Oh man, I loved being back in the UK. There was just something so relaxing and nice about it. I already can’t wait to go back. We spent most of the time in London, but we also had a day trip to Bath to see Sarah! OMG, I love her. I’m going to start with the London stuff first though.
One of the things Sami was most excited to do was see the London Lego Store. And I must admit that it was pretty awesome. There were more life size Lego builds than I have ever seen in one place before. I of course had to take a picture with so many of them. We also got a few cute and UK exclusive Legos for Sami to build so overall totally worth it. We then went down the road to Harrods toy store which is legendary. It’s been open for a really long time and never closes. They were still open and selling toys when London was being bombed so we had to check it out. There were more life size Lego builds in there and plenty of HP merchandise. Needless to say, we bought some more and I got a Hello Kitty in a UK outfit. Super worth it. 10/10 would recommend.
Another big thing on our list was to do a red bus city tour. It really is the best way to see everything in London if you are there for a short time. Plus, the drivers doing the announcing know so much about the history of the city. And each driver will likely tell you different stories so it’s worth doing on more than one trip. Unfortunately, it was a bit rainy on the day we went, but that made for an even more authentic London experience.
The thing Sami wanted to do most was the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. So we did that. We weren’t early enough to get good spots to watch it, but luckily Sami is tall, and I’d already seen it. I think he enjoyed the pomp and circumstance though. One of the things I wanted to do most while there was King’s Cross station. So, we did that too! And we spent most of our time there waiting in line, but they did have some HP stuff that I’d never seen before so that was cool. It’s worth doing once, but I don’t think I would do it again tbh.
We also decided to check out some of the museums around London. We went to the national art museum. I could have spent an entire day in just that museum. It had so many paintings and some of them you could just stare at for hours discovering new things. Totally worth it. Plus, I got to see my first in person Van Gogh paintings there. We also went to the National History Museum which was my favorite museum 8 years ago. Unfortunately, it really hasn’t changed in 8 years and now looks much more dated than I would have liked. I thought the art museum was actually better this time around.
Finally, we went to Bath for a day to check out the awesome views, pretty city, and most importantly to hang out with Sarah! It was so nice to hang out in person all the time. There is just something more special about that which letters and text can never replace. I had an amazing time and am really mad at myself for not even thinking of taking a picture. I did get some flamingo pictures though. I was living in the moment enjoying my time with her. But I’m sure I will see her again. I don’t want to wait so long in between visits anymore.
Overall, we had such a great vacation and I’m so happy we got to spend time in both Lebanon and London with family and friends we rarely see. 10/10 will do again!