Hi all! We are writing this from the Eurostar after three lovely days in London! The past few days have been a bit of a whirlwind making up for our lost time getting stuck in Philly.

We arrived in London at about 10:30 AM on Wednesday and tried to pack our first day full of things to do (mostly so that we wouldn’t fall asleep and make our jet lag worse). We were staying with friends that lived near Regents Park so we began by strolling through the park towards Marylebone High Street.

We found a great burger place called Patty & Bun (I know, a burger) but it was our first real food since Monday morning and we wanted some comfort food. Also the burgers were really unusual and tasty!

Feeling rejuvenated, we walked to Oxford Circus and on to Carnaby Street, did some window shopping, and got some coffee. Then we found our way home to watch the World Cup and get some rest.

Some highlights of Thursday included visiting my old home in Maida Vale (and one of my favorite bakeries!), Sky Garden, seeing the Tower Bridge, seeing the National Gallery with one of Ryan’s friends as a tour guide, exploring Covent Garden, and eating fish and chips the size of my face.

Sky Garden is the 35th floor of a sky scraper with floor to ceiling windows and a small balcony to look out from. There are plants and trees around the floor and a cafe and bar with seating. It was such a cool experience and it was well worth the price (of zero dollars with booking in advance!)

We’ve been doing a ton of walking, averaging about 11 miles per day. One of the walks we took was along the Thames all the way from Tower Bridge to the National Gallery. The walk was great, we got to explore places we might not otherwise see and we had a (very dirty) water feature to our left the whole time.

The definite highlight of Friday was a tea bus tour in the evening! We rode a classic red double decker bus, heard about sights around us, and had high tea complete with finger food and champagne. And we had double the food for no extra charge! (the people who were supposed to sit next to us were no shows). We took the extra food and just ate it for breakfast on the train (budget travel at its finest).

We also saw Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace, and ate really expensive (but tasty) brunch with Ryan’s friends Joey and Drew.

All in all it has been a great few days! We’re off to Paris now, dreaming of all the yummy food we will eat!