Richardsons in London

We arrived at LAX 2 hours before our flight because we wanted to make sure we made it not only on time but with some time to kill.  As we were unloading our luggage, Matt asked me where our passports were.  I casually opened my purse and to my horror, they were MISSING!  Turns out I left our passports in Newbury which is only like a quick 2 hours AWAY! (Gotta love LA rush-hour traffic...)  I frantically called my dad who was thankfully available and rushed to bring our passports. We were calling him every 15 minutes letting him know which route had the least amount of traffic so he could get to LAX as quickly as possible. In the meantime we were pacing through the airport hoping, wishing, praying that he would make it on time. The airport staff was not very helpful and even told us that if we did not have our bags checked an hour before the flight, they would not even let us through.   I told them about my kidney stone and about how crazy the last couple of days had been, hoping to soften their hearts a little bit. ;)  

With only 20 minutes till our DEPARTURE, my Dad screeched in front of the terminal, threw the passport out the window at Matt who caught it and ran to me where I had cut in line!  We were the last ones on the plane, 2 minutes before takeoff. Out of breath, we sat down in shock that we actually made it with only 2 minutes to spare.... I looked at Matt and said..."can I blame it on the kidney stone?" LOL.  I was out of breath from running but probably even more from laughing at the sight of Matt slipping and sliding around corners in his socks, sprinting to our gate.  I guess he didn't have time to put his shoes back on after security.  Here is a shout out to my awesome dad!  We owe you a trip now because you saved ours!! :)

What a way to start our trip...haha. It was a sign ;)

Before I get into the trip, I just wanted to express something that I have been thinking a lot about lately. We all have read those articles about how social media can portray peoples lives in a way that isn't real.  I completely agree with that.  That is a big reason I love to blog about our experiences. On Facebook I'm not going to post a picture of me passing a kidney stone, or post a picture of Matt after running an hour to get our passports which we left behind.... A SECOND TIME! (Story coming later...;) )  I'm not embarrassed or ashamed that our life and our trip aren't perfect, and I know no one's is! To be honest, I think there is a lot of beauty in imperfection, and seeing the hiccups as blessings is the only way to fully enjoy life.  The good, the hectic, the sad, the scary, and the crazy are going to happen no matter what we do and they make for fun stories afterwards.  So here's the real deal! 

Another warning--I have a lot to say about our trip and I write a lot about what we did! This is a travel journal that is just fun to share, I also have a ton of pictures, probably more than most people haha so consider yourself warned! 

Needless to say, the fact that we made it to Europe is a total miracle for so many reasons. We were SO happy to be in London!!! I had been dreaming about this trip for so long and we were finally here!

We were expecting it to be cold and a little rainy but it was nothing but beautiful sunny skies our whole stay in London.  We were already busting out our Greece outfits! 

The first thing we saw was Big Ben which is actually called Saint Stephens Tower.  (Big Ben is the bell inside)  Its funny how excited you get to see a clock tower...but it was just so beautiful next to the house of parliament right along the river, and definitely the most iconic sight in London.  Everything was so vintage looking and historic. I loved the rustic architecture, the busy streets, and the overpriced everything!  The only thing that got old was Matt talking like Harry Potter. (haha) I made sure that stopped by the time we left the Airport.

We also soon discovered that out of all the Europeans we have encountered, Brits are the friendliest. People would constantly ask us where we were from (I guess we looked like tourists, imagine that ;)) and it was so fun to hear everyones stories, and backgrounds so different from ours.  It's amazing what you can learn about someone in only talking for 10 minutes.

One of my favorite moments was when we were on the Underground when school had just gotten out. The metro was flooded with little kindergarteners talking and yelling with their little accents, I was dying! It was one of the cutest things of my whole life!

Oh, and they drive on the wrong side of the road there, just so you know. lol. It definitely took a long time to get used to... Good thing on the ground at every crosswalk it says either "look left" or "look right!" Even with that we almost got hit by passing double decker busses a couple of times.

Now just having been hospitalized for kidney stones, I was still in pain and needed to take periodic breaks during the day. It was nothing an ibuprofen couldn't fix though, which was a good sign! We would find a little cafe with wifi so I could text my aunt and my mom to let them know what was going on and to get medical advice.  We still didn't miss out on most of the things we wanted to do, I would mostly need to take a break when we had planned down time anyways! 

