Spring Guests 1 of 4 Arrive!
We are very excited to have so many friends and family visiting us this spring, four sets of guests over the next 6 weeks! It will be busy and crazy, but lots of fun!
My best friend Teresa and her sister Roxane were the first set of guests to arrive. They arrived early on Friday, February 23rd, the tour of London started immediately as Jeremy greeted them at the Paddington station to find the tube service running with delays, so thus a bus adventure began to Hampstead. After dropping off luggage at our flat we walked around Hampstead, showing Teresa and Roxane our local community while getting a few errands in as well. After a quick lunch at the flat of sandwiches, the favorite lunch of England, sandwiches, we then took a bus to Camden Town to the Stables Market area which is always interesting. The day ended with a walk to the top of Parliament Hill to look over the city, thank god it was downhill back to my flat!
On Saturday morning we spent a nice amount of time on buses trying to get to the Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill, eventually we were successful. Teresa and Roxane got some shopping done here, we enjoyed some mulled wine, good people watching and enjoying the mob of Portobello. Next we headed to Trafalgar Square where we got tickets for the show Wicked (for Wednesday night) and walked around Chinatown, Leicester Square area. Lunch was a must and we were in the mood for Thai so we walked towards Covent Garden and found a great Thai restaurant that hit the spot! After lunch we made our way to Covent Garden for a quick look through the markets and stores there. Next we took a rickshaw to the Piccadilly Circus area. As we made our way to the nearest tube to head back to my flat we walked by a huge peace rally at Trafalgar Square. Jeremy had made us a delicious dinner, which we enjoyed and then headed to a local cinema to watch Notes on a Scandal. As we were a bit early for the film, we decided to get a quick pint at the local pub nearby. Teresa found the pint to be a bit big for her. The film was interesting, and being set in London made it even more so, several scenes were shot from Parliament Hill!
Sunday was the day we set aside to spend at Windsor Castle. I had not been yet, so it was new for all of us. After a tube, train, and bus ride we arrived for a great visit of the Castle. The Queen was in residence that weekend, but unfortunately she must not received news that we were there. The State Apartments are gorgeous! The Dollhouse at Windsor was unbelievable and absolutely adorable! As it was Sunday St. George's was not open to the public. We enjoyed lunch at a small restaurant in Windsor and Teresa and Roxane tried the fish and chips, a local favorite. When we arrived back in Hampstead we stopped at the local Austrian cafe for dessert and coffee. Jeremy had to leave for Belgium and we relieved him 5 minutes before his car arrived to take him to the train station. It was a fun day and a get little get away out of the city!
On Monday, Teresa and Roxane enjoyed going on the London Eye, walking by Parliament and Big Ben, and visiting Westminster Abbey. Since I have done all of this before I worked on taking some London photos with my new camera while making my way to the Museum of Garden History and the Imperial War Museum. The Museum of Garden History is really for those that live and breathe their gardens, Auntie Deb, you would love this! And as it is off season their garden was off peak, but had a few flowers blooming, crocus and daffodils already. I was able to purchase a few gifts here, but the Museum itself was not very inspiring to me. The Imperial War Museum was next. It is huge! I think I made my way through the entire thing, along with hundreds of school children, obviously a great place to take a field trip! It was interesting but also very depressing. After I started to cry at one point I decided that was enough and made my way out of the museum for a walk, 30 minutes straight, to meet Teresa and Roxane at Westminster Abbey. We took the tube to Leicester Square and enjoyed lunch at a local chain called Garfunkel's. Next we took a bus back to Hampstead to collect Sophie at a friend's house and have some down time at the flat. That evening Sophie had a sitter while we went with another friend of mine from the Hampstead Women's Club to a tour of the Dennis Severs House in the Spitalfields. This house is a still-life drama that recreates snapshots of life in Spitalfields between 1724 and 1914. The candlelit tour took us through 10 rooms over several floors in a restored Georgian home. The tour used sights, sounds, and smells to create a time capsule. We enjoyed it, very interesting. Afterwards we enjoyed Indian cuisine at a local restaurant near my flat called Paradise. Delicious!
It was raining quite heavily on Tuesday so Teresa and Roxane ventured out on their own on this day after enjoying some time at Sophie's movement class. They made their way to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace and then onto the Tower of London. They enjoyed both popular attractions! That evening my friend Tracy, who is British, invited us over for dinner at her house. She made a traditional Beef Ale meal complete with Trifle for dessert. Teresa and Roxane loved it! This was one of the highlights of the trip for them. They were able to ask Tracy loads of questions about royalty, London, and England that I couldn't answer. The wine was flowing nicely, Teresa may have had too much as she turned red as a lobster, but we all had a great time! Thank you Tracy~!
Wednesday, Teresa and Roxane's last day, came up way too soon! We enjoyed the morning at Kensington Palace. Princess Diana's photos and dresses are incredible, even the second time! Afterwards we enjoyed lunch at the Orangery at Kensington and then made our way to the Albert Memorial and Princess Diana Water Fountain. The weather was going through a seizure, it was sunny, then down pouring, then sprinkling, then sunny, we had no idea what was coming next. But it was pouring down hard when we needed to walk a good 15-20 minutes to Harrod's, thankfully I was able to flag down a taxi quickly, which brought us right to the door of Harrod's, well worth 5 pounds! We spent 2 hours at Harrod's, Roxane bought some pottery pieces made in England, adorable, Teresa bought a few gifts, and we had a celebrity spotting! A very tall, gorgeous blonde walked by with big, dark sunglasses on! Of course we all took a double take and Teresa saw one of the Harrod's staff say something to her, so she asked the staff who it was and they said "Claudia Schiffer"! Teresa said her trip was complete now that she saw a celebrity! We may have walked around a little to try to find her again, I may not have been taking part in this...Teresa and Roxane are huge Princess Diana fan's and realized that there was a memorial in the store for her and Dodi, so we also checked that out before leaving. Interesting and sad. Back to the flat for a quick change, and then out for a quick dinner and to the show Wicked! The show was fantastic! The Apollo Theater itself is worth a visit, but the show was incredible, great singing, dancing, the costumes were gorgeous! Thank you Roxane for treating! And, on the way back to the flat, Roxane spotted a fox! The trip was complete. I don't think we could have squeezed one more thing in! WOW! What a full visit!
For all photos from Teresa and Roxane's visit, please see our photo website at Shutterfly.
posted by Chris @ 9:08 AM
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