{Day 6 - Wandering}
We all needed a little relaxation after all the go-go-go, so we spent the day hopping on and off the double decker buses to see where we ended up! The kids really wanted to ride the bus, and it's quite fun when you have no agenda.
(P.S. - They say the peace fingers are a sure sign of a Millennial. Well, I'm as proud of my peace sign as I am of my ankle socks, so there you go.)
Little kid, big city 👋.
Don and Dan hopped off one of the bus stops and headed to the Churchill War Rooms (not kid appropriate, we didn't think?), while the rest of us continued on. We had the thought of going to Notting Hill, and luckily enough, the first bus we caught was headed in that direction. Notting Hill is known for its charming, pastel colored flats. I loved them!
We had an amazing brunch at some famous spot that I can't remember and then spent some time shopping along Portabello Road. I came to Portabello Road when I was on my study abroad because I recognized it from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and it was really fun to go back.
"Portabello Road! Portabello Road! Street where the riches of ages are stowed....anything and everything a chap can unload, is sold off the barrow in Portabello Road!" 🎵
We met back up with D & D and came home to put the kids down for a much needed nap. While the kids were sleeping....I went shopsploring!!! The goal was to see two stores: Liberty of London, and the Regent Street Anthropologie.
I feel like I need an entire post dedicated to Liberty of London, but there's no time. So here goes a quick recap. This store is a work of art. Everything is a beautiful explosion of pattern, color, and texture, down to the last detail. Never too little, never too much. I'm convinced they were the inspiration for any and all future stores that aim for an aesthetically driven shopping "experience", including Anthropologie. This was even better.
"I was DETERMINED NOT to FOLLOW EXISTING FASHIONS but to CREATE NEW ONES" Arthur Lasenby Liberty
I want this peacock bed.
We ended the night with a walk by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Kyle, Don, and I had tickets to see "Much Ado About Nothing" on our last night in London, but sadly, I got food poisoning that night. I threw up in the subway on our way home from the Cotswolds and then violently threw up about every half hour for the rest of the night. Oof. Thankfully, I was fine by the next morning when we flew home, and I'm so glad I only missed one thing! It definitely could have been worse.
{Day 7 - Changing of the Guard, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Harry Potter Studio Tour}
As fun as it looks!
After the Changing of the Guard, we went straight to St. Paul's Cathedral. We had just enough time to squeeze in a quick tour before heading out of town for the Harry Potter Studio Tour.
St. Paul's is absolutely amazing. I guess there is some debate about this, but we were told that it has the largest dome in the world. It's the spot where the bird lady sings, "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins, so that's fun.
Always neat to spot some Bobbies.
Look how small we are!
Looking up from the ground floor is an experience...it is so large, and the ceiling is absolutely stunning. Sadly, we didn't have a lot of time to explore, so trekking to the top of the dome was first priority. I'm happy to report that both kids made it all the way to the top and back down! That's a lot of stairs.
The ground through the hole in the floor as we climbed up 😱.
Views from the top.
After St. Paul's, we rushed to catch our train out of the city, an experience that Owen was looking forward to the whole trip! He's our train kid, and a high-speed train ride was more exciting than pretty much anything (except the tube...he really, really liked the Bakerloo line, which made us smile).
Happy train kid!
The Harry Potter Studio Tour is the thing that Auggie was looking forward to whole trip, and honestly, it couldn't have been more fantastic! Absolutely blown away. 10/10 would recommend.
The HP Studio Tour is basically a walk-through of how they made the movies, including all the sets. It doesn't sound that cool, and I was skeptical. But when they say it's a tour of all the movie sets, they mean all. the. movie. sets. Like, you can walk through the real forbidden forest, get on the Hogwarts Express, walk through the Great Hall, Gringott's Bank, Diagon Alley, the Hogwarts castle....oh my goodness everything. To give you an idea, the entire tour walks you through about five or six large plane hangars! We were there for at least four hours.
The Great Hall.
Mirror of Erised.
Snape's Potions Class! The cauldrons stirred themselves. Can you spot Snape?
The Forbidden Forest, with Buckbeak and and Aragog!
Platform 9 3/4!
The Hogwarts Express.
Butterbeer break!
The flying car!
Herbology class. We got to pull out the screaming mandrakes. FUN.
Gringotts Vault.
Diagon Alley.
Hogwarts!
This is the model that they used to film the distant Hogwarts scenes. When we first walked into this room, the lights turned off and dementors filled the walls and ceiling. It was a little unnerving, actually. But then there was a bright flash of light, and we heard Harry Potter's voice scream "Expecto Patronum!!!". Just as quickly as they came, the dementors disappeared. It was very well done.
There was so much more that we didn't even take pictures of. It was the most incredible experience for a Harry Potter fan.
{Day 8 - The Cotswolds}
We didn't want to miss the English countryside, so we rented a nine passenger van (much smaller in Europe than in America, thank goodness) and took to the wrong side of the road! I was the designated driver, and I'm proud to say we only had one close call. I got used to driving on the wrong side of the road pretty quickly, but the one-lane country roads that Londoners use as two-lane roads bumped our heart rates up!! Oncoming traffic is a literal game of chicken, and if you don't scooch off the road in time...sideswipe. We magically never got hit. I'm still confused by that.
The van.
Harald and Elke met us in the Cotswolds which was really awesome. We spent the first day in Bourton-on-the-Water and the next morning in Bibury before heading back to London. Quick trip.
The most beautiful walk into town from the parking lot.
Lovely!
We went to a bird sanctuary/dinosaur walk in the afternoon. We were all happy to see that combination but wondered why the bird sanctuary had a dinosaur walk. Don't worry. Auggie quickly reminded us that birds are the relatives of dinosaurs, a fact he learned in his dinosaur book when he was three years old. It's all comin' together.
Harald broke the no-touching rules for some unauthorized pics with the dinosaurs.
Our Airbnb for the night was ah-mazing, and our hosts were the kindest family with two little kids, Armon and Ayla. Auggie and Owen had the best time finding snails with them in the backyard. Ayla enlisted Auggie to pick snails off their tube slide because she was scared to slide down with snails on it. Same, girl, same.
When we walked over to check on their progress, we heard her say in the cutest English accent, "Auggie, could you please concentrate on the snails inside the slide, we really don't need to get the ones outside the slide. So please, concentrate on the snails inside the slide." So so cute. And then they had a dance party on the lawn and it was all a dream.
Full english breakfast the next morning, made by our hosts! Owen and I look about how we felt, lol.
Airbnb courtyard.
The next morning we drove to the town of Bibury. It is considered one of the most picturesque towns in all of England. And it was. It was gorgeous and quaint and cute and all the things...but it was also very cold and very rainy. I would say this is the only day that it really rained on us throughout the whole trip. We had some sprinkly weather here and there, but nothing that altered our plans. But the rain in Bibury made for a rough day. Honestly though, how lucky is it that we only had bad weather for one day in April? I'm very happy with how London showed up for us.
Puddle jumpers!
Don and Harald, a.k.a Rambo, enjoying a hot chocolate break.
We headed back to London in the afternoon so we could make it back to the city in time for "Much Ado About Nothing" at the Globe Theatre. Unfortunately, I got slammed with the aforementioned food poisoning and was out. Darn it. Don and Kyle went and had a great time, so that's good!
And then, just like that...the trip was over! We headed home the next morning.
To sum it all up: London. was. incredible. It was as fun as I remember it from all those years ago. I am so grateful every time we travel, and I love love love showing our kids the world.
So Long, London!!
And last but not least. So much love for these lil' London raincoats.
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