Last Days of London

Mother Nature must have read my last post because our final days in London were abundantly sunny & beautiful. On Friday I took the kids to the Natural History Museum, naturally. We arrived just as it opened so we got in without a wait. C was our "official" museum guide & led us through almost every exhibit.






Our private guide was very serious about his job


A little blurry, but D sweetly led his little sister around the big museum


These dodos found the Dodo bird!



Since the weather was so nice we ventured out to the gardens after exploring inside.




This little guy seemed quite content with his house in the middle of the pond


Baby girl making wishes on wishing flowers
Around noon we noticed our rumbling tummies & ate at the Darwin Café overlooking the gardens. (We were a bit too nervous to eat outside due to the overwhelming amount of equally hungry pigeons.) That evening mum & dad stayed home with the kids while I took the train back to where all my UK adventures began: Guildford.




The train ride through Surrey is stunning. I'm sure my British mates will laugh at me for this, but I think the green hills & fields of flowers are some of the most delightful in the world. They weren't, however, the reason I travelled down south (obviously...) I was on my way to see a wonderful old friend who I met during my gap year. We caught up over Wagamama (ohhh how I missed Wagamama) & Cabernet Sauvignon.


We were having too much fun to think to take any photographs (bad blogger, Laura!) but after dinner my friend led me to a lovely little bar called Pews. I enjoyed one too many cocktails & was very tempted to stay out, but luckily my friend's decision-making skills were more in tact than mine & I caught the last train back to London.

The next morning I met yet another wonderful friend from back home in the States. She studied abroad last semester at Southampton so we were determined to spend a day together in London. We met in Sloane Square around 9am on a blue-skied Saturday & decided to stroll through Portobello Market. Notting Hill is such a charming little part of London. The colorful houses, blooming flowers, & famous market makes it one of my favorite places to visit.





We picked up some fresh crepes for breakfast


I went for the lemon & sugar & my friend indulged in the Nutella











There was so. much. food. You can find any type of cuisine one could ever imagine on Portobello Market. The street was flooded with people, flowers, fruits, vegetables, & pretty much anything you could ever want.


This made me smile


So did this...

On our way back we decided to stroll through the less visited streets of Notting Hill.







We then made our way to Covent Garden for lunch at Café Rouge.




My croque-monsieur with pommes frites & a crisp glass of Pinot Grigio
After lunch we shopped a bit more until I met Mrs. C & took little H home while the rest of the family had dinner at Goodman Steak House & saw Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (both got great reviews.) H & I ate one last dinner at Pizza Express, shared a gelato from Amorino, took the bus home, & snuggled into bed. It was a fantastic final day in one of my favorite places in the world.

The next morning we finished our last-minute packing, ate a quick breakfast, & said our goodbyes to our quaint flat on the hidden cobblestone street in London.




The week went by much too fast for me, but I could stay in London for months & not feel satisfied. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to live here.

Now we're off to Paris via the Eurostar for another week of adventures...