Heading across the Pond…

Lucky us, we had planned a fabulous trip to London and Paris for Spring Break 2020 during the summer of 2019. The weeks leading up to the trip had us asking for refunds from airlines and hotels, and we got a hard no. So, we boarded the plane on the DAY the president shut down air travel. By the time we were in the air, we knew we had to figure out how we were going to get home since we would not be finishing the trip. Since the UK was not originally on the no travel list, and we were not getting the crazy amount for that rental back, we decided to stay for 3 days. Ended up to be a good decision because some of the air line crowding thinned out.

Since we were there for 3 days, we decided to make the most of it. We had traveled with some friends who also got on that crazy plane. While it was not the vacation we wanted, and I wont lie, I am still a bit bitter about the whole thing, I am glad we did it. In time, when I go back and look at these images {and when I am not locked up in my house}, I am sure I will feel better about it all. But, I was so looking forward to taking Haylee to see Paris… I don’t know that I will travel internationally for a while! Especially not with my mom, who got trapped in Italy on 9/11! She should not be allowed to leave the USA!

First I took some images out of our balcony. The residency we booked was in Westminster and was AMAZING! We had 3 rooms, and we were on the top floor. From there, we could see Westminster Abby, the London Eye, and Big Ben {which is being repaired}. The views were fabulous and the apartment was worth EVERY PENNY! If you go to London, I highly recommend staying here!

Then we met up with our friends, grabbed lunch {fish and chips, of course}, and went to see Buckingham palace.

The next day we did the Big Red bus, and the St. Pauls Cathedral.

Red man on horse

Haylee all bundled up!

The out side of St Pauls

The grandeur and beauty of St. Pauls was unreal.

I much prefer the black phone booths… and a look back at St. Pauls.

This is the church steeple that the wedding cake design was created after.

We did NOT ride the underground…

After we finished that, we did an afternoon tea. I read on so many, but at the end we decided on the Charlie and the chocolate Factory tea. It was beautifully done! I wish we had not eaten it so fast, the images don’t do it justice! The hotel is small boutique, and the bar is worth the trip alone. Lots of kids there, of all ages. I think it was just the perfect amount of fun for Haylee, and elegance for us!

The menu was so fun and ridiculously creative!

Haylee had two plates,,,

Res, the cocktails “steamed” with dry ice.

That night we ate at Dishoom, and it was INCREDIBLE. if you are in London, and you don’t eat there, you have missed out! Our friends had been to London a few months before, and dreamed of getting back to this Indian gem- so thankful we did this evening out! I even bought the cookbook when I got back! I had the most incredible Gin Gimlet and have been drinking them since I got back {please note, I have been locked in the house now for 4 weeks, gotta love Covid}. My mom watched the kids, and our friends and Mark and I ventured out to Soho. I will say, we started to notice London was even shutting down. It was a Friday night, and just about everything was closed by 10.

The next day we got up and headed out to the Tower of London, and Harrod’s. Mark and I watched all of the shows on starz about the Tudor’s and all of the drama, so seeing all of it in person was just incredible.

We passed by Westminster Abbey on the way home, we could not go since they were preparing for services. the other view is our the Family Room window in our apartment.

The last and final day, we ran to get some pastries and see Peggy Porschen because of its pink exterior. They did not do breakfast so we ran down to Dominique Ansel Bakery. Less well known {to me anyways} but ridiculously superior. The Cronut was so good, I ordered an extra for the plane ride home!

While less known, this one was the MOST incredible shop I have been to!

The latte, and the Croissant-doughnut {cronut}. Yeah, it was worth the 1 million calories!

One of the most instagrammed places in London! Peggy Porschen is famous for its cupcakes and pink exterior.

Then.. we flew, and flew, and flew. I am reminded of what is so HARD about crossing the pond… COMING HOME! what takes 5 hours to get to, takes NINE to come home from! Add to that a vacation cut short, and the fact we were there for less than four days, and it made for a LONG flight…especially for Mark sitting next to me.

Do we regret going… I don’t know. I feel like we had an amazing “weekend’ before all this crazy started, and who knows when we will want to go back. I also feel like it was a great experience for Haylee. She saw so much history, and was an amazing little traveler. As they say, hindsight is 20/20, and maybe if we knew all that has happened, we would have stayed home, but we cant live in the past. I hope when the Covid mess is in over, all of us that went together will be able to look back and apprecaite our weekend across the pond!

** I should add, Ashleigh was also in London with her dad. They had planned Spain {got in hours before us} and decided to stay in London instead. All of us spent as much time sight seeing as we did rebooking plane flights and worrying about what would happen when we got home. Not a trip any of us are likely to forget!