Martiny's Come to England

Friday, April 11th, I packed up a small suitcase filled with clothes for 8 days (thoroughly impressed with myself for that) and hopped on the tube to meet my parents at the flat they rented in South Kensington!  The next 8 days were filled with many exciting activities.  

Saturday the 12th was my 21st birthday!  It was a treat to be able to celebrate with my family.  My parents and I went out to brunch at the Troubadour consisting of eggs benedict and a jug of buck fizzes (aka mimosas).  Then, we waited for my brother Keith and his fiance Gina to arrive at the flat.  After resting on a couch, in a living room with a TV for the first time since I've been abroad, we walked around Harrod's and then out to dinner at a very nice restaurant with my friend Rachel.  Some of my favorite people, all together, in London for my birthday.  It was wonderful!  After being so stuffed we could hardly make it home, it was bed time.  Not the usual 21st birthday activities, but I would much prefer the way I celebrated to any other way.

Birthday dinner

Sunday, we had London tourist sights to see!  Because of the London marathon, the crowds were insane, and it took us awhile to walk from place to place.  Even so, we saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, went up the London Eye, Churchill War Rooms, and Trafalgar Square.  We went to High Tea at the Corinthia Hotel which was fantastic.  I have really grown to love tea since being here.  And who doesn't like delicious finger sandwiches?  That night, I convinced everyone to see Divergent with me which we went to in Leicester Square.  It was pretty neat to see the movie in the same place in which it had premiered only a week or two before.  

Family at Buckingham Palace

Champagne with High Tea

Monday, we took a train out to Oxford to see the town and the universities.  We stopped in Christ Church and toured around.  A couple scenes from Harry Potter were filmed in the staircase and the dining hall inspired the Great Hall.  Pretty cool to see since I'm a big HP fan myself.  We hopped on the big, double decker, hop on/hop off tour bus to get a better idea of the rest of the town.  I did not realize that Oxford University was really just made up of 44 smaller colleges that are spread out around the town.  Who knew?  After lunch, we went to the Natural History Museum where there were some dinosaur bones, lots of taxidermy, and a whole collection of random items.  Being caught up in the museum, we missed our train back to London just by a couple seconds, so unfortunately we had to purchase new tickets.  Finally back in London, we went out to dinner at an amazing sushi restaurant. 

Harry Potter staircase!

Dinner

Tuesday, I was able to show my parents my dorm and the rest of UCL.  It was great to show them all the places I had told them so much about.  We then headed to Tower of London.  The lines were insane, but it was a beautiful day, so we didn't mind.  We got to see the Crown Jewels, and all the old ruins that make up the tower.  After a pub for lunch, we hopped on the Thames River Cruise from Tower Bridge to Westminster and back again.  After another amazing dinner, we headed back home exhausted. 

Tower Bridge

Wednesday, my parents set up for a driver to drive us to Stonehenge, but also to some other cities along the way.  We stopped in Castle Combe and Lacocke which were both very, very small towns with the cutest charm.  We drove through the countryside which was great for everyone to be able to experience the busy city and the countryside of England.  Next, we went to the Wadworth Brewery in Wiltshire for a brewery tour.  Everyone really enjoyed it, though it was hard for me to compare it to the Guinness tour.  We headed to Stonehenge as the sun was beginning to descend and learned all about the different theories for why these rocks were placed the way they were.  I really did not know a ton about Stonehenge, which made it a really cool experience.  We then headed home and went to a French restaurant for dinner.  We really hit all the different kinds of food you can get in London! 

Everyone in Castle Combe

Stonehenge

Thursday, we toured Westminster which was an absolute highlight for me.  Being able to finally get inside this historic building was breathtaking.  I loved every bit of it.  We headed to Borough Market for lunch and sampled all the food we could.  I finally got the toasted cheese on potatoes served with little pickles that I had been eyeing for weeks.  After a walk across Millenium Bridge, we went inside and up St. Paul's Cathedral.  The view from the top was amazing (as any view from above London is), but the iron spiral staircase to the top was less than exciting.  After seeing both Westminster and St. Paul's on the same day, it is hard not to ask yourself if you would have preferred to get married in St. Paul's like Diana or Westminster like Kate.  I think I would've preferred St. Paul's purely because of the mosaic ceiling and the grandness that overcomes you as you walk down the naive.  But, realistically, can you really be picky?  Once we were changed and cleaned up a bit, the family went over to SOHO to see Les Miserables.  Wow is really all that I can say to how amazing that show was.  I wish I could see it again and again, but its talent comes with a heavy price tag.  

Millenium Bridge with St. Paul's in the background

Dinner before Les Miserables

Friday, on the train we went to Bath.  We toured the Roman Baths and learned a ton about the Roman people that were living in that area.  I could not believe how old everything was.  One thing I have come to realize while abroad is how young the US is.  We think 300 years old is extremely old, yet the people over here are finding artifacts that are thousands of years old.  The baths were really cool because all of the different rooms were explained and easily laid out.  It really seemed like how a spa would be even today.  We got lunch then hopped on another double decker tour bus to see more of Bath until our train home.  We grabbed dinner by our flat and started packing for everyone to return to their respective homes the next day.  I was able to do laundry there which was HUGE since 1) I didn't have to scrounge for 3, 1 pound coins 2) it wasn't a gross laundry room 3) I didn't have to wait until Saturday to do it when I was leaving for Italy on Sunday!  

Roman Baths

I absolutely loved having my family in London.  It was such a treat to experience new and old things with them.  Though it was hard to go west on the Piccadilly line while my parents went east towards Heathrow, I look forward to the time I still have in London and for a summer at home with them.