Lu's 23 Birthday in London

8 days from now Lu will be turning 24 years old! I cant believe a year ago we were in London celebrating her 23rd birthday. 

We started with brekky at our flat, with heart shaped ballons, pink decor all over, birthday cards and gifts for our lovely Lu. 

Our minion friend was invited, of course! 

Our lovely flat hostess brought us these wonderful purple orchids. They lit up the whole room!

We got ready quickly and headed out to the city, with a whole day of activities planned to celebrate the birthday girl. It was sadly also our last day in the great city of London. 

We had passed by a street filled with tons of restaurants on a previous day and decided to stop by to have lunch. 

Piccolino was a very cool and modern looking italian place that perfectly suited us. 

We each ordered our own favorite dish!

Rissotto for Lu:

Pasta with shrimp for me:

Penne with some kind of red sauce for my dad: 

Steak for Leo: 

Such good food! And there she is, smiling! SUCCESS!!! 

While we were eating, it rained. Gladly, the rain didn't last long, and we scooted along to the next activity. 

Which was the Traditional Afternoon Tea at Kingsway Hall Hotel!

We were all thrilled! 

We each had our own choice of tea and shared finger sandwiches, warm scones, cakes and pastries, which disappeared almost instantly. 

Why cant we enjoy traditional english tea everywhere in the world?!? I think I speak for all the women in my family when I say I'd give anything to have a scone with clotted cream and tea with a dash of milk right now :)

We were a tad bit late to our next activity but we still made time for pictures at the gorgeous hotel entrance and a close up of her birthday accessories

The sunset was creeping in on us while we tried to find the theatre where we had bought tickets to watch the play "Once" (which is one of Lu's and my favorite movies ever)

This has to be one of my favorite photos of London ever:

Pictures were of course not allowed while the play was going on, but we took some during the intermission: 

The play was fabulous. The dialogues, the sets, the music, everything was fantastic. 

It was a small theatre, so everything felt very intimate and incredibly special. 

To get back home quickly we took one of those famous looking black London cabs (so fun! and expensive!), and took one last picture to remember this day. 

It'll be hard to top last year's birthday off this year! But we'll think of something...

And so now I've finally finished blogging about our London adventure!

New York City, you're up!!! 

The Jane Austen Centre in Bath

Whenever we were planning our trip to London, we knew we wanted to go to Bath. My sister and I have been obssesed with Jane Austen since we were 12 or 13, so of course we were desperate to visit! Thank goodness my good friend Ramiro was living in London at the time, and arranged the whole trip for us :) thank you Rami!

 

We took a bus early in the morning and got there around mid-day. The weather was lovely, and the streets so busy! Bath is a very enchanting place.

 

We walked around and shopped a little first. 

 

 

We then made our way to the Jane Austen Centre. On our way there, we came across this lovely plaza, which looks staight out of the Persuasion movie BBC made based on Jane Austen´s book.

 

 

My dad was so excited he posed all by himself for a picture (or two).

 

For our delight, Mr. Darcy himself was waiting for us at the door!!!

 

The centre is made up of rooms filled with information about Jane´s life while in Bath, the social scene of the time, and many other fun facts.

 

"Know your own happiness. Want for nothing but patience - or give it a more fascinating name: Call it hope.” —Sense and Sensibility (1811)

 

 

 

At one point, you can actually dress up with clothes from Georgian times! We didnt hesitate to pop on dresses and bonnets. However, the pictures of my sister and me are just way too emabarassing to show!

 

My parents, on the other hand, pull it off quite perfectly.

 

So romantic!

 

There is also a station in which you can write a letter with a quill pen and tint! My sister, being the one in the family with good hand-writing, wrote a letter to Leo, who we were all thinking about and missing!

 

After spending about two hours frolicking around like crazy (isnt that what all girls in their twenties do???), we stepped out into the light of day.

 

The Bath Abbey graces the city. We photographed it and admired it from a distance, but we had something else in mind...

 

FOOD, of course! Ramiro couldnt recommend Sally Lunn´s enough, so when the weather brought dark clouds, we snuck in for tea and buns!

 

 

Sally Lunn´s has been around since 1680, and the house it´s in is the oldest house in Bath.

 

We were, rather coincidentally BTW, seated in the Jane Asuten Room, just up the stairs and to the right.

 

 

We each asked for a different kind of tea, and had a bun each. We weren´t sure what to expect, but nothing could have ever prepared us for the deliciousness that was brought to our table.

 

 

Tea time in London (or should i say Great Britain in general) is such a great, comforting, lovely tradition. The milk, the sugar cubes... I miss it.

 

Look at that Bun! Its enormous, but we still finished all of them, and might have even asked for an extra one to share. The best part of course, is the cream that is served with the bun. Rich, creamy, decadent cream to spread all over the bun. It is a glorious combination!

 

My lovely parents.

 

After eating our own weight in buns, we decided keep strolling around the city, as we had some time left until our bus returned to London.

 

Here are some snaps

 

 

My mom and me :)

 

Such beautiful gardens!

 

The time to leave came too soon. We boarded our bus and soon enough were back in rainy London.

 

There stands Harrods, all lit up! Strangely enough, this was the ONLY time we experienced London with rain. Every other day it was sun shine and blue skies! London, I miss you like crazy!