Mark and I were invited to visit London in June to celebrate a client/friend’s 50th Birthday. This was one party we planned to make!
A very special thank you to the Baughman family for including us in their family and friends list for the party. We had a wonderful time and took in many of London’s sites during the four days we visited. Having never traveled to Europe, this trip was exciting and a little nerve-racking, but we jumped right in and hit the ground running. We left from Washington Dulles International Airport and landed at Heathrow on Friday morning, went through customs, picked up our luggage, and the fun began! While navigating our way to Paddington Station, somehow we missed the Paddington Statue! We caught a cab to The Landmark Hotel, dropped off our bags and met Caroline to go exploring. The metro system, known as the London Underground, was our means of transportation, we were impressed with the clean trains! After meeting up with friends, we toured St Martin-in-the-Fields and walked around Trafalgar Square. Next, we headed over to the London Eye where eight of us rode the Ferris wheel. I have to say, the London Eye is the only Ferris wheel I will ride. The views of London were amazing. Saturday was spent touring the Tower of London and walking Tower Bridge. How amazing to touch Tower of London and reflect on the rich history as we walked Tower Bridge.
Saturday evening the birthday party began with a toast to the birthday girl at the hotel bar and then off to The George for dinner and dancing. We enjoyed spending time with Caroline’s family in London and meeting her friends from London, New York City, and Greenwich, CT. The party was fun and entertaining. As Caroline danced to the DJ’s music from the 1980’s, it reminded me of my girlfriends and how we did the same back in the day! The night ended with an ode to “Sweet Caroline.”
Sunday, we boarded a tour bus to view more sights of London! We toured St. Paul’s Cathedral, and since it was Sunday, we were able to listen in to the service held at this beautiful cathedral. The history and beauty are amazing – which seems to be the word summarizing our trip. During this short time, we saw much of London, experienced the architecture and history, and marveled at the diversity of people from all over the world. Our evening ended with dinner at the home of Caroline’s brother and wife.
Monday we took a 90-minute train ride to Bath, giving us a glimpse of the English countryside. Bath is a beautiful town and we walked all day. We toured the Roman Baths, Bath Abbey Church, Pulteney Bridge, had lunch at an outside café listening to music and people watching. Next, we hiked up to Royal Crescent to tour a Georgian style home. We arrived back in London in time to have pizza at a nice little restaurant near our hotel. We sat outside on the patio. Caroline thought Mark needed to have pizza for dinner since she had him trying many different foods on this trip.
We flew home Tuesday, with a little excitement and confusion with British Airways, they somehow had identified Mark as a British citizen! Thankfully all ended well.
Our sincere thanks to the Baughman family for such a wonderful time in London. We didn’t get to see everything we wanted to on this trip, so I guess that means we need to go back one day.
