On our last full day in England, we drove into London, and checked into our hotel in the Kensington neighborhood. Our first stop was lunch at the Orangerie at Kensington Palace. I've had tea there every time I've been in London, so it seemed appropriate for us to continue the tradition. Unfortunately, we were too early for proper tea, but we still had a nice lunch (and drank tea)!
We had tickets to tour Buckingham Palace, which is something that none of us had done in our different visits to London. It's only open in August and September every year, so I was happy when I found out that we'd be visiting during that window of opportunity. Plus, since it is the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, there was a special exhibit with various royal diamonds that was quite interesting. Of course, photography was not allowed in the Palace, but it was really sumptuous and beautiful, and the paintings that were on display were quite incredible. I really appreciated the audio guide that came with the tour, as it did a good job describing both day-to-day use of the Palace and the history behind the art and furnishings that we were seeing. Overall, it was definitely worth the trip- I'd recommend it!
After our tour, we met up with Brian Patton after he got off work and took the train with him to have dinner with him, Jessica, and sweet Jessi, Jr.. Jessi and Brian and I have been friends since our days at Boston University (we met in 2003!) when we would go on T-surfing adventures together, and I was more than overjoyed to discover that they were moving to London, which is much closer to Zurich than Tel Aviv, where they lived previously. It was very kind of them to invite us for dinner on our trip, especially since they had just moved into their new place a couple weeks earlier! We had a lovely dinner and a fabulous time catching up and playing with Jessi Jr. (who might just be too cute for words!).
Jessi, Brian, and I have now been friends for almost 10 years, and we have lived in the same place for approximately 9 months of those 10 years. We've had adventures in Boston, New Hampshire, England, California, and Minnesota, and in Iraq, Turkey, Israel, and Switzerland since Jessi and Brian were married. I'm so thankful to have such dear friends now only a 1 hour flight away! I'm guessing I'll be spending a little more time in London this next year...
After the lovely evening with Patton family, we returned to our hotel and finished packing and getting ready for our flights the next morning.
The next morning, we headed our separate ways: me back to Switzerland, and mom and dad back to Minnesota. It was a lovely vacation: great time with my parents in an absolutely beautiful place to travel!
We had tickets to tour Buckingham Palace, which is something that none of us had done in our different visits to London. It's only open in August and September every year, so I was happy when I found out that we'd be visiting during that window of opportunity. Plus, since it is the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth, there was a special exhibit with various royal diamonds that was quite interesting. Of course, photography was not allowed in the Palace, but it was really sumptuous and beautiful, and the paintings that were on display were quite incredible. I really appreciated the audio guide that came with the tour, as it did a good job describing both day-to-day use of the Palace and the history behind the art and furnishings that we were seeing. Overall, it was definitely worth the trip- I'd recommend it!
After our tour, we met up with Brian Patton after he got off work and took the train with him to have dinner with him, Jessica, and sweet Jessi, Jr.. Jessi and Brian and I have been friends since our days at Boston University (we met in 2003!) when we would go on T-surfing adventures together, and I was more than overjoyed to discover that they were moving to London, which is much closer to Zurich than Tel Aviv, where they lived previously. It was very kind of them to invite us for dinner on our trip, especially since they had just moved into their new place a couple weeks earlier! We had a lovely dinner and a fabulous time catching up and playing with Jessi Jr. (who might just be too cute for words!).
Jessi, Brian, and I have now been friends for almost 10 years, and we have lived in the same place for approximately 9 months of those 10 years. We've had adventures in Boston, New Hampshire, England, California, and Minnesota, and in Iraq, Turkey, Israel, and Switzerland since Jessi and Brian were married. I'm so thankful to have such dear friends now only a 1 hour flight away! I'm guessing I'll be spending a little more time in London this next year...
After the lovely evening with Patton family, we returned to our hotel and finished packing and getting ready for our flights the next morning.
The next morning, we headed our separate ways: me back to Switzerland, and mom and dad back to Minnesota. It was a lovely vacation: great time with my parents in an absolutely beautiful place to travel!
