Our Trip Across the Pond

Here is just a sampling of the close to 600 pictures I took

We just got back from London and we had such a great time.  Everyone had told me it was such an awesome city and I definitely wasn't disappointed.  We crammed so much into 4 days - I'm still recovering!  Here is a rundown of The Liles Take London:

Day 1

After traveling all night I was pretty exhausted but it was nothing a little power nap couldn't fix.  We decided to do one of the hop on, hop off bus tours so we could get the lay of the land.  We rode ALL over the city and got off at Kensington Palace which was kind of a let down.  We probably would have been better off not paying the admission fee and just wandering around the gardens but I wanted to see a palace and all the other options were outside of the city.  For dinner that evening we went to a pub near the hotel and had some tasty fish & chips.

Day 2

We went to Borrough's Market for breakfast (SO much amazing looking food, we wanted to eat everything - and I think Jon did) and then took a boat ride on the Thames to Westminster Abbey.  We didn't go into Westminster Abbey because the line was ridiculous but we hung out in front for a little bit and took some pictures while I reminisced about the royal wedding and Jon rolled his eyes at me.  Then we did a walking tour of the Parliament buildings, the Prime Minister's house, etc. and ended up in Trafalgar Square. From there we walked to Covent Garden and stopped in a pub for some more fish & chips.  After lunch we went to the British Museum and looked at all the Egyptian artifacts that the British have stolen.  There was a marina with several restaurants right by our hotel called St. Katharine's Docks so we walked over there for dinner and ate at an Italian restaurant called Strada (butternut squash risotto - yum).

Day 3

Luckily I had been given a tip by some coworkers that when we went to the Tower of London we needed to get there right when it opened.  So we got there about a half hour before it opened and were able to get in the front of the line (or queue as they call it in London) and then when they let us in we went straight for the Crown Jewel exhibit.  The jewels were amazing and ginormous.  By the time we got out the line to see the jewels was ridiculous so our timing was perfect.  We spent a few hours at the Tower of London and then took a little stroll over the Tower Bridge to the Shard, which is the tallest building in the EU (87 stories).  Jon wanted to go to the observation deck on the 82nd floor but after we saw the 30 pound admission fee we changed our minds.  So instead we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus and had some lunch.  After lunch we went to St. Paul's Cathedral.  For dinner that evening we went back to St. Katharine's Docks and ate at an Indian restaurant called Mala (butter chicken and garlic naan - yum).

Day 4

Our feet were hurting but it was our last day so we had to get in the last of our tourist attractions.  I had read online that rather than going to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard where it would be way to crowded to actually see anything, you should go to St. James's Palace where the guards assemble before marching over to Buckingham Palace.  So we did that and it was really cool (I got a really good video that you can see here).  Then we hung out in St. James Park for a little bit while we waited for the crowds at Buckingham Palace to die down.  As someone who is obsessed with the Royal Family, Buckingham Palace was definitely the highlight of my trip.  I probably could have stood there all day with my face pressed up against the gate but we still had some activities to cross off our itinerary so we headed over to the Victoria and Albert Museum.  Next it was time for Harrod's, which was pretty much a mad house.  We got some lunch at the food hall and brought it over to Hyde Park for a little picnic.  For our final dinner we went to St. Katharine's Docks yet again and ate at a place called The Living Room (ricotta gnocchi - yum).

Besides Buckingham Palace, one of my favorite parts of the trip was being able to wear maternity tops and flaunt my bump and not worry about who might see me.  I am still in hiding at work so it felt really good to not have to keep it a secret for a few days.  And I am convinced that my bump got me a free upgrade to a seat with extra legroom on the flight over which is even better.


I also decided to take the plunge and buy my first thing for the baby.  I thought royal baby souvenirs would be everywhere but they were actually impossible to find so the funny thing is, I ended up getting this at the GAP.

It was a whirlwind 4 days but we had such a good time and I'm really glad we got the opportunity to go, especially since if everything continues to go well with this pregnancy, this was probably the last of our extravagant, jet setting vacations for a good while.