London Times

Ian surprised me with a trip to London for my 21st birthday. 

Day One

We left Glasgow around 5 AM. I probably should have napped on the flight, but I was way too excited to sleep. Instead, Ian and I played trivia. For young lads, we love trivia (maybe a little too much). Throughout the week, we religiously watch trivia shows called Pointless and Eggheads. Unfortunately, playing trivia with Ian is a bit unfair because he is a stinking genius. Oddly, I can sometimes catch him with capitals of African countries. 

After the flight to Gatwick Airport, we took a 30 minute train ride through the outskirts of London, which were covered in beautiful blankets of SNOW! Ian does not understand my excitement over snow. Growing up in Georgia meant very, very little snow for me, so when there is even the slightest flurry, I am ecstatic. I was so ecstatic to see the London snow that I wanted to take a picture of it. That excitement quickly dwindled when I realized I left my camera in Glasgow. Of all the things I remembered to pack (curling iron, granola bars), why did I forget my camera?

On the verge of tears, we came up with a resolution over bacon McMuffins. We would find a cheap digital camera, purchase it, take pictures on it, then take it back to the store in Glasgow. Cheeky thing to do, but it was absolutely necessary.

We checked into the Westminster Park Plaza, which was situated directly across from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. The rooms were just as wonderful as the view!

Very swanky! It kind of reminded me of a hotel James Bond would stay in. 

After checking into the hotel, we hopped on the subway to the famous Oxford, Bond and Regent Streets.

Oxford Street is only 1.5 miles long but it is the busiest street in 
Europe with over 300 shops. Yes, as in 100 x 3!

Bond Street is one of the world's most expensive pieces of
real estate, home to Louis V and Chanel

Day Two

While the day of shopping was fantastic, our Sunday plans were brilliant! First, we visited Madame Tussauds, the world-renowned wax museum. It was unreal...literally. I was surprised at the number of wax figures and how real they looked. Being the girly girl that I am, I nearly cried when I saw Audrey Hepburn. I think Ian was most excited about Cheryl Cole (to his dismay, Miranda Kerr doesn't have a wax figure).

This is me trying to conceal my excitement.
Ian was a bit embarrassed by my enthusiasm. 

 The funniest thing happened and it actually annoyed Ian. We were taking pictures with one of the celebs and then started to walk across the room to look at others. Mid-stride, Ian realized he was about to step into a woman's picture, so he politely waited to the side. And waited. And waited. She just stood there with the camera to her face, like she was trying to get a good shot. After about four minutes, we realized it was just an actress pretending to be a wax figure...boy did we feel silly.

Next stop, Big Red Tour Bus! What is more "London" than a red tour bus? The bus was ideal because you could hop on and off wherever/whenever you want. Despite the frigid temperatures, we sat on the top. We got many cool shots of St.Paul's cathedral. The best part about the bus was the recording you could listen to about various spots in London.

Headphones that doubled as warm ear muffs? Brilliant.

What a handsome guy!

We stopped off at a few places. My favorite was Buckingham Palace. Ian was a good sport and participated in my photo shoot.

On to the highlight of the day: Les mis!

This was my very first musical, unless you count my appearance as a bird in my high school's Suessical the Musical (great times). For as long as I've known them, Ian's family has been raving about the show. I was so excited to see it!
We got all dressed up and had sushi in our hotel with romantic views of Big Ben and Parliament. Then, we made our way to Queen's Theatre. Queen's Theatre is special enough on it's own! It's a very intimate setting, holding only 1200 people. We were six rows from the stage (I know, he outdid himself!) The second I heard the first note from the orchestra box, I knew I was in for a treat! The story plus the unbelievable talent was remarkable. Ian's mom warned me that I would cry, and I did...It started out with just watery eyes, then my eyes started pouring, then I got the ugly cries. Ian tried to act like he didn't notice, but I think you would have to be deaf to not hear my sobs.

The trip was everything I had hoped it would be! I am a very lucky (and spoiled) little girl!
XOXO-Kels
P.S.: Thursday I took back the digital camera that I had to purchase...got all my money back! Oops!