Wanna Stick London in My Purse

Oh hiiiii from the other side of the pond! (<–I’ve always wanted to say that.)

I LOVE LONDON. It makes me dizzy how much I’m diggin’ this city. The pace. The food. (Some of) the style. The accents. The cobblestone. The bridges. The history. And the fact that everywhere we go I’m like, “THIS IS WHERE MARY POPPINS AND DICK VAN DYKE SANG AND STOOD AND SMILED AND DANCED.” I shout it. Just like that. People love me.

I don’t have a lot of time to “bang on” about every moment, as we’re meeting up shortly for a fabulous breakfast at City Hall, then headed to France on a train (<–like, who says that), but here are some personal highlights, so far.

1. The words BANG ON. They’re my new life.
2. Cappuccinos! I’ve never been into nice coffee drinks, but this city is convincing me. I’ve had two so far and I want 284 trillion more.
3. Red buses and old telephone booths. You cannot get any more London than that, and I now desperately need a telephone booth in Kansas.

4) Notting Hill. Hello, it is theee cutest, most charming area in the city. Shops, bakeries, street food, curb markets, boutiques, the most stunning flat fronts I’ve ever seen. Look at that door! I could do an entire post on flat fronts. I don’t even know if flat front is the right word, but this is my blog and I can say it if I want. (also, Hugh and Julia)

5) The BREAD. Everything is rustic and artisan and beautiful and I gained 5 pounds just taking this photo.

6) There are pastries everywhere.  E v e r y w h e r e. And we aren’t even in Paris yet! I’m in major trouble. (p.s. those ^^ have cardamom in them and we all stood in the street and wept until our faces turned into ponds.)

7) TEA TIME. This could be another entire post on its own. We had the enormous pleasure of spending yesterday afternoon with this lovely British woman in her cozy Notting Hill flat making scones and shortbread. She taught us all about the history and art of tea time, and the breakdown of the different status teas and what message each sends. It’s complicated! I thought it was just like, “Hey, dude – want some tea?” Nooooonononono. There are different tiers of tea time. Different customs. Hidden messages. Secret codes. James Bond. Handcuffs.

8) Clotted cream. ‘Nuff said.

9) Smoked salmon, egg and cucumber sandwiches. I don’t want to tell you how many I ate, but it rhymes with SMALL DOF FLEM.

10) The architecture! Everything has either a steeple on it, pigeons around it, or such ornate beautiful detail that you want to punch it. It’s all just so magnificent and grand. And Mary Poppins. (By the way -I snapped a BUNCH of this, and NONE of them posted. Makes me crazy. But you should know that I fed the birds. And sang to the cathedral, then nearly got hit by one of those red buses. They are fast! Be careful in London.)

These are my travel gal pals, Ashlae (left) and Ashley (right). They have cool matching backpacks and defined calves. I hate and love them.

That’s all for now! There’s sooo much I’m leaving out, like this incredible food tour we took, complete with the most amazing chorizo I’ve EVER tasted, beautiful chocolates, wines, cheeses, olives, pickled GARLIC. Have you ever had pickled garlic? It will change the course of your life. And give you pickle face.

Today we’re hopping on the Eurostar and headed to Paaaaaaaris. I can’t even wrap my head around that. PARIS. I’ll be bonkers snapping from the train, so you best be follerin’.

More soon, chap! (<–is it okay that I called you chap?)

*this post and all of my travel is sponsored by Eurostar. THE TRAIN. Did you remember that I’m going on a train?