Also, I completely love Virgin Atlantic. I've never flown them before and was very intrigued to compare the airline to Delta, Continental, JetBlue, etc. Needless to say, if I could, I'd fly Virgin every time. We were pampered! Our flight left at 10:25 pm. The stewardesses came by first with drinks and pretzels. Then they came by with dinner, which was acceptable for airline food. Apparently they rolled on by later with dessert, but we were already passed out. When we woke up in the morning, they offered tea and coffee, along with some breakfast items.
The flight back was even better. We left Heathrow at 4 pm. Once again, we had drinks and pretzels, followed by dinner, followed by an ice cream bar for dessert, followed by a later snack of a brownie and more drinks, followed by more drinks. The entire staff was friendly and patient, especially for such a large plane! Richard Branson, you've done well! I'm not looking forward to returning to Continental, where they don't even feed you pretzels on a 6 hour flight.
Court and I at Newark! So pumped.
Dinner on the plane!
When we arrived at Heathrow the following morning, our friend from Connecticut (who is studying abroad in London this semester) was there to greet us.
Rachel led us to the tube and back to her apartment, which is in South Kensington, off of the Gloucester tube stop. It was about a 45 minute tube ride there.
Welcome sign and all!
Rachel in front of her flat!
Rachel lives in a room with 3 other girls but there's a total of 16 students in her flat.
It's a lot of people, but the flat is huge!
The living room.
Another shot of the living room.
Living room table.
Kitchen table.
Amazing view from Rachel's living room.
Her living room windows overlook Kensington Gardens!
The first day Rachel led us to Covent Garden, which was full of shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, street performers and more.
On the tube!
Courtney and I in front of the opera.
And again.
Charles Dickens lived/worked in this building!
Covent Garden.
We stopped in at our first British pub for a pint of Strongbow!
From Covent Garden we walked to Trafalger Square, which I immediately recognized from when my mom and I visited London about 10 years ago.
I spy...Courtney and I! Big Ben sneaking in the background too.
The National Gallery.
You can actually see us in this picture!
From Trafalger Square we walked to the Thames.
Crossing the Jubilee Bridge.
With Rachel and Court!
London Eye and Big Ben!
Thames.
That evening Courtney and I headed over to the Brixton Academy, where we met up with Sean, the bassist of Yellowcard. His mom was nice enough to connect us with him and he hooked us up with free tickets to the concert. The entire venue was surrounded by 12-16 year old punky British kids and Courtney and I stood out like sore thumbs in our knee high boots and coats. It definitely was entertaining! We bypassed the line and every British kid was envious of us as we walked through the Stage Door and picked up our VIP passes.
With Sean and the Sees Candy my mom had gotten for him.
Inside the venue.
Yellowcard.
Courtney and I stayed for the entire Yellowcard performance and then headed back to South Kensington to crash at Rachel's flat for the night.
The next day we took the bus tour of London. I am such a fan of those - I've toured NYC and Boston in them and have never had a bad experience. It's a great way to really get a feel of a city as a whole.
Court and I on the bus!
London traffic.
The BBC!
London Bridge.
Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) went to school here!
After we got off the bus, we wandered around a bit before deciding to head over to the British Museum.
Look what I found in the middle of London!
Inside the British Museum!
The reading room was closed :(
But we saw the Rosetta Stone!
And Courtney wanted to see the Bog Man. Ew.
Outside the museum.
We also found a British telephone booth!
Had to take pictures inside it.
On the way back I spotted a California ad in the tube!
After picking our suitcases up back at Rachel's, we headed onwards to Scotland! I was so excited to be visiting a new country!
Court's family met us at the airport with this huge American flag!
Frankie and Pat. They were great.
Scotland! So excited to be there!
In Frankie's car, where the steering wheel is on the wrong side!
Their apartment.
The next morning we took a drive to Callender, a quaint Scottish town.
Scotland is pretty!
Courtney with sheep.
Brrrrrr.
So beautiful.
Before Callender, we stopped at Loch Katrine.
Courtney and I with Frankie.
Hamish! Strange looking cow creatures.
At Callander!
Pretty Scottish sunset.
On the way home we stopped by Scotland's oldest pub for a drink!
We were going to get dinner, but they had just closed the kitchen. After our drink we
went to Frankie and Pat's favorite Chinese restaurant. Chinese food in Scotland! It was good though.
The next morning we had snow!
We took the train from Glasgow to Edinburgh.
On the train.
In Edinburgh!
Then we took the bus tour, which dropped us off at the castle.
Castle on the hill.
Old streets.
It may be raining, but we're loving it!
View from the top.
Canons.
Frankie and Pat.
Old graffiti.
Catnap in an old jail cell.
Posing with a Scottish man.
Shopping on the Royal Mile.
Lunch at Greyfriar Bobby's!
STEAK PIE. MMMM!
We took a taxi back to the train station.
The next day Pat, Court and I headed downtown to take the Glasgow bus tour, followed by lunch and some shopping in Glasgow.
Pat. Unfortunately we started out on top of the bus, outside. BRRRR.
Then we snagged some prime seats inside!
And the sun came out!
Walking around Glasgow, in the sun!
We stopped for lunch at a conveyer belt sushi place.
Mmmm.
Then we ate a Nutella crepe outside.
After we headed back to Pat and Frankie's house in Bearsden, we walked up the street to where Frankie's parents lived. We got to talk with them for around an hour before leaving for the airport. Pat, Frankie and his parents were all so nice! We had such a great time with them and were so thankful to be so lucky as to have such great friends in Scotland.
