Hope's Visit to Europe!

Wow, how cool is it to be sitting in a coffee shop in the heart of London, and see your younger sister emerge from the Tube station, with her luggage and smile, after embarking on a Trans-Atlantic flight solo, and navigating UK customs, baggage claim and the public transport system all alone. Yes ladies and gentlemen, my amazing sister Hope did just that- AND without a cell phone :)

Last Saturday I had the best morning ever as I was reunited with Hope after being apart since Christmas! It was her junior year spring break, and since she's so on top of her college search (yay for early planning!) she was able to skip the campus visits and hop over the pond and visit. Way cooler don't you think?

We spent Saturday through Monday in London, Tuesday through Thursday in Paris, and one final day in London on Friday. She left me 2 days ago. Since I had saved a lot of London attractions to do until visitors arrive, I felt like I was getting to see parts of London I hadn't explored before. This was Hope's first time to Paris, and my second. If you didn't see my first Paris post, here it is if you want to check it out!

We had a great trip, and per usual I have pictures to highlight the week.
If you want to see full albums, here they are.
My updated London one (Hope's visit is at the end)
My Paris one

Our trip! London to Paris and back, 523 miles. 

On Saturday, Hope arrived, and after a walk through Fitzrovia and lunch, we both napped and showered and embarked on a great walk. We saw Russell Square, the British Museum, Seven Dials, Covent Garden, Soho, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and Westminster. It was much more walking and sightseeing that we expected on day one! We got delicious gelato at Scoop in Covent Garden earlier in the day and then embarked to Brick Lane for Indian food. That night we met up with my friend Sam and watched the Louisville-Kentucky Final Four game. We were rooting for Louisville, but they lost. All in all it was still fun being at American Sports Cafe, watching the game from 11pm-2am. Hope and I love our March Madness! I only got a picture of our dinner that day.

So delicious!

On Sunday we had a day at the markets, before seeing STOMP the musical, going on the London Eye and having a great Italian dinner. We started at Camden Market and the Camden Lock Market. We both loved the eclectic scene and great little stalls. We came back here on Friday and spent more time! Then we took the Tube to Notting Hill Gate and saw the Portobello Road Market. It was really cute, and we had tapas and sangria there before heading back into the West End to see STOMP! It was a great show. High energy, creative, interactive, funny. I really liked it, and Hope especially did because she does percussion in band. After the show we walked to the Southbank and got on the London Eye! It's the ferris wheel type attraction that gives you incredible views of London. We got on just as it was getting dark, which gave an amazing impression of the city. After that we had a DELICIOUS dinner at Ciao Bella- this great Italian restaurant in Bloomsbury near Passfield. My dad and I found it while he was here, and we think it's the most authentic Italian place in London. If you haven't gone I recommend it! We had the table right in front of the live piano player, so fun!

In the morning at Camden Market. It's so crowded!

Crepes at Portobello Road. 

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben before getting on the London Eye.

Boarding the London Eye.

From the top!

I guess I didn't get pictures of Stomp or dinner, but they were great.

On Monday we took advantage of the great weather and walked all over. We started at the British Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone, and then made it to LSE so I could show Hope my school. Unfortunately because of exams I could not show her a lot of places, but she got a sense of the campus. Then we walked from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace down the Mall, before having a great picnic lunch in Green Park. After that we walked to Harrods, and then through Hyde Park for our afternoon tea at the Hempel Hotel in Paddington.

The Rosetta Stone at the British Museum.

Myself on campus!

The Victoria and Albert arch.

Walking down the Mall along St. James Park, Big Ben peeking out.

Sisters at Buckingham Palace!

St. James Park.

The Guard at Buckingham Palace. 

At Harrods with the large bears. Hope loved this. 

The Princess Diana Memorial at Harrods. 

Love it!

After walking through Hyde Park we arrived at the Hempel Hotel for high tea. I found a great deal for it on Living Social. After tea, our waiter told us that this garden, where we ate, was where they filmed the wedding scene in Notting Hill, and where many famous celebrities stay. So cool!

So delicious!

After our huge day of walking we headed back to Passfield and rested for a bit before having dinner at Nando's! I loved Nando's, and after slight convincing I got Hope in there, and she loved it to. We want them to come to America! We had a low key night then, as we packed and got ready for our 7 AM Eurostar train to Paris. Another great day.

On Tuesday we left for Paris. It is remarkable how fast the train is. We left my dorm at 6:10 AM for the 7:01 AM train- and were in Paris and checked into our hotel literally 3 and a half hours later. It's amazing! After dropping our bags at Hotel Cluny Square, in the Latin Quarter, we had great breakfast. We then took a boat cruise of the Seine and saw a lot of the monuments. After that we had our first Parisian crepes (so good!) and then checked back into our hotel for a little rest before meeting Brittney at Notre Dame. She's studying abroad this term and it was so great to see her! We went to dinner in Latin Quarter- not exactly authentic, but it didn't matter because it was great to catch up with friends. The rain that night didn't allow us to go to the Eiffel Tower, so after Brittney caught the Metro back to her host family, Hope and I shared some wine and chocolate and looked that the Tower from our hotel room. Not the same, but close! Here are some pictures.

