london was calling

After our two week trip in Thailand, we flew directly in to London for one more week of holiday. London is nothing unexplored for us, we travel at least 4 times a year for work purposes, but this time was super exciting. My family was meeting us!

This was my grandmother's first time out of the country, and my mother's first time coming overseas since I moved here. My sister took a last minute vacay and joined in on the fun girl's trip- Chris was so lucky to have us all with him, I know he loved being surrounded by all us girls! At least he had his own bathroom, haha! Anyway, it was such a treat getting to see them and spend so much time with them.

Since I had been before, I kind of played travel guide and helped plan out some fun things to do to explore the city. We definitely took the tourist route and enjoyed the Big (double decker) Red Bus, walked all over Harrod's to find my favorite treats in London (cronuts- yum!), walked through Hyde Park and across the Tower Bridge, visited the open exhibits at the zoo, saw Windsor Castle, and of course we rode the tube!

We stayed in a perfect little AirB&B in Notting Hill and between rain showers took in the scenery of the pretty pastel houses. We shopped the markets, had lunch in a pub, tried some ciders and gin, and took some cute Instagram worthy girls' pics (thanks to Chris our personal paparazzi!)

It was a trip full of celebrations for many reasons, one was that it was my grandmother's birthday! (Side note: she doesn't want to be called "grandma," so her name is Nanny!) Again, because it was her first time overseas and I wanted her to see as much of the city as possible, I had a little surprise in line for her. It was one that I wanted to experience too! I kept it a surprise from everyone until we got on a big red bus... but this one was a little different.

We went on an afternoon tea tourist bus! We all got so many cakes, mini sandwiches, and fresh scones, we were stuffed! It was a fun little experience, and we were so full of coffee and still had plenty of time in the day that we decided we needed to do what girls do best and go shopping! Harrod's, here we come!

This shop (above) was just down the street from Peggy Porschen's (if you don't know- it's an Instagram photo op location)... and there was no line! Such a lovely front.

It was just before Thanksgiving when we went so aside from being another reason we were celebrating on this trip- it was busy! All the Christmas displays were up, lights twinkling over every road, stuffed bears were on guard, it was magical. Of course it meant there were plenty of opportunities for photo ops too!

Our day at Windsor Castle began with photos of "omg we're driving on the wrong side of the road!" But, Chris was an excellent driver of course and surprisingly- Nanny rode up front and said "go faster!"

So I tried not to post any of the pics I had of this- but we may or may not have gotten a wheelchair to push Nan in during this day. She's not going to be happy I said this on the internet... sorry in advance! But, that thing was so fun to play with when she wasn't using it! While everyone else was visiting the Church, Chris and I took turns pushing each other around- including up a steep hill! Excuse us if we acted like we were 10 again, but we had fun.

One of our last days was the typical tourist hop-on hop-off bus tour. Good way to give your feet a rest all while still seeing the city and learning about the history.

 Oh yeah- we were walking by all these cameras and protest signs and realized we were right in the middle of the Houses of Parliament where Dominic Raab (Secretary of State for Brexit) had just resigned. Everyone was waiting for him to exit the building. Kind of cool to say "we were there!"

A little BTS of our photoshoot on Tower Bridge... Marge wanted to stand, while I was nervous that my clumsy self would fall off! Thus me holding on for dear life, ha!

Zoo day! As we were waiting for our Uber, I told the fam how cool the open spider exhibit was, you walk into a room full of spiders the size of your hand and they're just casually hanging out in their webs as you walk under them! I am not a super fan of spiders by any means, but the idea of the open exhibit was the coolest to experience. I was excited to show them what it was like.

See the spider?!

Overall, it was such a lovely time spent with family. It was also a great to revisit where the idea came for me to start the blog about my travels. Just a refresher of why I started, even if it has only been since this spring! I know I've been on the go since then and have only shared a glimpse, but all good things in time!

It was just beautiful getting to have family near to share a warm cup of coffee with in the mornings- in person! Versus our usual virtual morning coffee chats, it was a treat. Hope the new year brings everyone more in-person coffee time with the people closest to your heart. Cheers!