Week Two: Mind The Gap!

Last week it was a million degrees below in Brussels (maybe I'm exaggerating, but still!) so I decided I needed a break from the cold for a few days. While it was warmer in Spain, it was cheaper, faster and easier to go to London... plus it gave me a chance to practice my British accent and hunt around for my future husband, Prince Harry... Oi!

London Day 1: Arrived in London around 10am and went straight to my hotel to unpack. Luckily my room was ready early so I was able to settle in and head out for the day. The Kensington Close Hotel is in one of the prime areas of London, right near High Street, only a 2 minute walk to The Underground and only about a 10-15 minute walk to Notting Hill. Unfortunately Hugh Grant doesn't live at the house with the blue door... I checked.

High Street Kensington is super trendy with about a million different stores, but I controlled myself for the first day and instead jumped on one of those double decker tour buses to figure out where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see. The most interesting part of the tour was not seeing the typical touristy things that I already knew about, but instead the interesting things I didn't. Driving past the flat where John Lennon once lived with Yoko Ono, or the school where Elton John went, along with Baker Street where the fictional apartment of Sherlock Holmes is, to name a few.

Jumped off the bus at the River Thames, where the London Eye is located to take some pictures of it, Parliament and Big Ben. Decided against waiting in line to go on the Eye because it was a two hour long cue and with my slight fear of heights it might have not been worth it. I went on the Eye when I was last in London 6 years ago, and spent the whole 30 minute ride terrified and nauseous. Doing that once is enough for me! Walked around that area for a few more hours until I was too cold to walk anymore.

My "Swimfan" moment

"Ummm I'm a big fan!"

Went back to my hotel to warm up in the hot tub for a little bit, got ready and then headed to the hotel bar for a glass of wine before finding somewhere to go for dinner. Little did I know I was about to make a new friend! If you have never watched the American X-Factor I suggest you google Josh Krajcik. He was the second runner up on this season (season 1) and has an amazing voice. (While you're at it you should also look up Astro and Chris Rene... also from X Factor and also phenomenal). Anyways, Josh sat down beside me at the bar and started up a brief conversation and it took me about 5 minutes to figure out who he was... I knew I knew him from somewhere but couldn't place him for the first while. Had a glass of wine with him and then decided that I was far too dorky and Swimfan-ish and that I would lose all my cool points if I stayed around much longer, so headed out for some dinner (Italian) and headed to bed early so I could have a productive next day!

London Day 2: Instead of being productive I spent most of my day in bed. The cold I've been battling for the last week was at its very worst and I spent most of the day ordering room service, hitting up the hotel steam room to try and sweat out my sickness and watching overly-expensive movies on the Pay Per View. I finally got up enough energy to go out around 6pm, had dinner and went to the movies to see War Horse. I went back to the hotel feeling a bit lonely and homesick so I called home for some words of wisdom and love from my Mama. It helped, as always :-)

London Day 3: Feeling healthier and happier, I headed out early for the day. Started my day at Madam Tussauds and met some new friends: Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Tom Cruise and of Course I finally tracked down my future Husband, Harry. Don't we look nice together?

From there I headed over to Westminster Abby. Unfortunately you can't take any pictures inside the church which is too bad because it is really amazing. The church is, of course, huge, but also so beautiful inside. Westminster is not only where William and Kate where married but also where all the past Kings and Queens are buried, and the tombs are such detailed works of art. It really is something else.

 

The outside of Westminster Abby

After taking a tour of the church I jumped on the tube and went to the National Gallery for a few hours. After that I headed over to Leicester Square to see about scoring some cheap theater tickets. It was pretty easy. For 30 pounds I got a great seat to see Wicked that night, my favorite show of all time! I saw it when I was in New York this last October and ever since I've had the soundtrack on my iPod and play over and over it in my car. After getting the tickets I headed over to Oxford Street for some shopping. I obviously needed a new outfit for that night!

All dolled up for a night out

London Day 4: My last day. After checking out of my hotel I went for a walk around Hyde Park and all the way to Buckingham Palace to take some pictures. After that I got on the tube and went to Harrods. Sigh. When I die and go to heaven, I think I'll go to Harrods. The store is filled with all my favorite designers that I could never afford: Chanel, Louise Vuitton, and Burberry to name a few. And that's really just a slight few. Tiffanys, Dior and Dolce oh my! I spent a good three hours just wandering around Harrods, picking up a few gifts for people at home, and then walked over to Harvey Nics for lunch before going to Kings Cross to catch my train back to Brussels.

More pictures to come later.

Back in Brussels now! While London was amazing I'm glad to be back with Catherine, Maddy-Bear and even Kevin too! Tonight we're going out for dinner and drinks, maybe downtown, so it should be lots of fun!

xoxo
Kat