London Calling

So I totally lied about getting more photos up and writing more often. But I'm about to make up for it with pictures from Amelia's first international trip. Matt had to go to London for work and Amelia and I  went along for the ride. I mainly wanted to see my sister and Amelia wanted to find princesses and Mary Poppins. I told her that there were princesses named Beatrice and Eugenia and she totally didn't believe me. 

We took the red eye over, so here's Amelia with one last snack before getting on the plane.

                                                 

Here she is on the plane. Because of frequent flyer miles we were able to fly in Business Class and it was awesome.

She's got Brave, blanket and a chair that reclines. This is a happy traveler.

 Amelia and I spent the first day visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum, along with the Natural History Museum. Dresses and dinosaurs proved to be the big winners. While going to meet up with Bunny we found this chalk painting on the sidewalk outside. We looked around for Dick Van Dyke, but he was no where to be found.

We took a walk in Hyde Park and looked at the swans. I wouldn't let Amelia get too close because those things are mean birds. And yes, I do still hold a grudge against the one that bit me when I was four.

Trying to get a self portrait.

Afterwards we went to Amelia's absolute favorite part of the entire trip - Harrod's.

They now have a Disney cafe where we had lunch but it was almost impossible to get her to listen to anything. There were no less than 4 movies playing at one time and then her pizza was shaped like Mickey Mouse.  

There were statues of the characters next to their movies and Amelia wanted to be with Rapunzel.

                                     

And Big Ben with Tinkerbell.

                                                

Then we hit the ultimate pop-up store. I had read that Disney was doing a temporary (or pop-up) store inside Harrod's. It was supposed to close after Christmas, so I didn't think it would still be there. Apparently it was such a big hit that they kept it open another three months. In the middle was a castle and when you went inside it was a pink velvet padded room with the Harrod's exclusive Cinderella glass slippers. To say they were a hit is a huge understatement. Here's Amelia trying on her new shoes. The did have adult sizes but in a rare moment of sanity, I realized I would never actually wear them.

There were more princesses to take pictures with. After that we hit part of the toy section, the candy and confectionary hall before I declared I needed out immediately.

Close up of the shoes.

After being in the store for a few hours, Amelia declared that it was her favorite store ever. We also took a walk along a street with the most expensive jewelry stores ever. Amelia loved all of it, and proved that she is Anna Gwyn's great-granddaughter by referring to a 13 carat ring as "a small one."

Friday was a bit of a rainy day, but that didn't stop us from getting out and about. Matt didn't have to work in the morning so we did some sightseeing. Big Ben was the biggest hit because that and Tower Bridge, are the things Amelia associates with London. And Peter Pan.



I swear that somewhere there's almost an exact replica of this picture, but with my Dad and Bunny.

Trying for family portrait.

                                    

Saturday was a full day of sightseeing, starting with the Tower of London. We tried to convince Amelia that she had to stay in there but it didn't work.

Looking out at Tower Bridge.

At least someone stands still for the camera...

It was great to see Bunny and her husband Pete. We had dinner with them every night and even though  Bunny used her "teacher voice" with Amelia, she couldn't get enough of her aunt. Every day she would ask if we were going to see Aunt Bunny and Uncle Pete that night. They were kind enough to babysit for one night so Matt and I could have a date night. After a drink at the Ritz Bar (I have an obsession with nice hotel bars), we had dinner at The Wolseley. It was great and we happened to get the best table in the house for people watching. That ended up being especially cool because Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin were having dinner there at the same time. The whole experience was great. 

                                     

All in all a great trip. Amelia is already talking about when we go back.

PS - If anyone can smuggle a case of this stuff (the apple cider, not the strawberry-apple) into the country I would love you forever. It's a Swedish brand that they don't currently have here, but it is in Canada. I see a road trip in my future.