Parks and Palaces

Hi everyone,

I would like to know if there is such a thing as death by walking. 11.6 miles. I repeat 11.6 miles. D.E.A.D. On that note, let me walk you through my day.

Time for an insider story, when Tanja left for Germany we became commute buddies…she calls me when she commutes from her home to work and I am commuting from my study desk to bed (hey I never said my commute was long). Anyways, every day for months I heard about this special German bread that she has with cheese every morning. I am happy to report that four months later I finally got to try this world class breakfast. It was so different! Their bread is soft, but loaded with seeds so it has got this crunch to it. After all the build up, I was not disappointed.

We started the morning at St James Park, it was gorgeous and the trees were huge. I wish we had more real parks in our cities back at home. It’s so nice to have the greenery amidst so much city, it’s like a free Descanso Gardens. Our walk was mostly me slowing poor Tanja down as I stopped to gaze up at every big tree or watch the baby swans swim or literally smell the roses. There was this one tree served as the cutest natural hut.

 We then made our way to Buckingham Palace, the flag was up so the queen was there! Apparently she wasn’t notified of my arrival so I was waiting outside the gates like all the normal plebeians.

Funny story. Tanja and I read the signs and knew that since it was a Thursday there would be no changing of the guards. But, there was a huge crowd, and police, and crowd control. It was 10:45 and curiosity got the best of us. So we waited a full 15 minutes just in case something happened. Newsflash, we should have stuck to our guns, the best thing that happened in that wait was this carriage passing through. I cannot believe we fell for it! Lemmings hahah. At least we got to rest our tired feet for a bit and chat, while all the other tourists were legitimately waiting for something that would not happen today, gotta love group think >.< our bad haha. Tanja and I had a good laugh at 11:05 when we realized we had both waited for nothing. 

We then passed through the Wellington Arch.

Then moseyed our way through Hyde Park to Kensington Palace. Tanja would live in Kensington Palace, but since part of it is a museum and the other part hosts royalty, I’m not sure it would be enough space for me. I mean, if I’m going to live in a palace might as well have the whole thing hehehe.

Actually, as we continued our merry way through Kensington, Tanja and I decided that we would much rather live in one of these cute pastel houses. It is simply too much work to be royalty.

Also, love being in a place where a chocolate torte, madeleine, and coffee count as lunch. Can this be my lunch everyday? Don't mind me, just living my best European life here.  

We made our way to Trafalgar square and just enjoyed the street artists before eating the world’s spiciest ramen for dinner. Let’s just say it did not take much for the two of us to fall asleep after the entire day. Tanja literally had to force me to watch five episodes of How I Met Your Mother so that I would not go to bed before 9:30 pm. Need I remind you 11.6 miles. More adventures to come!

Love you lots,

Carolyn