Monday morning Kellen had to head back to work so Brenda and I made a "what to do and see in London" list and went out to start checking things off our list. Here are some of the things we did. First, picked up Hot Bagels and took them to the park so Maddie could get some wiggles out. Next, when at Sarah's house do as Sarah does, so we tackled the insanity workout of the day. When Maddie woke up we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. V&A Highlights included: Rafael tapestry, Leanardo DaVinci notebook. Next, A stroll through Harrods fabulous food halls and shoe heaven and a walk through Hyde Park. We took the tube back home and met Kellen for dinner at Spitalfields Market.
Tuesday: Stephanie and Elle came over to meet us and we wandered around Spitalfields Market looking at all the odds and ends sold there. Spitalfields Market is just a five minute walk from our house. While we were there we got the girls baby cupcakes because it is Elle's first birthday. We then went to Spitalfields City Farm. It was an epic fail and a one time event as it was not very well kept. On the bright side it did have a lot of farm animals to see. Maddie cried when the geese honked at her and the cows tried to lick her. It was so funny!
Wednesday: Tea at the Orangery in Kensington Palace Gardens. Afternoon tea at the Orangery includes four types of sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, and a variety of dainty pastries. Each person gets two pots of tea and our favorites were herbal infusion lemon with ginger and wild berry. It was even better with two sugar cubes in each cup! The ambiance was perfect and the whole afternoon was delightful! Maddie behaved during the tea party and was rewarded with some play time at the Princess Diana Memorial playground. We headed home and had dinner at a trendy pizza place in our neighborhood: Pizza East. Our pizza's selection included: spicy sausage with broccoli and radiocchio with goat cheese and walnuts. It was fabulous food and very crowded and loud which is perfect for a baby because nobody notices if she is loud during dinner.
Thursday: Blaine finally came into town to join us and we spent the afternoon at Westminster Abbey, the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square. For dinner we came back to our house and got take out from Square Pie, a delicious British Pie company. Then we celebrated Maddie's first birthday (a few weeks early) with cupcakes and lots of presents from Mimi and Papa. She devoured her cupcake and was so excited about all the books they gave her!
Friday: Lunch at Shake Shack in Covent Garden,British Museum. Highlights: Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies and statues from the Parthanon. We made a quick stop at Russel Square to let Maddie crawl around then headed to the British Library. Highlights: Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, music written by Mozart, Bach and Beethoven, and the Magna Carta. Also, watching Maddie crawl around on the floor of the British Library and chase me around like a little puppy. We finally met up with Kellen after he finished a long week of work and went to Friends at Hand, an English Pub in Bloomsbury, for Fish and Chips! Great way to end the night.
Saturday: Tour of Buckingham Palace's 19 incredible state rooms. These rooms are only open to visitors during August and September so we felt lucky to go see them. They also had a special exhibit on childhood in the palace which had toys, clothes, and other accessories form the royal children who grew up in Buckingham Palace.
