Rachel's Graduation Trip Part 1

Robert, Rachel and I just got home from two weeks in London and Paris.  Whaa?  

Yup, for Rachel's graduation present, we told her she could go anywhere in the world (with the exception of a few places of course).

This was a mighty big trip for all of us so I will break this up into a handful of posts.  

While we were in London we noticed many people walking around with selfie sticks permanently hanging from their chests.  They were literally recording everything they saw.  Robert even saw one gentleman still recording while in the restroom.  Please don't worry though.  I will only share our favorite things.  No potty pics!  Robert and Rachel reveled in the historical significance of the buildings.  I lost count of the times I heard one of them exclaim"this is older than our country!"  I reveled in the beauty of both London and Paris and couldn't keep up with the splendor.  We all appreciated and enjoyed the food, differences in cultures, and jumped for joy every time we saw pigeons, dogs, strange vehicles, musicians, and people who returned our smiles.   

We just got back yesterday so I am still processing everything.  I am simply exhausted with joy, wonder, and gratitude.

Here is part one of our favorite moments, places, and food from London!

We flew in Saturday night and arrived Sunday late morning.  We immediately found some fish and chips and a telephone booth.

Monday morning we had a traditional English breakfast at Regency Cafe - an egg with beans, black pudding, and toast.  Afterwards, we visited the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. There was a pretty cool glass floor at the top of the Tower Bridge, which we all thought was the bees knees.  

While in London and Paris, Rachel and I fell in love with spiral stairs, which were everywhere. We giggled and squealed all the way up this first set of spiral stairs. And then we went back down and did it all over again.

We had lunch at various places at Borough Market, which was an open market/restaurant place.  We finished the day at The Winston Churchill War Rooms Museum, which was a very thorough and intense look into Winston Churchill's life and also a tour of the war rooms.  My favorite display showed his daily routine, which included a lot of meat and naps. 

Tuesday we toured Westminster Abbey.  Trump was in town so the direct route to Westminster Abbey was blocked. We cut through St. James's Park, which had a beautiful garden with an adorable cottage, Duck Island Cottage.  Rachel walked through Westminster Abbey with her mouth open the entire time, completely gobsmacked.  We also popped into the National Gallery where Rachel explored while Robert and I took a coffee break.  Afterwards, we had lunch at The Real Greek, which was excellent, and a hot chocolate at Hotel Chocolate, which was the best hot chocolate I've ever had - 70% chocolate with coconut milk.  We ended the day by going up in the London Eye, which was fantastic! London is a beautiful city on the ground and breathtaking from above.

We spent Wednesday at Tate, which Rachel loved, and a two-hour bus tour of the city, which I was reluctant to go on but now highly recommend. 

One of Robert's childhood friends lives in London so we met up with him and his daughter at Kew Gardens on Thursday.  We had no idea what we were getting into.  Kew Gardens wasn't even on our list of things to see!  It's spectacular!  It's so big, we didn't even see all of it.  We spent an enjoyable day following Ben's three-year-old daughter as she zig-zagged around the gardens.  I've never had a three-year-old as a tour guide before, but I can say it is one of the best ways to see a garden.

Ben's daughter took a shine to Rachel and didn't want to say goodbye to her at the end of the day.

More London and Paris adventures to come!