Last Days in London :(

Day 10 (Friday, June 1st)

Friday was our first day where we had absolutely no plans at all! Shannon and I spent the morning shopping at some boutiques near Jeanne's home. 

Later that afternoon we went shopping for our dinner ingredients. We were making dinner for Jeanne's neighbor and us :) Shannon and I had to go shopping at an oriental store to get the ingredients we needed for our Asian dish. That was an experience!

Funny story (at least Shannon and I thought it was hilarious). We were walking through Jeanne's park and I was saying how sad it was that some people didn't appreciate nature...they were missing out. As soon as I said that, I stopped and bent down to grab a four-leaf clover and I got stung on my big toe by something! It hurt and my toe went numb for 5 minutes! Oh, the irony :)

Dinner was delicious and it was fun getting to know her neighbor, Myles, who was super nice and funny!

 Making dinner

Shannon's lovely dessert creation!

Day 11 (Saturday, June 2nd)

Saturday we went to the Portebello Market where I bought 2 really old books! I am a nerd, I know, but they are awesome.

Oxford Street all decorated for the Queen's jubilee!

Later that night we went to The Mayflower (a pub, haha) and Shannon and I finally got to try the classic fish and chips! We also got to meet some of Jeanne's friends which was fun.

Day 12 (Sunday, June 3rd)

Sunday was Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee!! And London had gone back to its typical cold and rainy weather just in time for it. There were going to be 1,000 boats going down the River Thames and the Queen was on one of them. 

 

We got to the river at noon and had to wait until after 3 p.m. for the boats to start passing by us. There were so many people everywhere that we couldn't really see the river. I did see some of the boats and we were there when the Queen's boat passed, although I couldn't see it or her haha.

After she passed, we went to Jeanne's friend, Carita's, home to watch the boats from there. She lives on the river and has a balcony overlooking it! It was an awesome spot. We saw most of the boats, but the Queen didn't pass there because she got off at Tower Bridge. It was still fun to be there and see all of the boats. It was such a great experience...I am glad we were there for such a historic moment in Britain!

(photo credit to Jeanne's friend, Hannu)

 (photo credit to Hannu)

(photo credit to Hannu)

The Queen's boat! (without her on it)

Day 13 (Monday, June 4th) Our last day :(

We went to Camden Market for awhile, shopped, and then later packed to go home.

We were sad :'(

 

 For dinner, Shannon, Jeanne, and I ate at a restaurant near Tower Bridge. It is so pretty!

 Double Rainbow!!

Walking along the river

After dinner we went to Hyde Park where the Queen's jubilee celebration was still going strong. There were tons of people in the park watching screens that were displaying the concert happening at Buckingham Palace.

 The Park

(photo credit to Hannu)

Creepy eyeballs in the trees

(photo credit to Hannu)

It was very entertaining to be at the park. The Brits were all drinking, smoking, and dancing haha. It was kind of like the 4th of July, in a way. We got to see the fireworks live from Buckingham Palace! That was so cool.

After being at the park we walked back to Tower Bridge to see it all lit up at night.

It was so pretty!

Day 14 (Tuesday, June 5th) Going home...

Our flight was supposed to leave today at 12:30 p.m. However, Jeanne woke us up at 3:30 on Tuesday to tell us our flight had filled up and we needed to catch the 9:30 a.m. flight to Detroit and then change there for Minneapolis. 

On the train at 5 in the morning London time

On the bright side: we got to fly first class! It was soooo much nicer than the economy seats. I was actually able to sleep for 5 hours! The chairs reclined a lot and have built in massagers, we got fluffy pillows and thick blankets. We also got a pre-breakfast, breakfast, and lunch. I was so full! While I was sleeping, Shannon also got warm chocolate chip cookies and milk!

Detroit. Photo taken at 8 p.m. London time

We got stuck in Detroit and were pretty sure we were not going to be going home that night. Oh, the joys of flying standby. We landed in Detroit at 11:30. Didn't get on the 3:30 flight. Didn't get on the 5:30 flight. My mom got us a room in a hotel but told us to stay for the 7:30 flight even though it was overbooked and we probably wouldn't get on. But we did! Only through a miracle by God were we able to get home that night.

Landed in Minneapolis at 2 a.m. London time

I had an absolute blast during my stay in London! It was so  much fun being in our little routine of eating breakfast, touring, eating dinner, making plans for the next day, and then going to bed. I loved staying with Jeanne, talking with her and getting to know her. She was so generous to us and she made London really fun! I also loved traveling and touring with Shannon! It was fun spending so much time with her! It was also super cool to be at the Queen's Jubilee while everyone else was just watching it on TV. I feel so blessed to have had this amazing experience in London and to be able to share it with one of my best friends! 

I can't wait until next time I get to travel :)