We saw "Wicked" and "Les Miserables" but I would have to say that Les Mis took the cake!  The talent was just out of this world. The emotion is so powerful it will literally make you cry. We unfortunately got both the understudies for the two main characters in Wicked... Galinda was a little disappointing but Elphaba was still incredible...my expectations were extremely high, like always, and I was a little let down, but we still enjoyed it! 

Let me just warn you...we are total picture people. We love photography, and take a TON of pictures. We want to remember everything about our trips and there's no better way than capturing pictures & video! Sometimes I can't decide which ones to post so I just post them all! haha 

goofing off, like usual

view of Buckingham

I so badly wanted to go inside! It was closed when we were there, just gives me an excuse to come back :)

love this

In love with the Tower Bridge. 

Lovin on the river side

City Hall!

This was one of my favorite sites in London, can't get enough of it!

Stonehenge!

This was at the Dover Castle. 

Dover Castle.

White cliffs of Dover. 

Cuppy cakes!

This was one of those moments my back wasn't on my side, as you can tell hahah couldn't fore the smile.

There isn't a better shot!

London.

I thought that bird was going to chomp his finger off!

Add caption

So handsome all the time!

City of Salisbury.

A pound spent is a pound gained. 

When my fake smile got a little better...lol

Our first taxi in London!

I wasn't even into Les Mis before this trip..oh how things have changed... 

London by night.

Always so busy!

Had to get a pic pf the American flag!

Picadilly Circus! Party central.

I see nothing but green. so beautiful.

Dover castle!

Just sitting in the grass with my crush.

The tippy top, even though you can't really tell.

WHITE cliffs of Dover!

Admiring this crazy view.

My new cop friends, they loved me. haha

ABBEY ROAD 

Just simply stoked. 

I spy...

Top of the London Eye!

View of Big Ben from the London Eye at sunset, wow. 

Pumped. 

Hungry...

My sweetie.

One word: how?

Salisbury Cathedral 

Next stop, Paris! We were so excited to get to Paris, we had both heard amazing things about the city. We previously bought Eurostar tickets for the 6:00am departure so we would have more time there. 

We woke up right on time and were on our way to the train station which was about an hour from where we were staying. 

In London we used airbnb for lodging. Locals rent out either a room in their home, their whole home, or a guest house to vacationers, and it's usually cheaper than a hotel. This particular place was not the nicest, however the owners weren't there which was great. We stayed on the second floor, and some other tourists from Italy were on the third floor. One of the downsides is that if you forget your key, you are out of luck.

We got to the train station and quickly realized that we forgot our passports...AGAIN. Yes, we left them in our room, with the door locked and the keys INSIDE... seriously??? What the heck are we going to do?! The key is inside, the owners aren't there, we barely said one word to the Italian speakers upstairs, were they even there, we don't have their name or phone number, AH!

We frantically decided that it would be best if Matt ran back and I stayed with our luggage at the train station. When he finally got there, the door was locked and the house quiet. 

It was about 7:00am at this time and he was hoping the Italians on the third floor hadn't left.

He desperately started throwing rocks at their window, with no response. 5 minutes of continual pebbles hitting their window went by and still, no response. He then started throwing handfuls haha. As Matt was getting ready to scale the building, the curtains opened and a very sleepy Italian poked his head out the window. Hallelujah. They were still there! Matt trying to communicate using the little Italian he knows started yelling, "passaporto!" "Ciao" "Grazie!" "aperto!" Looking at Matt with a confused and very tired expression, he nodded and came to open the door. Matt found the passports, messaged me using wifi to let me know he had them, and started running back. 

Through all of this I was staring at my phone the whole time waiting for his message. Extremely relieved that he had them, I started breathing again...haha. He made it to the train station in time for the 9:00am scheduled departure and luckily we had our tickets transferred with no penalty fees. We sat in our seats in awe at what just happened and once again, I looked at Matt and said, "should we blame it on the kidney stone?" hahaha We couldn't help but laugh. Then find a permanent home for our passports so we never left them again!