Cheers to London

This past weekend I headed to London to celebrate an early 21st birthday with Kai. Kai and I both booked our tickets to arrive at the same time on Thursday, however he found out he had a midterm that day worth 30% of his grade and had to come to London on Friday. So.. on Thursday I got in to London and figured out how to get to my hotel from the airport (I am starting to get good at this whole solo traveling thing.) Since it was my birthday, my parents booked us a room in the Marriot and I was able to order "Eat, Pray, Love" as well as some delicious room service (delicious isn't sarcastic, it really was delicious.. Tabouleh and Sweet Potatoes.. my kind of meal.)

Friday, I woke up and headed to the tube, to meet my Fat Tire Bike Tour. I figured this was a great way to see the city while I was by myself, and it was! I had a very cute tour guide named Liam who was born in South Africa, moved to London, then Amsterdam, then Southern California, and back to London. He did a great job about teaching us about the history of London. This bike tour was very different than the one in Paris because London is full of beautiful and huge parks, so we had to do less "Street Domination" as my Paris tour guide called it, and more easy riding through the parks.

My Tour Guide showing us that this is where they will play Beach Volleyball for the Olympics

By the time I got back, Kai had arrived at our hotel and we headed out to a fantastic Indian Restaurant in the city. *Fun Fact- London has more Indian food than fish and chips! We took our time because we were headed to a musical called "Thriller-Live" at 8:30 and it was extremely close by. We finished by about 7:30 and decided to get a coffee at Starbucks while we waited (I will admit, even though Italian coffee is good.. I REALLY REALLY MISS STARBUCKS!) As we sat in Starbucks at 7:45 I pulled out the tickets. As I glanced at them I blurted out to Kai, "Let's go, the play started 15 minutes ago!" Yup thats right.. the play started at at 19:30, not 20:30. STUPID MILITARY TIME! We ran across the street and into the theatre. Luckily, we only missed one song, and we were in the 4th row! This musical was more like a concert than a musical full of all of Michael Jackson and Jackson Five music. It was extremely fun and put a smile on your face throughout the entire show. Th characters also had fantastic voices and great charisma. We finished the night of by playing a few games of my travel yam slam (my favorite game ever) and me killing Kai every game we played :)

Saturday morning, we woke up to the pouring rain and 40 degree weather. Our plan was to walk to all of the sites that I got to see on the bike tour Friday, but that plan quickly changed when we saw the weather. One of the benefits of staying at a hotel is you have a great concierge, he recommended we go on a double decker bus tour, that way we could see everything and still stay dry. The bus tour was perfect for a rainy day and I got to see a lot more than I had seen by bike, such as the London Bridge (which is not actually called the London Bridge, also I always thought the song went "London Bridges falling down" but Steph burst my childhood knowledge yesterday and informed me that it is "London Bridge is Falling down" makes so much more sense now.) When this was over we hopped off at Buckingham Palace and got to see the Changing Guards which was really cool and pretty crazy to me that people do this everyday. We headed to a typical British Pub where Kai got the fish and chips he had been craving all weekend, and we got a huge platter of very very fried food.

On the cold/rainy bus tour!

Lunch time! (not Boulderhealthnut worthy)

 After lunch we went to go see "Wicked" (for my 6th time, but Kai's first) and I made sure to check the tickets about 5 times to make sure we weren't showing up late this time. It was really fun because although I could probably quote 75% of the lines in this play, I have never seen it in a British accent. The Glinda was the best Glinda I have seen in Wicked, besides Kristen Chenoweth of course. Of course, I really enjoyed the play and so did Kai (but even if he hated it, I think he would tell me he loves it because of my obsession with this musical)!

We went to an amazing restaurant called "The Goring" for my birthday dinner where we were treated like royalty. The food was fantastic, and the atmosphere and staff were even better. When we got back to the hotel, I had chocolate covered strawberries, champagne, flowers, and a birthday card waiting for me from my family. The weekend was the best birthday celebration I have ever had and unlike any birthday celebration I will probably ever have again. I guess turning 21 in Europe isn't so bad after all. Thanks Mom, Dad, and Kai for making my birthday the best one ever! Love you!

My Birthday Surprise!