Mind the gap!

This past weekend Caroline and I visited London (properly) for the first time and I think after the first couple of hours being there we decided we were in love.

We arrived in London around one in the afternoon and got a quick lunch after getting settled into our (amazing!) apartment. Then we took the tube to the natural history museum. After about an hour and a half of that we crossed the street over to the Victoria and Albert museum, which had amazing displays of antiques and clothing and various other random exhibitions. After a little bit of window shopping on Brompton Road we found a tasty dinner at Orsini.

The natural history museum

dinosaur

Caroline and the fetus at the natural history museum. too weird not to take a picture 

the whale

Vintage Chanel at the Victoria and Albert Museum 

Dior necklace

Harrods all lit up for Christmas. This store is heaven! 

Our romantic Italian dinner date... 

and our delicious Italian dinner 

more pretty Christmas lights 

The next day we met up for breakfast with my dad's friend, Kaye, from work. We chatted over tea and pastries for about an hour then said our goodbyes as Caroline and I crossed the street to check out Harrods department store. It was a religious experience. I have never been so awestruck by clothing and furniture (and prices) in my life. After a blissful hour and a half in Harrods we left and casually explored more of the city. We browsed around Regent and Oxford Street, did a little shopping and then headed toward the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. It was getting dark at this point so we decided to ride the Eye the next day before we left.

Green Park 

Buckingham Palace gates 

not the uniform we were expecting...

  

Buckingham Palace 

Our first glimpse of Big Ben!

St. Paul's Cathedral

On Monday we got up early so we could ride the London Eye. It was so worth the early morning because the view was incredible. It's hard to really see how big London is until you get the complete skyline view of the whole thing. After the ride we did a little more strolling, then hopped on the train back to Nottingham.

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

The London Eye

Amazing view from the London Eye

Coming up this weekend is our final trip to Brussels, Belgium!

a not-so-traditional thanksgiving

Spending a holiday in a different country without any of your family there to celebrate with can sometime be a recipe for a very sad day... unless you have friends like mine. I am so thankful for these amazing people!

Party bus to the pub

They made me a book with photos and sweet notes from everyone! 

Best (and maybe only) Thanksgiving gift I've ever gotten!

a not-so-traditional Thanksgiving meal (but still delicious)

Tackling the biggest dessert ever...

love these people!

*Side note: Tomorrow Caroline and I are off to London for a weekend visit, so expect another post next week!*

The Paris Post

I've been feeling a bit under the weather this weekend (burning the candle at both ends as usual!) so forgive me for not posting this earlier! 

On Saturday morning we got up EXTREMELY early (I'm talking 5:30am, people!) and got a cab to the train station. Two hours later we arrived in London where we had a 90 minute breakfast break before taking the Eurostar (the underground train) over to Paris. Once we arrived it didn't take long for us to find our apartment. (Thanks for the great directions, David!) Once we settled in we decided to explore the area and find somewhere for lunch. 

After lunch we met up with our friend, Ally from Charleston. Ally is living in Paris for the year studying and learning French! She took us for a long walk around the city where we saw Notre Dame, the Pantheon and the Church of St Etienne du Mont. Later, we met up with some of Ally's friends and had dinner, then went to Ernest Hemingway's old hangout, Delma's for a drink. It was so nice having someone with us who knew their way around and who could speak the language.

A gorgeous sunset in Paris.

Notre Dame

The Pantheon

Church of St Etienne du Mont (featured in the film, A Midnight in Paris)

And what better way to end the night than with some gelato!

Because Sunday was the only whole day we had in Paris, our agenda was pretty full. Our first stop was the Louvre. We were very lucky that we chose this specific weekend to visit Paris because it was the first Sunday of the off season, meaning admission to most places was FREE! When we arrived at the Louvre there was a huge line that stretched around the building but once we reached the end there was a security person who told us to go to a different entrance where we only waited for about ten minutes. We felt so lucky! 

After the Louvre we got lunch at a cute little cafe and headed towards the Eiffel Tower. We planned to ride the elevator to the top but they closed it due to strong winds. So we took some photos and headed to Versailles, which was breathtakingly beautiful.

Porte de Lions (aka the much shorter line)!

Mona Lisa

The ceilings in this city... amazing. 

Caroline and me in front of Venus!

We managed to pack a ton of sightseeing into a very short amount of time, and by the end of it all our feet were definitely paying for it. However, we really enjoyed Paris and I hope I can make it back some day to see all of the other sights we missed this time around!

*to see more photos from my weekend in Paris click here!*