London with Mom

When Indianapolis got its direct to Paris flight the excitement I had was evident. This easy (though a tad long) flight inspired my Mom to finally dip her toe into international travel. We’d been to Mexico when I was in high school and she’d been to some islands for vacations here and there, but those were mainly at resorts. This was not a resort trip!! I don’t do slow trips. She was still willing to go so I booked tickets (I got her an excellent deal on her flight and was able to secure a free checked bag for her thanks to my status with Delta...winning!) and the plans were set. Note: We initially wanted to fly in and out of Paris but she also wanted to see London so it was much easier to just fly to London (with a quick stop in Detroit) and home from Paris.

We left on Wednesday afternoon and got to London early on Thursday their time. It was a pretty easy flight then we waited roughly 799 hours to get through passport control there. We eventually made it through, grabbed mom’s bag and caught a train to Paddington Station. I’d booked a hotel near the train station because we’d need it for a trip to Bath, England on Friday morning.

We got to the hotel at about 9 a.m. local time and our room was not ready for us. We did not sleep at all on the flight over so we were bummed, but such is life. We just did a little freshen up in the hotel restroom before heading out to explore the city.

European cappuccino? Yes, please. 

A modified English breakfast!

First, though, Mom wanted breakfast. We found a little cafe that looked fine and we had two eggs, toast and chips. Yes, French fries with our breakfast. I’m not a huge fan of fries so I only had a few. I guess we all like potatoes in some form in the morning! Mom subbed her chips for hashbrowns. She also took her coffee with milk (not cream!!! They do not call it cream!). I started on the first of 900 cappuccinos I’d be consuming while in Europe. I love their cappuccinos.

After breakfast we strolled towards Kensington Gardens which were gorgeous!! I learned then that Mom uses the restroom more than any human. We had to search the area for a place for her to go so we ended up at a Starbucks. I stood outside and bummed their WiFi. Whatever works. Then we were able to get back to exploring. At the time, since someone did not read her guidebooks, we were unaware of who lived at Kensington Palace. We later learned it was HRH The Duke of Cambridge & HRH The Duchess of Cambridge (William & Catherine) as well as HRH The Duke of Sussex & HRH The Duchess of Sussex (Harry & Meghan). Diana had lived there prior to her death, too.

We wandered all around the park, taking in the monuments and enjoying the gorgeous weather. We walked to Hyde Park and saw a Diana memorial—a splash pad. I couldn’t believe it. Lame.

The official homes!

They had a nice, large backyard!

Golden gates to Kensington Palace

A gorgeous monument to Prince Albert

A bed has never looked better!!!!

We finally were just too tired to continue so we headed to the hotel and hoped for the best. Fortunately, they had a room for us. Thank you, Jesus!

Marble Arch

A delicious dinner!!

We took quick showers and crawled in for a good two hour nap. We decided we couldn’t waste the whole day sleeping so we headed out to explore more. We walked down to Marble Arch and just all around. We decided to have dinner at a steakhouse in our new neighborhood. It was excellent. Mom had a chicken, chips, cheese sauce, bacon and mushroom dish that she enjoyed. I had an amazing steak salad. We shared sweet potato fries (hey they were a shock to see on the menu so we had to try them) and their garlic bread. The bread was amazing. The meal was not cheap, but it was delicious. We made it until about 22:00 before we just needed to go to sleep. Not bad for girls who didn’t sleep the night before.