We really did a lot of cool stuff. I've done a lot of it before, like Tower of London, a tour of Parliament, Harrods, walking through Hyde Park, the Sherlock Holmes museum, and the British Museum. We also went to Hampton Court Palace, which I loved. It is so beautiful there. The gardens are absolutely gorgeous, and there are SO MANY of them! It was a beautiful day out, and the flowers were so colorful. We got to walk through the maze too, and we all split up in different directions to see who can get out first. I won, but my dad claims he would have won but I cheated somehow. He's just a sore loser.
We went to Windsor Castle too, which was neat but I wish you got to see more of it. It's huge, but you can only tour a small section. Maybe you're usually allowed to see more, but the Queen was THERE when we were! We asked some people working there and found out what building area she was in, but of course there was no way anybody was getting near there. It's really a shame too, because I know that if someone just told her we were there she'd be right out to see us. Queen Lizzie and I are very close.
I also got to see Westminster Abbey for the first time, which seems odd that I haven't seen it before when I'm going to be marrying Prince William in a couple weeks there (yes, I'm the Kate that's marrying him). It's really cool though because there's so many people buried there, from past kings and queens to people like Charles Dickens and Alfred Lord Tennyson. It's architecturally beautiful also... I love old cathedrals and churches. I may hate everything they stand for, but I like the buildings themselves.
My parents and I also went to Paris for two days like Steve and I did, and we stayed in the same place (A Room in Paris, it's absolutely wonderful and charming... look up aroominparis.com if you want to stay in a really nice bed and breakfast run by fantastic people). Our first day we did all the usual sightseeing, going to Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower. I finally made it to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and it only took three trips to Paris to do it. It was so awesome. My dad kept giving us the distance comparison, logically explaining to us that the height of the Eiffel Tower is only the distance of half my street. I refuse to believe it. There is no way that my walk to the bus stop is as tall as the Eiffel Tower. And, dad... if it's so short, why were you so scared to go to the top?! He did go though, as did my mom, and it was really a perfectly warm and clear day for it.
We ate dinner at a really cute restaurant, and besides my steak being undercooked (or perfectly cooked for those who like it medium rare, but I'm a baby and get really scared about undercooked meat) it was delicious. We got to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night, one of my favorite sights in the world, and stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast.
The next day we went to the Louvre, which is absolutely gigantic. They say it would take you a week to go through the Louvre, but I don't know if I believe that. I feel like we saw pretty much everything. We even went to the Napoleon apartments twice because we liked it that much (Napoleon was definitely a man of "simple" tastes). We left for lunch because it was such a beautiful day out, we didn't want to stay inside all day, and came back after to finish up. It was literally the best weather I've had in my stay in Europe: it was well into the 80s in Paris that day. I loved it.
So, my trip with my parents was really absolutely lovely. I know they had a great time, and I had a fantastic time with them, even doing a lot of things that I have done already.
I also really look forward to my brother coming out here to visit. We have a lot of awesome stuff planned together. I went to Paris with Steve and my parents, but I wanted to go somewhere different with Jim. Since he is into photography, and it will be the end of April, I thought it'd be nice to go somewhere with more of a scenic countryside. So, Jim and I are going to go to Cork for a couple days during his stay (April 24th-27th). This means I am going to be spending my 21st birthday in Ireland! We're also going to run in a 10k through Regent's Park during his stay, along with doing touristy London things like Tower of London, Parliament, castles, etc. We plan on running together, bike riding in the park, and doing other awesome activities (the only kind of activities awesome people like us know how to do).
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