The Cotswolds

The last leg of our trip involved some of my favorite people in the world, namely, Brian Beazer. I was elated to return to Castle Combe this summer, having last been there in 2007. The manor had undergone extensive renovations and was looking fantastic. We stayed in Lucknam Park, which is one of the nicest hotels I've ever stayed in.

On our way there, our driver stopped at Stonehenge. I have been to Stonehenge before, and I am not dying to go back. Although the new visitor's center is cool, the bus ride to the stones and the massive number of tourists turns me off. 

Once we arrived at Lucknam, we were shown to our 3 rooms. They were unique and gorgeous, and I felt like I was a guest at a Duke's country home. That night we celebrated Amanda's 17th birthday by having a dinner party at Lucknam. It was the fanciest dinner I've ever had! The white-gloved waiters walked into the room in a single-file line and placed our silver-domed plates in front of each of us in total unison. It was crazy!

We visited Castle Combe for breakfast, where I promptly became obsessed with their Aga stove. I need one. We then drove to Bath for lunch, We saw Brian's place of birth, and some classic Bath things from the car.

I loved afternoon tea at Lucknam and pre-dinner drinks and appetizers in the drawing rooms.

The next day we enjoyed the spa and had dinner at an adorable pub. On our final day, Brian came to see us off, and our driver took us to Heathrow (I slept the whole drive). Overall, we were all sad to leave but happy to return to the house (which was in the process of being redone) and the dogs! I can't wait to go back to the UK in just a little over a week. Cheerio!

London

After we got off of the cruise ship in Copenhagen, we flew to London. We arrived in London the morning after the terrorist attack on the London Bridge. Luckily, the part of London where we stayed was very far from London Bridge. Nevertheless, it was heartbreaking and scary to sit in the hotel lobby and watch the news play footage from events that were taking place not too far from us.

I loved the hotel where we stayed- the Marriott Park Lane. It was beautiful, on the smaller side, and well situated. We spent the evening in London walking around Mayfair, and popped into a couple of shops. The purchase of the day was the Taschen book titled "The Walt Disney Film Archives". That night, we ate at Nobu. I was skeptical whether it would live up to all of the hype, but we really did have an amazing meal. The food was incredible, and the atmosphere was cool without being too stuffy.

The next day was one of my favorite days of the entire trip! We started the day by visiting King's Cross station to see Platform 9 3/4. We didn't wait in the long line to take an official picture, but we got to go inside the Harry Potter shop there. 

We then walked through the financial district, and learned some very interesting history from our lovely tour guide. Even in the overcast/rainy weather, London was beautiful. We made our way to the Tower of London, which is amazing! The Tower is sort of spooky, and has a storied past. We got to see the Crown Jewel display, although I don't have any pictures of it. 

Having just read a book about Lady Jane Grey, it was especially eerie to walk around the White Tower and the Tower Green. After walking across Tower Bridge, we ate lunch and I came up with a navigation plan to get us to Harrods while my dad had his suit fitting at Gieves & Hawkes. I am still pretty proud of myself for navigating the tube all by myself! (Ok, my phone might have helped...) 

Harrods beauty counters aka heaven

We made a friend!! 

After wearing ourselves out at Harrods and enjoying the kid's section, tea, and the food hall, we went back to the hotel. We ate dinner that night at an Italian place, where I ate delicious Chicken Alfredo . I also practiced the napkin folding skills I learned on the cruise and made about 100 Bishop's hats. 

The next day we toured Westminster Abbey for a few hours, and it was AMAZING! I loved spending a lot of time looking at every room and tomb, and learning more about the significance of certain things that I wouldn't have otherwise noticed. Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed. We then went to get sundaes at Fortnum and Masons. After that, we made a detour to the Thomas Pink store, where I picked out a shirt and tie for Matt's birthday. It was so hard to keep it a secret, but I was so excited to give it to him when he came to Atlanta over the 4th of July! We finished our day by walking through the park to Buckingham Palace. By this point, the sun had finally decided to come out! That night we went and saw Kinky Boots, which was really amazing. The costumes were gorgeous, and the show was perfectly cast. 

Even though we only had 2 full days in London, I really felt like we maximized our time and saw/experienced a lot of the city. Thank you mom and dad for organizing such an amazing trip! I have one post left in this series, which will include our time in the Cotswolds. Then I might finally be able to post about things that have happened more recently!