Cheerio, Mate!

Last week I was able to fly out to meet Max who was in England on his fourth business trip to the country since May. I was super excited to travel to Europe for the first time and of course to be seeing my husband who had already been away for a week. My excitement was even evident to the ticket agent who helped me check in for my flight in Phoenix who commented "excited, eh?" in his very British accent. British Airways flies directly from Phoenix to London, which was fantastic, and after one ten hour flight, one 15 minute train ride, and a trip on the "tube" (subway) I popped up in the Westminster area of the city and right outside our hotel. Max was supposed to be meeting me that night so imagine my surprise when I started riding the escalator up to check-in and turned to see my husband right next to me taking the stairs up! I was so surprised I almost fell down the escalator and so happy that I started squealing and clapping and being an all-around silly American.

Max took some time off from work so we could have a proper "holiday" and enjoy the city. Of course spending time together was the best gift, but we had a fantastic time exploring the sights, the people, the restaurants and the history of London...

What a hot bloke I'm married to! Enjoying a Nutella crepe from a street vendor on the South Bank of the River Thames:

Parliament:

Parliament and Big Ben:

Traditional fish and chips and English cider for me:

Buckingham Palace:

Double decker buses:

Enjoying a little street cafe:

A bit frightened to be so close to the Cavalry guard:

On the steps of the National Gallery:

Apollo Victoria Theatre in the West End:

Shopping at Harrods (the £10 Christmas ornaments are in the bag since we couldn't afford the £80,000 chandeliers):

South Kensington underground:

Loved our hotel room - we could see Big Ben from the window:

Our dear friends Tim and Marie-Amelie who live in London and took us to a lovely dinner in Westminster:

Tube stop at Tower Hill meeting Marie-Amelie for afternoon tea (notice the blue sky - we were lucky and had a couple days of nice warm weather) :

Cappuccino yumminess:

St. James Park with Buckingham Palace in the background:

St. James park:

Westminster Abbey:

Tower of London where we saw the Crown Jewels:

Tower Bridge:

Hyde Park:

Kensington Palace:

What fun memories of a special trip!