little sunshine, gigantic city

Here is a quick rundown of the past three days in London: 

Saturday: 

Almost missed our plane to London (kinda forgot to double check the schedule). Checked in to our cute hotel in Notting Hill and off we went! 

Portobello road market... Yes, start singing all you Bedknobs & Broomsticks fans. In Notting Hill we shopped, browsed around and ate our first jacket potato. Tummies were full so we continued through the streets for a few hours coming across Holland Park, Kensington, the Palace Gardens and some beautiful residences. Due to Ireland exhaustion, we called it an early evening with a bottle of wine, baguette, cheese and Cadbury deliciousness. 

Sunday: 

Off to the Tower of London we go! Well, not at the planned early morning time. Can't seem to get ourselves out of bed in the morn! We walked ourselves to The Underground and spent a good lot of time figuring out the proper Tube ticket to buy. With the help of a very kind gentlemen, we succeeded to "mind the gap". The three hours at the tower was intriguing and historical information...Crown Jewels, royal suits of armor, bed and torture chambers. Our expectations of a proper jewel has changed...500 plus carats will do. ;) 

After we left Tower of London, we walked the Tower Bridge. What a magnificent site! Our walk took us to Bermondsy Street, which was a great local spot for a cocktail and bite. Walk, walk, walk, lost, lost, lost, ended up in Sloane Square. Rains coming down, shops are closed, headed towards Chelsea and landed upon a needed pint. 

Eventually caught Tube at South Kensington and called it a night! 

Monday:

Tourist day on The OG Tour! We saw a lot of city this way! 

Our first hop off was Regents Park...a great place to smell the flowers and "Mary Poppins" around. We saw the Queen's Garden. The parks and gardens here are glorious and peaceful! 

Hop on...we saw Regents/Oxford streets (great shopping) Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar's Square. 

Hop off, St Paul's Cathedral. Beautiful, huge and over 500 steps to the top. 

Hop on, continued to 'double decker' around.

Hop off, London Eye, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey

Hop on, zoom zoom to Buckingham Palace

Hop off, see Buckingham, 20 minutes later...

Hop on, headed home! And then...broke down bus led us to a long trek home in the most torrential rain yet. We walked our wet selves through Hyde Park to find a great, warm spot for wine and dinner! Might be the best meal of the trip!

All in all, it was a memorable day of sightseeing! London has so much to offer that it feels like we hardly made a dent. 

Cheers,

Mack & Belle