London

Stopping in the oldest bookstore in the city, we were reunited with the quaintness that is London: classy people with wicked cool accents just doing everything perfectly right. With our newfound treasures we were off to the hotel to meet up with my mom and then proceed to be normal American tourists for the first time on the trip (not saying we didn't look the part everywhere else, but we went to all of one museum the entire first two weeks of the trip). Our touring took us from Buckingham palace (where we waved to Kate and Princess Charlotte and told them "You're welcome" for letting them steal the whole mother-daughter sharing of the middle name Elizabeth, as my mother and I coined this circa 1995) to the Borough Market, which was filled with amazing street food, to the Millennium Bridge (featured in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when the death eaters fly around and break it.... So to say the least we high tailed it across said bridge) which leads to the foot of the impressive Saint Paul's cathedral. We also toured the Tower of London which is home to Beefeaters, the hilariously sassy tour guides that showed us around the oldest palace in London, which houses the unbelievably massive Crown Jewels that could easily cause some damage if used properly. As we were leaving, we were caught off guard by three military grade cannons poised and ready to be fired at the London Skyline, and a huge crowd ready to watch all of this unfold. Thankfully no one was in trouble, it was just a 63 gun salute for the Queen's 90th birthday. If you're thinking the Brits are bad at maths (they add the "s" because there are multiple disciplines of hell) as they were some 27 shots short of 90, they were celebrating the number of years since the Queen began her rule, all the way back in 1952! We finished the touring off with a quick run through of the British Museum, where the real Rosetta Stone is held captive not by a yellow box and s TV commercial, but by a plethora of selfie sticks all sword fighting their way to the best angle. From there it was another train ride, this time through the Chunnel, which would be infinitely cooler if it was see through, but nevertheless we arrived in a warmer Paris and are already searching for the nearest croissant. Sad that the trip is winding down, but excited for French cooking and more picturesque streets!

Flags lining the endless driveway to Buckingham Palace.

Gate to aforementioned extremely long driveway.

Millennium Bridge with the dome of Saint Paul's on the right hand side.

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