Day 8: London, England

Today was a busy day and I'm having a hard time remembering everything we did and in what order. We started by taking the Picadilly line to South Kensington to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum of art and design. The museum was much bigger than I was expecting so we only did a small section of Europe (lots of clothing, furniture, art) and then the medieval section which was super fascinating with it's relics, sculpture, and tempera art, and lastly the enormous Raphael paintings. We left much unseen there to make our way to our reserved time for tea. We walk through Kensington Gardens to the palace and literally right next to the palace is a tea house called The Orangery where we had our afternoon tea. I didn't realize until afterwards that it was Joel's first afternoon tea so I walked him through the history and etiquette before we left which was very amusing to him. It's a great place to have tea because it's got a great view of the gardens and of Kensington Palace, a good tea, and isn't too stuffy (the big places are Fortnum and Mason and the Ritz which I'm sure are great but more expensive and not as laid back). After that we walked through Hyde Park which put us out on Oxford Street where we started our shopping excursions. We went to the big department stores (Marks and Spencer, Selfridges, House of Fraser) looking for trinkets and a china tea cup and saucer but with no luck. I ended up with 2 travel size spray deodorants from Boots that you can only buy full size in the states right now. Determined that deodorant wouldn't be the only thing I'd bring home from London we decided to wander more. We meander down Bond street which has the most exclusive and expensive brands in the world- I only recognize about 1/3 of the brands. We turn a bit left to meander down Burlington Arcade where the boutiques are even more expensive with watches and jewelry and tailors. There are security guards at every store entrance and pictures are strictly prohibited (but I got one before I knew that... Promise). We got an Americano at Richloux's before going down Picadilly Arcade where I found a perfume brand that's not in the states that I've been keen on called Killian. The attendant and I talk a while about various perfumes and what I'm looking for and I look back to see a comical face on Joel as if I've been speaking a different language for the past 5 minutes. I'm tempted, but not sold so we keep moving. We go back to Fortnum and Mason to pick out a box of chocolates to munch on tonight and some more tea to bring home after sampling and smelling several. Then we happen upon a little vendor market on Picadilly next to the St James Church and Joel finds some really unique stamps to add to his seal collection. The stamp owner went out of his way to explain different techniques to emboss the stamp and the history behind each symbol, super nice man. Next up was a bookstore called Waterstones where I broke down and bought The Tales of Beedle the Bard Harry Potter book- it was too stinkin' perfect not to. After that we visit the Nespresso store which allows you to taste whichever espresso you want and we both enjoy a free decaf espresso. I've had my eye on the new Vertuo Line and wanted Joel to approve it, so I was relieved that he loved it. We made our way into Carnaby Market which is a tangle of restaurants, shops, and events of all sorts. We really enjoyed talking with some of the shop owners here too. Something that really surprised both of us is how friendly and engaging everyone is here. They want to ask you which state you're from or talk about politics or current events. You'd think they'd be tired of tourists, but that hasn't been our experience so far. We walk and shop until my feet and hungry stomach can't take it anymore and return via the underground to our flat to make dinner and plan for our last day in London. I'm really taking to London. Once you get the hang of the tube and looking the opposite way for traffic, it's really an incredibly fun place.Read more