside of London so we didn't see him again until Dublin the following weekend.

The next day, the three of us went to Madame Tussaud's. We spent hours looking at the wax sculptures and taking pictures with our favorite "stars". The detail on these sculptures is so good, they almost look real.

We thought we'd lost her forever

In fact, my mom was going to take a picture with (I think it was) Leonardo DiCaprio and we waited a good 20 seconds before we realized the girl already taking a picture of him was made of wax.

Not a real person apparently

After Tussauds, we went back to Picadilly Circus. I found my new favorite clothing stores that afternoon; Pull & Bear, The Sting and Superdry. Pull & Bear was small but I could spend hours in The Sting and Superdry (and I kinda did). They're huge! I also went to Lush and bought some soaps and lotions. Lush started in London so this was a good size store.

We went to Harrod's where I found the biggest candy bars I've ever seen. We stopped by my dad's old office where he worked in the 70's. He was in the Navy at the time and lived in London for about 2 years. We left his initials and the years he worked there on the window along with the others. Right across the street was a pub my dad used to go to with his buddies so of course, we stopped for lunch. It was there that I had my first real English fish and chips meal. I haven't been able to find the fish made the same way since I've been back in the states. That really bums me out too. It was so good!

The next day we went on a tour of Wimbledon. Our London Pass got us into this tour free of charge. It was kinda cool to walk the grounds where so many tennis greats had won their championship titles. We went to the press room and got to sit in the box. I found the court where Serena won last year.

Her score was still up!

That night we went to Ice Bar London which is the coolest place! No pun intended, it really is awesome. Everything in the bar is made of ice; the tables, the chairs, the cups, everything. You have to wear a heavy leather smock just to go in and there's a time limit. The bartender was telling us even they have to change shifts every hour to keep from freezing. We each got one free drink with admission but we ended up paying for a few extra. It was so cold but so worth it!

The next day we went to see Les Misérables at Queen's Theatre (which happens to be near Picadilly Circus - wink, wink). It was incredible! We also walked around Trafalgar's Square again and went to the National Gallery and the Hard Rock Cafe.

On Thursday, we took a tour of Windsor Abby. I walked the same long hall that Kate Middleton did when she married Prince William and stood at the same alter. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside so I don't have any to show except for these of the outside. How pretty is that?!

At about 2pm, we made our way to the bus station. The concierge at the hotel arranged for us to take a tour of the Warner Brothers Studio lot where the Harry Potter movies were filmed.

It took about an hour to get there by bus. We started in a theatre where the twins from the movies gave us an introduction to the tour. Then we walked through the sets. I even got to try Butterbeer! I couldn't drink much of it though. It's so sweet, I could only stand a few sips. But it was still really tasty! They also give magic lessons there, like how to cast spells, how to properly use a wand and even how to play quidditch (on the ground of course). They had TV screens with members of the crew explaining how they created the characters and designed the sets. It was a very in depth tour. I had a blast!

This is what they used to film aerial shots of Hogwarts.

After a bit more shopping on Regent, we headed back to the apartment. We were leaving the next day for Dublin so we wanted to make sure we got a good night's sleep.

In all, London was incredible! I would definitely go back. Just like Paris, I wouldn't mind living there. There's so much to do and see. The people are great. The food was good though it was better in Paris. Europe just has better food than the UK. It seems like everything the UK is known for is very bland and simple. Europe has so much more flavor. But all in all, I loved London! I can't wait to go back!

More fun photos: