take me with you - london
four days in london. this could call for a million different itineraries but we were largely led by children and friends in making our decisions.
the first few days we stayed at the ace hotel in shoreditch. my husband michael was playing records and elodie and i were able to go downstairs to the lobby to have a little date and watch him play. what great memories!
we found it so easy to get around on the bus and the tube. shoreditch had so many cute shops and restaurants. typically i stay closer to hyde park so it was a nice change.
the day after we flew in was my husband michael's birthday and we celebrated by going to big ben and the london eye.
that evening, we celebrated my husband michael's birthday with a tableful of friends at
, a very traditional punjabi restaurant in whitechapel. we ordered one of everything it seemed but my very favorite dish was the lamb chops.
london has some of the best children's shops (besides paris of course) and i loved stopping at
. this is one of my favorite brands for children and i found some lovely clothes for the girls. it also doesn't hurt that the notting hill location is directly next door to
. i also wanted to visit
but was sidetracked. hope to get back soon!
one of my closest friends, emily, lives in london right on hyde park and we visited the
in kensington gardens. i have vivid memories of visiting with my father and it was so special to bring elodie and francesca here. we had a lovely lunch at
at the serpentine. emily always remarks that i have the best luck with weather when i visit her. i hope i never break the streak.
i took the girls to the
on a late afternoon and they had fun running amok, taunting the tower guards, and gawking at the crown jewels. definitely a great museum for young ones as it is mainly outdoors.
the last full day we decided to go to the
and see the mummies. i have been several times and it never gets old to see the rosetta stone or the pieces of the roman antiquity.
we were so lucky to be able to stay with friends this time around. we stayed with our friend courtney from
and had such a lovely visit with her family. truly grateful for a home cooked meal and to see the children romping around together in a brief rain shower.
the only thing i missed was making reservations for tea at
(or
for that matter) but we ended up having a perfectly lovely tea at the british museum anyway!
