To say that the last week has flown by would be quite the understatement. I feel as though the train ride from London to Paris was the first time we really sat down and relaxed all week. It started with me arriving in London first and getting off at the wrong tube stop causing me to have a long walk through not the most comforting area. This led to me being about 40 minutes late to meet the friend of the girl whose apartment we were staying at with air bnb.. Whoops! Luckily she was very nice about it! It was a great little place that we stayed in and having it to ourselves was perfect. The best part about it for me was for the first time in a month being able to leave my stuff EVERYWHERE! So nice not shoving it all back into my bags to hide from thieving backpackers! (Which appear to only actually exist in my mind as of yet).

The next day I woke up bright and early to pick up mommy dearest from Heathrow airport. She could hardly contain her excitement to be abroad (and to see her lovely daughter of course) and as we walked around the city later in the afternoon she was giddy at all the sights. It didn't take long for jet lag to kick in though so we went to the pub for some fish and chips (which as you know means chicken burger for me), then headed home to rest up for the week ahead.

With our London Passes (for discount attractions) and Oyster Cards (transit passes) in hand we hit the big city for a weeklong whirlwind adventure. By day 2 even Mom was starting to get accustomed to the extremely detailed transit system, which truly says something about how much use we were getting from it! We took turns hitting up all the famous sights: Piccadilly and Oxford Circus, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Tower Bridge, and many many more. We think that it is very likely that we did the equivalent of the sun run and possibly more in walking everyday! Which would have been great if we didn't cancel it out with the odd ice cream in the afternoon, but I guess that's what vacations are for!! Walking was a little difficult at times because the weather in London was crazy, going from a little chilly to hot, bright, and sunny and then to hail storms all within a couple hours!

We also managed to see two shows in the west end: Wicked and Mamma Mia. They were both really great and Mamma Mia had people in the audience singing, clapping, and some even standing up and dancing in the aisle. Unfortunately for mom I was there which I think stopped her from being one of them.. But she still managed to get her groove on in her seat!

Next up was time to say good-bye to the English language and head to Europe! (Fact: most people in the UK don't consider themselves to be "in Europe").

So...

Au Revoir England et Bonjour Paris! (Yes... We are in trouble!!)

Love,
Sara ... And DL!