Celeb Shot: London

Since we can’t be in all places at once we asked our girlfriend, the one and only Val Cardaci, to write a guest post about London. Similar to giving a friend a “Celeb Shot” in beer pong, we’re giving Val a Celeb Shot on our blog… after all she does think she’s a celebrity. Enjoy!

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Sorry to disappoint, but I have to pull you away from New Zealand today. Join me in London, won’t you?

Unfortunately, I did not quit my job and take off around the world like these two kids, but I did manage to escape to England for a week, so I guess I have to take what I can get. I had a great trip with my stepmom Fran and big cuzzy Kristen…Fran was working so Kristen and I were on our own to explore the city. Neither of us had been before, so get ready for an overload of touristy things and pictures.

Val’s Top 7 Favorite Things in London

Changing of the Guards

A little background: in my mind, I am rich and famous and royal, so this trip was like heading home to the motherland. Naturally all I wanted to do was see Buckingham Palace and The Crown Jewels. I’ll get to the Crown Jewels, but first the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. The best way to describe it is like a royal half time show (shout out to Left Shark). Guards, flags, horses, a band. The whole thing! It was truly unbelievable. I will say my view was blocked a few times by a wall of selfie sticks and I did have a horse’s ass literally right in my face at one point (I’m talking about the actual animal’s body part, not just some douche), but other than that it was incredible!

Harrods

We didn’t have much time in Harrods because we had to be at a family friends for dinner, but holy crap! This place is insane! I, like everyone alive, had heard about all that is in Harrods, but seeing it was completely mind blowing. You name it, they have it! Clothes, accessories, the Food Hall, a Champagne Bar, a Tea Room, an Ice Cream Parlor, oh and shoes…lots and lots of shoes! You completely forget that you are in a department store. I could have spent an entire day wandering around there.

The London Eye

So, to really be as touristy as possible, we decided to hop on the London Eye. Full disclosure, I do not like heights, so I really did not want to participate in this activity, but I am so glad I did. The view was insane. You could literally see the entire city from one little glass bubble. It feels super cheesy, but I would definitely recommend checking it out. You can see all the big players. Big Ben, Parliament, Victoria Tower, St. Paul’s, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Palace of Westminster. Basically everything…we went up after dark and seeing the city all lit up made it even more magical.

Westminster Abbey

So, Will and Kate got married here. That’s pretty much all you need to know. :) Actually, I got quite the history refresher on this trip.

Anyway, Westminster is fantastic. The architecture is unreal, especially when you think about how long ago it was built and that scaffolding wasn’t a thing then. All the famous kings and queens are buried here, as well as some important playwrights, artists, and authors, including Jane Austen.

Crown Jewels
Diamonds. Diamonds everywhere! So much sparkle. I was couldn’t look away! In order to see at all the crowns and orbs and scepters, you stand on a conveyor belt and ride past and look into cases and then go about your merry way. But 1 time wasn’t enough for me. Neither was 2, or 3…7 times. I went around 7 times! I was mesmerized by the jewels. My favorite was Queen Mary ll’s crown. This should come as a surprise to no one, as she loved pearls.

Platform 9 ¾

Only took me 15 years, but I finally got my acceptance letter!

Borough Market

I will be the first to admit that I wanted nothing to do with Borough Market. Actually, that’s not true…I was pretty excited to check it out. What I wanted nothing to do with was Justine’s beloved Salted Beef Sandwich. And the more she tried to describe it, the less interested I was.

But, when the time came, I gave it a try and it was delicious! And then I continued to eat my way though the market and I regret nothing. French macarons, olives, oysters, champagne, spinach pie, truffles. You name it, it was there…and completely mouth watering!

And a few miscellaneous things from the trip:

1) We stayed in very “European” hotels where “two double beds” does not mean the same thing as it does in the states. So this happened for two nights. Twin beds pushed together and we all slept in a row, the wrong way…cozy.

By the last evening the general consensus was “F this. We’re going to the Marriot.” The accommodations were much better and the view from our room was Big Ben. Win win! I told you I was a princess. 🙂

2) That dinner at the family friend’s I mentioned…they made us a traditional English meal, but I think they took it easy on us. No blood pudding or kidney pie. I was petrified that I wouldn’t like any of the food in England and was very pleasantly surprised by what we had that night, and pretty much the whole trip.

3) The underground is so clean and easy to navigate. We figured it out in a day. Going to work on Monday when I got back however, made me realize how nasty the NYC subway is. The horror wore off in like a day, but still…gross.

4) Oh, and I met my husband. nbd.