Monday: My mom flew into london early in the morning while I was at my internship. Because I couldn't leave my TFF she had to get herself to the hotel all by herself. In all honesty I was a little nervous that she would get lost or that the airplane would have problems but, to my surprise she made it to the Grover Hotel (near the Paddington Station) in one piece. After my internship I hurried over to meet her in the lobby of the hotel. While she was waiting for me she struck up a friendship with the desk worker. Libby and I referrer to him as her "bff" because she didn't know his real name. Her "bff" let her into the room early and even gave her an upgrade because we were going to be staying so long. He also carried up her bag...up 59 flights of stairs (yes she counted) and while waiting for me she found out some interesting information about his sexual past...all I'm going to say is that it involved an animal....
I met her at the hotel and we proceeded to walk through Hyde Park to my flat and our dinner destination. That night we ate at Da Mario, a little italian restaurant down the street from my flat. The restaurant is know for the excellent bread and they serve a pizza at the weekends which is named after Princess Diana, who used to visit often with her children. My mom is very proud that she took her child where the Princess took her children.
Tuesday: I went to my internship by Libby flew in early and met my mom at the hotel at 9:15ish. After libby took a short nap, they went out to get an oyster card to allow them to travel on the underground. The funny thing about this was when I got back to the hotel she told me proudly that she got a "clam card" all by herself. Thus it turned into a joke for the rest of the trip. They visited around the city and for dinner we went to the Gloucester Arm's pub (also
near my flat) and all had fish and chips and strongbows. After a lovely meal we walked back to the hotel while I was anticipating sharing with them my love of
Big Brother. The t.v. was just starting when I decided that my phone needed to get charged because the battery was getting low. So, I plugged the charger in and we saw a white light and heard a pop...I blew a fuse we had no power for the rest of the night.
Wednesday: I went to my internship in the morning and met the ladies in the afternoon for some shopping and afternoon tea at the Orangery at Kensington Palace. Getting to tea proved more difficult that it should have been. We got stuck in a lift and libby had to push the emergency button and I had to talk to the underground workers, after 20 minutes we were all thrilled for fresh air (but not the 127+ stairs we had to climb up). That night I also formally introduced them to Big Brother, because the hotel got our power working again...they mocked my addiction.
Thursday: I had to go to class in the morning. For my British Life and Culture Class we had the opportunity to get a guided tour of Parliament. I was very impressed by the whole experience and the building in general. From the outside the building looks extensive and I guess I was a little taken back by how small it was from the inside. I know that we didn't get a tour of the entire building the differences were quite shocking to me. Anyways while I was in class my mom bravely entered the city (all by herself) to get us tickets to a show for the evening. After both of my classes I met the ladies at the V & A and then went to enjoy some cupcakes. We then proceeded to go to dinner at a small Italian place before going to see Oliver. It was an amazing performance and I was quite impressed with the entire performance from the singing, costumes and most of all the sets. It was by far the best choice my mom could have made for a show!
Friday: Started out early with a ride on the London Eye. It was an amazing experience and my mom and I were both amazed at the size of London. The ride gave me an entirely new perspective on the city and its sheer size. It didn't hit me until then how big and impressive it truly is. After our trip on the London Eye, Libby went to a performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Globe Theater while my mom and I went to Fuller's Griffin Brewery and got a tour. We went though the brewery and learned the materials they use to make their various beers and the long process that they go through. the best part was at the end we got a tasting of some of their products. After our individual adventures Libby and I ventured out into the city to go on a "Blood and Tears" walk. The walk features Jack the Ripper and other london serial killers, grave-robbers, witches and whatnot. Overall it was really interesting and I learned a lot of random (and creepy) facts.
Saturday: We went to Portabello Road and did some shopping in the morning and then went our separate ways for lunch. Libby went to the park and read some Harry Potter while my mom and I went out to pizza. Overall it was an enjoyable afternoon with great weather, we couldn't have asked for anything more. That night was all about libby and we went to eat at her favorite restaurant (Aladin) at Brick Lane for Indian Food.
Sunday: We were suppose to go on a boat tour of the Tames but we were unable to because of boat technical difficulties. Instead we went and got some of the world's greatest cookies at Ben's Cookies before walking to Harrods. At 3:30 we attended a service at Westminster Abby. My blog previously stated a certain opinion about the church and I can say that after the service it was severely changed. We had another pub dinner sunday evening and of course watched more Big Brother, and at this point they were both addicted.
Monday: I had my internship in the morning while the ladies spent the day shopping. That evening I met Libby at Pizza Express before making our way over to see Phantom of the Opera. The show was a "graduation" present (for libby and a "pre-graduation" present for me) from my mom. Honestly she knew that it was something that I had always wanted to see but would have never spent the money to see it in London. We had quite an experience and it was a fabulous show, with only a few exceptions. While we were at the show my mom had a chat with her "bff" he wanted more info on libby and I and our availability because he was interested in obtaining a green card. Thanks to my mother her "bff" thinks that libby is her step daughter and I am "practically engaged"...for the rest of the trip libby and I then proceeded to seek out possible "green card" candidates.
Tuesday: While I was at my internship my mom and libby went to see the state rooms at Buckingham Palace. Now, my mom is hard to please when it comes to museums and whatnot so I was very surprise to hear how much she enjoyed the tour. I met the ladies for dinner and afterwards we walked through the park and I took them to get gelato at my favorite place. Before returning to our hotel for the night libby and I stopped at "The Swan" to have a drink.
Wednesday: This was the last official vacation day. Instead of going to my internship this morning, opting to go in on thursday instead, we went on our "boat tour" of the Thames. For the most part when you look on the river you see the tour cruises and that what I expected to be going on. WRONG. We were on a 12 person speedboat that went at the highest possible speeds. I doubted libby at first and overall really had a great time for it was a once in a life time experience. We had a quick lunch and then I was off to watch the Queen for class while they went to Tate Modern before meeting up for a steak dinner and a night of Big Brother watching.
Overall I had an amazing time with my ladies. it is safe to say that we all had many first experiences and enjoyed the weather, city, attractions and company of one another. With them safely back in WI (I just called my mom) I now officially have less than two weeks left. Boy does time fly.
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