London, Part 1

Luke and I went on our first solo trip without the little kiddies!  We haven't taken a trip, just the two of us, since our honeymoon almost seven years ago.  And it was a big one!  We went to London!
It. Was. Incredible.  Also, my first international trip.
We dropped Charlotte and Evan off at my sisters on our way to Denver.  We were a bit nervous about the weather and the possibility of the Vail pass being closed, but luckily we made it through and everything went smoothly with our flight as well.  We're kind of procrastinators so we didn't book our hotel until we were in the airport waiting to board.  But everything worked out just fine with that.
The flight was nine hours and went alright.  I can't sleep on planes so by the time we landed at Gatwick airport in London, jet lagged, we were pretty exhausted.  It was early Sunday morning and we couldn't check into our hotel until 2pm, so we took our time getting our luggage and stuff then took the train to Victoria Station, and then a cab to the Brunel Hotel.  We dropped off our luggage then walked around Kensington Gardens and the Memorial for Princess Diana.  We eventually found ourselves outside Hyde Park at an LDS chapel where we attended Sacrament meeting with a YSA ward, haha.

MARCH 3rd:

{Flying over the Atlantic ocean}

{Princess Diana Memorial Fountain}

{Kensington Palace}

{Sunken Garden}

{We loved all the food there!  This was from a cute Italian restaurant called Taormina}

{Paddinton Station, there was a cute boutique here called Fat Face, and a yummy grocery store that had delicious donut-like pastries called Yum Yums)

 {It rained everyday!}

MARCH 4th:

We did so much walking while we were there, I had shin splints almost every night!  But I loved it!  So much to see and do!  We also did a Hop On Hop Off bus tour.  On day two (Monday), we first went to St. Mary's Hospital where Princes William, Harry, George, Louis and Princess Charlotte were born.  It was a pretty cool experience getting to see and stand where Princess Diana and Kate Middleton stood with their babies.  We then went to see Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station and the British Museum.  We ended the day with seeing the musical Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre.

{St. Pancras International Train Station}

{King's Cross Station & Platform 9 3/4}

{The British Museum}

                              {Zeus}                                                                               {Hercules}

 {Chinatown}

{Dinner at Lite Bite Cafe}

{Riding the subway, or the Tube as it's called there}

 MARCH 5th:

Day 3 was a good one.  We started off at Buckingham Palace where we were lucky enough to see the Royal Family arrive!  Prince Charles and Camilla, William and Kate, and Harry and Meghan.  It was so cool!  Then we walked around Parliamount House and Westminister Abbey (we toured it a different day).  Sadly Big Ben is under construction.  Lastly we toured St. Paul's Cathedral where Prince Charles and Diana were married.  This took up the whole afternoon.  It was so beautiful (there is so much beautiful architecture in this city).  After the tour we visited the gift shop and picked out a Christmas ornament.

{Buckingham Palace}

{Kate & William}

{River Thames & the London Eye}

{Big Ben}

{Calvary Museum}

{The Joey Hat!  Haha, this was so funny}

{St. Paul's Cathedral}

{Lunch at Pizza Express}

{At St. Paul's we walked up to the Whispering Dome, and then Luke continued on all the way to the top railing outside.  He saw some pretty amazing views.  My vertigo was going into overdrive just being in the dome so I went back downstairs}

{Tower Bridge}

{Dinner & Dessert at Sawyer's Arms Pub.  That's cornish clotted cream on a warm brownie}

To be continued ...