First breakfast. Look at those croissants!

Pont Nuef, where our boat left from. 

Musee D'Orsay

Other boats on the Seine.

Notre Dame Cathedral. 

CREPES!!

Our hotel room. It was beautiful!

Notre Dame again. So amazing. 

I absolutely can't believe I didn't get a picture of Brittney and I! That's so not okay. Ugh. Well, that wraps up Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Hope and I originally wanted to go wine country- specifically Beaune in Bergundy. In the Rick Steeve's book he talks about a great bike ride you can take through the vineyards, and gave excellent recommendations on where to try 2 famous French dishes that originated in the region- Beef Bourguignon and Escargot. We were extremely pumped, until we found out the roundtrip train ticket was $250 each. Isn't that crazy just for a day trip?!? We were bummed, but didn't let it bring us down. We still found those dishes at other restaurants and saw some great things Wednesday.

So anyway, Wednesday, we started after our delicious breakfast towards the Louvre and Tullieres gardens. We went on a carousel ride and saw the Concorde Plaza before heading up to Montemarte and seeing Sacre Coeur. After that we again were going to have lunch in front of the Eiffel Tower but it started raining, so we had a great picnic of bread, wine, cheese and meat in our hotel room with the stuffed animals. After that and a nap the rain did clear up and we went to Ile St. Louis for delicious gelato and shopping. I really liked that island. After that we went to Eiffel Tower and did find our authentic French food. French onion soup, escargot and beef bourguignon.

The lock bridge. Love it!

The Great Pyramid at the Louvre. 

Tullieres gardens.

This scared us. 

On the carousel! 

Now we are up in Montemarte. We had a good, if overpriced, coffee here. 

Scare Coeur. Stunning. 

So good!

The French onion soup.

On Thursday we had planned to go to Versailles, but again it was cold and rainy! Not ideal weather for touring gardens and a palace. We weren't able to move our train to an earlier time, so we explored more in Paris and ended up taking a bus sightseeing tour around the whole city. We were dry, but still a  bit cold. We had decent Indian food for lunch, but did see 2 incredible book stores. One of them was Shakespeare and Company, which my good friend Casey recommended we see. She did a poetry course in Paris a few summers ago and really enjoyed her time in Paris. The shop was so cool! After that we strolled up and down Champs Elysse before getting one final meal and catching the train back to London. Another smooth smooth trip!

Arc de Triomph.

A really cute teddy bear we found in one of the shops. 

After arriving safe and sound to London, Hope and I got to bed to get ready for her last day in London. So sad! On Friday we had a nice breakfast in Passfield, and got the bus to Islington, one of the neighborhoods I really liked and explored initially in this blog post. We saw the sights and had a great Mexican lunch. I honestly hadn't had Mexican food since Chicago- unless you count Chipotle which I don't. We looked in the cute shops and got little trinkets, and relaxed in the beautiful square. After that we walked to Camden. Hope will attest that I complained the whole way as I still don't like walking that much. Haha but we did make it there and Hope got some great souvenirs. We had delicious bubble tea and then headed home for a quick nap before dinner. We went to Yalla Yalla, a superb Lebanese restaurant just off Oxford Street, and then met my friend Sofia for a pint at the Globe Pub in Covent Garden. It was a great last day in London with Hope!

Shawarma, Falafel, Tabouleh, Havarti and Hummus! 

Love her!

And then on Saturday Hope packed her bag once again and we took the Tube out to Heathrow. We had a teary goodbye and she was off to Chicago. I miss her already! The rest of the day was rainy and cold so I stayed in Passfield.

Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, I went to St. Paul's Cathedral for service and it was incredible. Great music, a funny and pertinent sermon, lots of people and an obviously stunning sanctuary. I'm so glad I went. After that I met up with Sofia at Garfunkel's and we literally stayed there and studied for 8 hours. Crazy! Haha, we really moved in.

That brings me to today, where I am still waiting for stores to open. They have been closed from Friday until tomorrow! I am going to study finance after this and hope the rain stops. That doesn't seem very likely though. Rain is in the forecast all week. It's so gloomy with the rain! I'll stay as positive as possible though.

But yes, Hope and I had so much fun out here together. I love and miss her dearly and am so glad she was able to visit.

I'll talk to you all soon!

My next 2 weeks are going to be boring, with minimal socializing and no travel. Just revising for exams. So if you don't hear from me until then you know why.

Love and miss you!

Hannah