London 2014 {Part 1}

This past August I was able to take one of my dream vacations to London, England. The only thing I would ever change about this trip is the length of time we were there because while 10 days sounds like a large chunk of time it wasn't nearly enough to see and do everything we wanted. I guess that means we have to go back!



We arrived at Heathrow airport on the 18th and after taking a train to the metro we got Oyster cards and navigated to our first hotel. [We wanted to do a little bit of luxury and a little bit of money saving which is why we stayed in 3 different hotels]. It was just like our hotels in the states except a little bit smaller than we were used to. We ended up taking a nap falling asleep once we were settled and woke up around 8:30pm. We figured we should still make the most of it though and headed out into the street to see Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey at night. We headed back to our hotel before the Underground closed and ended up stopping at a random kabob place for fish and chips (I know, weird but it was the only place that had it at 11:30pm and it was good!)



The next day was time for our Warner Bros Studio Tour! It took us almost two hours all together or riding the metro and then taking a bus (double decker!) to get there but soooo worth it. I'd recommend getting your tickets ahead of time, pretty much at the same time you buy your tickets to London. But be sure to check the date that you purchased your tickets for because we had a mini fiasco when it turned out that we went on Tuesday and our tickets were for Wednesday (the day that we had MegaBus tickets to go to Wales). I was about to have a meltdown worthy of all the children around me as my dreams were about to slip through my fingers...luckily we paid a small fee and we got to go in that day. And it was amazing. I was really disappointed with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida (although now that they've done an expansion it might be slightly better) but I was not disappointed with the Studio Tour. How could you be disappointed when you were literally seeing the props and sets and sometimes even allowed to touch them? This took most of the day but at night we decided to go to Piccadilly Circus, walk around and visit the Sherlock Holmes pub since we are big fans of the show.





The following day we hopped on a MegaBus and headed to Cardiff, Wales for 2 days. We stayed in this budget hotel that was nice but tiny - literally the entire bathroom floor was the shower floor with a sink and a toilet thrown in and the way you turned on the electricity in the room was to put your key card in a reader on the wall. We spent these two days sightseeing which included: Cardiff Castle, Cardiff University and the Animal Wall.

Sadly all of these pictures are on Carson's laptop so I don't have access to them right now but I'll upload them when I do!

When we got back to London on the 22nd it was time to visit the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street where the Prime Minister Lives! It was awesome to see the castle, the guards and we even saw someone be let in through the gates. Sadly the queen was not there when we visited. The London Eye was pricey but worth it. The views of the city it gives are amazing - and I even managed to look most of the time despite my debilitating fear of heights.



  

The first part of our trip was amazing and I'll let you know about the second part next week! What's been one of your most memorable trips?

Weekending

This weekend flew by - mostly because I was working so it didn't really feel like much of a weekend. But Monday has rolled around again and it's the start of another week already!



This past Friday I closed, so by the time I got home around10pm I was all about relaxing on the couch, catching up on some TV (The Blacklist anyone?) and reading a little bit. The Blacklist is a really great show - full of intrigue, mystery and action. I'm always excited for the next episode and sad if I have to wait more than a week.



Saturday morning was spent cleaning up the apartment a little, cuddling with the kitty and then heading off to work. I got off at 10pm and despite being exhausted I decided to make an appearance at a St.Patrick's Day party that my cousin's had invited us to. The party had started at 12pm so it was no surprise that there weren't a lot of coherent individuals there by the time we arrived. It was still nice to see everyone and of course a 10 minute drop by ended two hours later after 2 Irish Car Bombs, beer pong and a nerf gun war. I'm glad we were able to spend time with some of my cousins though because I'm realizing more and more that it's not just important to spend time with my immediate family - it's also important to spend time with all of your family because everyone's time is limited.



Sunday we managed to get to Church (I admit it, we were late...it still bugs me that the service we attend starts at 10:45...as if rounding it up to 11 is unthinkable...) and also visited our friend Mary and picked up some groceries for the coming week. We drove into Baltimore to check out this Board Game store in Canton because Carson and I have been looking into games that we can play together. Sadly some of the games that we were really interested in were only 3 players and up which totally didn't meet our needs but we ended up getting a used board game for half the price called Guardians of Graxia. It was never opened and that should have tipped us off if the online reviews that said "Most complicated game ever" didn't. We attempted to play last night when we got home but didn't get very far so I think we're going to try again tonight but I don't know how much luck we're going to have figuring it out without someone who has already played it. I guess I hope we have better luck next time we buy a game!



After that semi-let down I was content to spend the rest of the night finishing the book that I am currently reading - Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code. Next up on my list is Divergent since I'm already a movie late jumping on that band wagon.

I'm linking up with B Loved Boston and Champagne and Suburbs for Weekending!

Puerto Rico 2015

Almost a month and a half ago I was soaking up the Puerto Rican sunshine in San Juan. This is an annual trip that my parents take with their friends and this was my first time back since 2010. It was even more special because this was the first year (of hopefully many) that I was able to share this experience with my boyfriend, Carson.

We stayed in the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Beach Resort & Spa and it was absolutely wonderful. Just as amazing as I remembered it and it was such a good feeling to be back - the staff are wonderful and so is the entire resort.



Of course the first thing we did was change into some non-winter clothes and headed to the beach!

We then ended up taking a nap before dinner because travel is hard! After re-fuling we had some pre-dinner drinks at one of the resort bars and had dinner at a wonderful Asian restaurant located in the resort.



Sushi is our favorite so it was a perfect dinner! The following day was full of relaxing by the ocean and the pool, reading, swimming, eating, and drinking. And the evening included a wonderful dinner at the Italian restaurant at the Resort and more good times with everyone.

The following day was full of (surprise!) beach and pool time! I actually ended up finishing two books and starting a third one on this trip which felt really great since I have a harder time finding time to read now.

The following day we rented a car and went to the El Yunque National Forest which is the only tropical rain forest in the U.S National Forest system which is super cool. It only took a short drive to get there and we spent about half of our time hiking and half of our time driving up the mountain that it is located on.





And two of the best things: waterfalls and rain forest cats!

 

When we rented the car the lady who take care of it all suggested that since we had to rent the car for 24 hours that we go into Old San Juan since we told her we were going to be boring and just stay in that night. So we thought about it, got a list of restaurants from the concierge that she recommended and tried to decide if we should go. It so happens that Carson worked with a guy who was actually from Puerto Rico and had suggested all of these different "must-dos" for us - it so happened that going to a restaurant called Marmalade was on the list and it was also on the list the concierge gave us. When we realized this we immediately called and made reservations for 8:30 - the only time they had available and off we went leaving our friends and family to watch the Super Bowl because we couldn't care less about football to be honest.



Oh my goodness. This was the best food either of us has ever had in our entire lives. And not pictured is this white bean soup that our friend told us we had to get - and he was absolutely right, it was heavenly. The service was also amazing and we met some other couples there who were actually from the states too which was nice.



We left the following day but not before having a delicious last breakfast and taking one last walk on the beach and gathering sand for our collection at home. I can't wait to go back and experience Puerto Rico again. 

What are some of the places you want to visit next?