Trip to London 2012

The end of September presented us with a fun little surprise! Sam's boss was going to London for an aortic valve conference at the beginning of October. But Sam wasn't going to be able to go because of how expensive just the conference is (like $1000). His boss said the company could pay $1500 towards Sam going, but with the cost of the conference and plane tickets and hotel, it wasn't going to happen.....unless....Sam decided to email the people in charge of the conference and plead his case as being part of this start-up company that didn't have a lot of money yet and really wanting to come to the conference, and was there any possibility they could give him a discount or something? Well...they responded with a free pass for him to attend the conference! And since we got bumped on our way home from Philadelphia this summer, we had $800 in Delta vouchers....so we found some cheap airfare to London and a cheap enough hotel to be able to afford it, and took the dive! I GOT TO GO TO LONDON WITH SAM FOR 6 DAYS!!!! We bought a ticket to fly my mom out here to watch our kids for most of the time (THANK YOU for being willing to do that mom!) and got some AMAZINGLY generous and helpful friends and neighbors to help out for the last 2 days.

Our hotel was 2 blocks from Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. We arrived in London at 7:00 in the morning, but couldn't check into our hotel until 3:00pm....and we were already going on about 3-4 hours of sleep in the past 36 hours....but we had to do something with ourselves that day. So we wandered around the park and gardens, saw the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Academy of Music, and Kensington Palace, etc. London is gorgeous and amazing!

Sam really like the swans and other birds in the park that would eat out of your hand....

And moments after this picture was taken, Sam was sitting on the same bench when a squirrel just crawled across his lap and up over his shoulder and then ran away....friendly little animals in London....

Kensington Palace (the side where William and Kate enter - this is their residence)

Soaking in the sun (we were a little cold) in front of the Prince Albert Memorial.

Royal Albert Hall - a very cool building...I LOVE European architecture.

The Royal Academy of Music....how I'd love to experience that place....

And London has an awesome bike system that I hope we see more of in America (SLC!!!!) soon. You can rent these bikes all over the city...they just have a little station set up with an automated kiosk. The bikes lock into the system until you rent one, and then you punch in a code to release it. The first 30 min. are free. And they have amazing prices for monthly access and stuff. What a great idea....we loved using them. What better way to get around, see a ton, and get exercise all at the same time?

Buckingham Palace....couldn't get in for a tour...tickets for 2012 were sold out LONG ago, and 2013 is going fast.....

Sam really like this crossing symbol....for horses.....only in London?

After church on Sunday we went to the National Gallery, since it's free....and loved it! We also took a bunch of our own food (apples and pop-tarts and granola bars and crackers, etc.) so that we could save a lot of money! With breakfast included at our hotel, the food we brought, the dinner his boss bought for us one night, we only had to pay for 3 or 4 meals I think. It was great!

Can't go to London and not get a phone-booth picture....we should have stayed outside the booth though as it REEKED of urine.

We happened to walk past the Royal Cavalry horses doing some public performance or changing of the guard or something and just caught the tail-end of it....and had to snap the picture of the uniformed guy with the sword.

We had a great time just walking around and seeing all the amazing buildings along the river that afternoon.

Westminster Abbey was directly across the street from Sam's conference center. So while he had a meeting with his boss and some other people on Sunday night I decided to wander over there and see if anything was going on. Usually you have to pay to get inside to see it as a tourist, but an Organ Concert happened to be starting right then, so I got to go in for free and enjoy an Organ Recital to boot!

And I just walked back to our hotel...it was SO what I needed to just have me-time.....alone with my own thoughts, independent and able to just do whatever I wanted to do for small period of time. I could walk/ rent a bike/ride the metro....I could eat or not eat. No need to worry about feeding hungry children all the time. I could complete a sentence/thought in my head without being interrupted. I could choose any path I wanted to walk home without it affecting anyone else....I loved it. I miss that free, independent part of life.....but I also love the stage of life I'm in right now. But who says we don't all deserve a break now and then?

On Monday and Tuesday, while Sam attended his conference, I got 2 more days of doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted! It was pure bliss! I slept in, I ate breakfast in peace, I went for amazing runs in Hyde Park in the rain, I wandered around London at my own pace, I wandered around the Tate Modern and enjoyed art at my own pace, and I people-watched with my thoughts only for myself. And then I needed someone to talk to, and it was time to meet Sam for dinner, so I walked to his conference center....all in pure bliss!

I also got the LONDON PASS for 2 days, while Sam only did 1 because of his conference. So, I got to spend Tuesday doing a bit of sight-seeing by myself as well. I got to take a tour of the Royal Albert Hall (which was REALLY COOL! - and while we were in there they were getting ready for the Classic Brit Awards....so I indulged and bought tickets for Sam and I to attend that night, since Sam wouldn't otherwise get to see inside, and I really wanted to attend some sort of orchestral performance while there...we LOVED IT! We got to hear and see Andrea Boccelli, Andrew Lloyd Weber, the London Chamber Orchestra, and many other famous and amazing musicians....pictures are on Sam's phone though....so still to come...), a tour of Kensington Palace, a tour of the Royal Mews (pictures below) and made a visit to Kings' Cross Station to see Platform 9 3/4 (which was a total disappointment...)

Then, on Wednesday, when Sam was free to sight-see with me, we visited Windsor Castle! It's still used as the Queen's part-time residence. I think that was the highlight of our day....the train-ride out there was beautiful (a little of the countryside), the castle was just cool and A LOT of cool stuff to see inside (but no pictures allowed).

We also took a Canal Boat Tour....very interesting and a lot of cool history.... and we got to see Camden Town Market area...

Then we tried to make it to St. Paul's Cathedral for a tour...which we did, but they happened to close their doors early that day for some service....so we only got to step inside and look around for about 1 minute. And we didn't get to climb the steps to the top of dome, which is what I really wanted to do...bummer!

And we made it at the last second to Tower of London, an old fortress with lots of cool stuff to see and not enough time. But we did get to see the Crown Jewels display (HOLY CRAP!)

And London Bridge...opening for a boat. We could have climbed that too with our London Pass...but there is only so much you can accomplish in one single day....and it was closed by the time we got there.

We ended that day with Thames River Boat Ride and then hoofed it back to our hotel and found some dinner. We didn't get any pictures of our last day, but we had an afternoon flight out of London on Thursday morning so we were able to go for an awesome run in the morning, get some souvenirs for our kids, and then head to the train station to get back to the airport. It was a wonderful trip in every way. It was over way too soon. I did miss my kids, but I also enjoyed every moment of this awesome opportunity.....how lucky am I? I'm just bummed we didn't get bumped on our way home so that I can tag along for free on Sam's next business trip....:)