EUROPEAN VACATION 2017 {PART 1}

 

8 Days Abroad | London, UK & Amalfi, Italy

 

Today I am so excited to share about the adventures Joe and I had while overseas visiting London and the Amalfi cost this past week! Both, by the way, for the first time!! I feel like it’s kind of weird that it was our first time, since they are such popular locations, but it was, and it did NOT disappoint.

We took off on a flight Sunday evening and, after a typically uncomfortable night of trying to sleep, we arrived at Heathrow. We disembarked on the tarmac, down a rickety metal flight of steps and into a shuttle that took us to customs. Luckily, we made it through fairly quickly, but I was already preparing myself to get used to a lot of travel-related waiting. Breathe in….. and out. There actually was a sign on the wall reminding me to do just that. I didn’t take a photo though. Hah!

Once through the airport we made our way to our flat on Winchester Street. It was the most lovely street of row houses, something I was also experiencing for the first time. Everything was clean and white and pretty. Most houses had topiaries or window boxes full of flowers. There were pops of color all around us wherever we went. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw all of the care that went into making this place so beautiful.

 

Somehow we mustered the energy to begin touring right away. We quickly changed in our flat and grabbed and uber to Brompton Road (famous street in Knightsbridge for shopping – Harrod’s – and various pubs). There we had some lunch at The Bunch of Grapes and made our way to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I heard a lot of great reviews about his particular museum and I do love myself a good historical gallery to browse about.

I’ll be frank with you the V&A was a bit overwhelming. There were six floors filled with everything from Early Victorian British history to English craftsmanship exhibits to courtyard gardens and galleries of many kings and queens. It was very similarly styled to the museums in Manhattan. Since we were still pretty whacked out from our flight we just wandered to the second floor and started looking around. I found the old books and handmade illuminated manuscripts very beautiful and interesting, but as we approached the glass-encased artillery displays our eyes started to glaze over as we saw the fiftieth gun or sword from the 17th century. We decided to move on to something a little more eye catching. Sparkles of course. Gowns from Queen Victoria and a gem exhibit. Much of the custom jewelry was absolutely exquisite.

We walked around a little more but felt this was something to do on another, longer day, when we had more energy. So, naturally, we got back on the road and then stopped in the natural history museum. In my defense, I really just wanted to see the antiquated architecture inside, but it wasn’t as imposing as I was expecting from the photos online, so we again carried on our walk.

We made our way to Kensington Gardens, which was sprawling and gorgeous. Inside we saw the King’s and Queen’s apartments a well as a fashion exhibit of Princess Diana’s life. Outside, The White Garden, was a poignant tribute to the princess’ life and her iconic style.

The next day we headed in the opposite direction towards Westminster Abbey. After grabbing some iced coffees and a croissant we found ourselves in a much more touristy populated area. We walked up Whitehall in hopes to catch the changing of the life guard. We made it, and saw SO MANY horses!! It was awesome. I was in heaven. We kept walking towards Trafalger Square and looped over to Buckingham Palace. I was amazed at how many people were so closely swarming the palace. What I was even more surprised about what learning that only fairly recently had they “closed the gates to the public.” Meaning people were originally allowed to walk right up to the walls of the Queen’s residence! We were just a bit too early to be able to get tickets for the Palace state room tours since Queen Elizabeth won’t be leaving for her summer home until July.

We took in the grand circle and central fountain, the iron gilded gates and stately, imposing lanterns. From the Palace, we saw The Diplomat Hotel and Downing Street and stopped into The Treasury basement to see the Churchill War Rooms. This museum was definitely the most fascinating because it was essentially a 100% preserved historical location. The rooms were kept exactly as they had been left and sealed in 1945 after WWII. The color-coded telephones, first air conditioners, sleeping quarters, and wall maps that lead to the Allied victory are all in tact, even down to the few sugar cubes that one of the senior Generals kept for snacking. This is definitely a must see for everyone visiting London!

Our final day in London we visited Westminster Abbey and toured the amazing Anglican Church used for coronations and monarch weddings as well as the tomb chapels and clergy quarters. The architecture was incredible, only surpassed by the amount of history that was housed in the building. We ushered ourselves outside in order to catch a quick glimpse of the Queen heading to Parliament to give an address on Brexit. It was so cool to see her driving by with Charles sitting next to her!

We quickly shuffled through traffic to board a boat that would take us up the Thames to the Tower of London. We spent a few hours here walking through history for the last thousand years. The apartments, artillery rooms, prison, throne room and menagerie. Then we hopped over to Saint Paul’s and climbed to the top of the dome, about a football field high and saw the enchanting and breezy London skyline view. In my opinion, way better bang for your buck than the London Eye, but that’s just me. As the day came to a close we casually walked the embankment back to our flat and enjoyed dinner and some quiet time on the balcony before our travel day to Italy the following morning. Here are some travel highlights from London. Enjoy!