Tuesday was my last day with J, K, and P (my brother, his wife, and their baby girl). It was so wonderful to stay with them in beautiful Bavaria near the Bodensee. We had time to catch up and spend a relaxing holiday together. They were wonderful hosts and made me feel very much at home over Christmas. Thank you again!!! :-D
On Tuesday afternoon, I caught a Ryan Air flight to London, where I met my boyfriend C from Canada. It was fantastic to see him again!!! ;-) It took us a bit longer than we thought to get to our hostel in central London, mainly because our modes of transportation were a bit late, but on the whole, it was a pretty smooth arrival for first-time London visitors.
We stayed at a lovely hostel right near Hyde Park in the South Kensington area. Very beautiful. The first thing we did on Wednesday morning was take a walk through the park. The weather was warm, and the sun even peeked out for a good half of the morning! There were lots of birds in the Serpentine lake, including quite a number of swans.
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| M in front of the Peter Pan statue. |
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| Swans! |
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| M & C, while Prince Albert looks on. ;-) |
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| C taking a walk in Kensington Park. |
On our way past the Peter Pan statue and the imposing gold figure of Prince Albert, we headed to the NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM!!! (If you haven’t already guessed, we both had been looking forward to this museum…a LOT. ;-) As we got closer, we saw a line…that stretched down the street and around the corner! Fortunately the museum is free, so it wasn’t long before we entered the main hall. It is amazing! The ceiling arches up like a cathedral, ornamented with stained glass and replicas of original botanical sketches. Darwin surveys the scene majestically from his throne on the opposite end. A giant diplodocus dinosaur dominates the centre of the hall. I got a few shots of C lost in wonder, his jaw ALMOST hanging open…;-)
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| Squid. |
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| M and Darwin. |
After spending almost the entire day inspecting rocks, fossils, stuffed animals, and curious specimens in glass jars (including one large squid preserved in alcohol), we headed over to Harrods to take a look at the iconic store. We waded from room to room between hundreds of busy shoppers, while Gucci and Prada labels winked at us from the nearby displays. One “discounted price” was a designer handbag for 600 pounds (instead of 1000). ;-) However, the food rooms were really cool – one buffet area had tables with food from around the world, and it all smelled delicious. (Sorry, I had to make a comment for the food blog. ;-)
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| Harrods. |
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| National Geographic store. |
On our way back, we caught the bus…after searching for about 20 minutes for the bus stop. Worked out ok in the end, and in the process, we stumbled across the National Geographic store! After finding a place to eat late in the evening, we were both VERY ready for bed.
YAY I am first!!!!! Woot Woot! So glad that there is an update here, cause I learned more about your trip than I did the few days we were overlapped in our various travels. (which is kind of hilarious as I live across the room!) ;P Any way, it sounds like you had a blast, I am so glad that bit about food was in there cause I was getting worried someone had taken over writing your blog for you! Sounds like you had a great time and I cant wait to read/hear more about your amazing adventures!!
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