Stunning sunset on our drive back to the airport.
Hopefully I'll be back someday!
We both had such an amazing time in Scotland. I absolutely loved the country and am itching to go back to explore more of the smaller towns and see the countryside. Staying with Pat and Frankie was so comfortable; I felt completely at home. They were the nicest people!
When we arrived in London, Courtney and I headed straight from the airport to our hotel, which was a few blocks from the Victoria tube station. We were both dying to see what our room would look like - EasyHotel had a reputation for simplicity, which some people absolutely loved and others hated.
Our door.
Aaaand our room!
The bed was tucked in between the walls, which actually worked
out quite nice because we didn't have to worry about rolling off.
More floor space than I thought we'd have!
That's the bathroom door on the right.
The tiny bathroom. But it was all we really needed!
Came with soap and shampoo too.
Standing in the shower to brush my teeth.
After staying at the EasyHotel for a few nights, I'd definitely recommend it! Not for those who are planning on spending a lot of time in their room though. It was perfect for us - we basically just slept there. And the tiny bathroom really wasn't bad. The hot hot hot water and amazing water pressure made up for the small space! Very good neighborhood as well; Courtney and I came back from the station many times after dark and felt completely safe.
The next morning we woke up and got dressed separately, only to discover another
one of our frequent Accidental Outfit Coordinations: London style.
From the hotel, we grabbed some coffee and headed to the palace!
So grand.
The front gates.
We arrived around 10 am, a full hour and a half early!
Check out Court on the left there. We secured PRIME spots!
Right up front.
Here we go!
Here comes the band!
They stopped right in front of us! It was great because we could hear a few of
the guardsmen talking to each other under their breath during the whole ceremony!
They probably get bored after doing the Changing of the Guard every other day.
So crowded!
The royal band.
We had a great time and really enjoyed our prime view right up in the front. So glad we got up early! After Buckingham Palace, we ran to catch the tube to Paddington, where we got a train to Windsor Castle! We hadn't planned on visiting the castle, but after figuring out the rest of our itinerary, we decided that we had time to squeeze it in. Plus, I really wanted to revisit the Queen's Doll House!
To the castle!
So incredible.
The old moat.
Dolls House!
Beautiful day.
We saw the Doll House, the state apartments, along with other rooms in the castle. Unfortunately, you're not allowed to take any pictures. But I bought the official Windsor Castle Souvenir Guide so I'll always have the pictures in that!
In front of St. George's Chapel.
VIP grass.
Finally a picture with one of the Guards!
Such a beautiful castle, such a beautiful day.
We grabbed lunch at a pub across the street, where we ate with a perfect view of the castle. When we got back to the city, we headed straight for the London Eye!
It was lit up green for St. Paddy's Day!
We only had to wait in line for about two minutes! Perfect. They knew we were coming.
Parliament and Big Ben, absolutely beautiful after dark.
After the London Eye, we decided to walk down by the water.
We walked across the bridge to get a better look at Big Ben.
Rachel and Court.
With the London Eye in the background.
After London Eye we stopped at a pub to catch up with Rachel.
Then we took the bus back to Victoria!
The next day we headed out to see the Tower of London.
Unfortunately, it was raining again.
Guns embellished by Tiffany's.
Raven. They were everywhere.
The dragons!
We decided to walk around and locate a place to eat jacket potatoes.
Definitely found some delicious ones!
After, we walked to St. Paul's Cathedral to take some pictures.
Courtney and Rachel in the rain at St. Paul's.
Then we went to the Tate! But not the modern one.
Rachel, Courtney and I in the reflection.
After viewing some art, we wandered downstairs, where my life changed.
In the basement, the Tate serves tea and scones! YUM! This scone was the best scone I have ever had.
And the tea that I had was also the best ever!
Teatime in the Tate!
When we left the Tate, we had a beautiful sunset.
Then we went to Harrods! I didn't buy anything though.
Harrods lit up.
After Harrods we went to one of Rachel's favorite pubs for our last London dinner.
I had fish and chips, along with mushed peas. Very good.
The next day was our last in London. We left our hotel in the morning and
dropped our bags off at Rachel before taking advantage of the morning that we had.
From Rachel's, we walked across the street to Kensington Gardens!
London blooming!
Court and I in front of Kensington Palace!
Unfortunately the dress exhibit is no longer at the Palace.
However, a nice worker gave us a brief history of the palace, which was nice.
Part of the new exhibit. I absolutely love this idea!
It was beautiful in the sunlight; I couldn't get enough.
Rachel waiting for us on a bench.
We walked over to the Princess Diana memorial
Hyde Park!
We walked all through Hyde Park and ended at the Italian Gardens.
From there we walked to our final destination: PRIMARK!
We spent approximately 45 minutes shopping. I bought three amazing purses and Courtney bought two pairs of boots and one belt. I wish we would have had more time there! Although it was probably a good thing that we didn't.
After shopping, we picked up our stuff at Rachel's flat and made it back to Heathrow. Courtney and I hadn't been able to get seats together because we checked in online too late, but I ended up sitting next to a nice old British man who entertained me for the flight.
8 hours later we landed safely in New York, where Courtney's parents picked us up. An hour later I was back at school in the Bronx (and not ready to do homework!). I miss being in London and Scotland so much! We had the perfect trip, a better time that either of us could have asked for. Everything worked out perfectly.
Time to start saving for another adventure!
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