London

So now that things have settled down from my trip and my parents have gone back to Denver I finally am sitting down to write my blog.  I have been trying to get back to normal life but it takes a lot after being gone or busy for so long.  I have started a new bible study, which I think will be a lot of fun, I have finally caught up on laundry, cleaned out the fridge (there were some funky things in there), cleaned out the pantry, picked up the whole house and been to the grocery store (we were living on saltines and take-out, eek!).  So now I know that you are all very excited to hear about my trip. So here it is!

After a 12 hour flight (all by myself!)  I arrived in London, to my favorite hotel, the Hyatt Churchill.  My flight wasn't so bad because the plane wasn't full and the guy next to me moved after take-off so I had two seats to myself.  My first night in London my mom and I just went out for pizza and a walk and then met my dad and a work friend of his for drinks.  Last time I traveled with my parents we had a nice big suite with a separate room for yours truly.  This time, my dad forgot to ask for a bigger room so I got a cot in the corner and we had a Cooper slumber party.  It was only for one night though because my dad left for Spain for business and my mom and I spent the week together.  We did lots of shopping and sightseeing (let's be honest, it was mostly shopping with sightseeing on our way to another shop).
We of course hit up Harrod's which is amazing!  Even if it causes anxiety when you cannot find your way out again, I mean, is that really such a bad thing? : )
We went to the Tate Modern art museum and saw a seriously amazing exhibit.  It was a young woman who went around the world and documented different families genealogies.  Most family's were important in showing the history of where they came from and many had tragic stories to tell.  It was one of the most creative displays I have seen in a long time.
We also went to the palace and saw a princess exhibit.  They are remodeling so you couldn't take a tour like normal but they had a very abstract historical exhibit of England's princesses (which very sadly did not include Kate).
My mom and I went and saw 2 different musicals, Le Miserable and The Wizard of OZ.  Both I thought were good, the Wizard of OZ is a new musical so they definitely had a few kinks they need to work out (like recasting a few parts but we won't get into that).  The best thing about the Wizard of OZ were all the sweet little girls dressed up like Dorothy.  A few were very scared of the wicked witch, which I fully understand.  She was one of the only ones who was well cast and was very scary.

Another highlight to the London leg of our trip was meeting up with an old friend from college.  She lives in London with her husband and we were able to work it out to meet for a drink and dinner. We were together about 4 hours and we never stopped talking.  Don't you love those nights?  It was so fun.  Maybe I will talk her into guest blogging because she and her husband have had some amazing times living abroad!

So other than that we really just wondered around the city and ate a lot.  Did I mention I had Chipotle??  I can't believe they now have it in London.  Maybe I can write a letter and they will put one in Shanghai!  I don't like talking about it because now I will think about it for the next few days.  Yummm, chipotle.   Like I have mentioned before, the Mexican food here leaves much to be desired.

That is pretty much the highlights, in the middle of our London trip we took the train to Bath for a night but I will talk about that in my next blog!

I unfortunately did not take a whole lot of pics in London, I have been there so many times that it is like, Do I really need another picture of Big Ben?  But I have a ton from Bath and the rest of the trip so I will share those soon!  Enjoy!