The next morning we were able to sleep in a little bit before our tour reservation of the Houses of Parliament. Navigating the London Tube was stressful at first, because we all had to have this "Oyster Card" in order to easily access the subway. Once we figured it out, we made our way towards Westminster square. Stepping out of the underground was such an amazing sight to see. Seeing all these iconic buildings such as Big Ben and the Westminster abbey and the double decker buses with red phone booths scattered about was a surreal moment. Unfortunately, Big Ben is under restoration until 2021 so the whole tower was covered with scaffolding, but we were still able to see the clock. We quickly got in line for our tour before making our way inside the Parliament buildings. I had no idea the Parliament castle was so old! It was built way back in the 11th century. Our tour guide took us to all the locations inside the building including the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Seeing where the Queen sits during her speech to Parliament was another crazy sight to see in person. By the time the tour was coming to a close we were all STARVING as we hadn't eaten all day! Once we left, we quickly scrambled to find a nearby local food joint. Thankfully, we were able to find a nearby fish and chips place so we settled on that. I LOVED the fish and chips. Easily one of my favorite meals yet and I loved it so much I finished both my Mom's and sister's plates. After lunch, we decided to use our bus tickets we had prebooked to get around London. We rode our bus all the way until Kensington Palace before deciding to disembark. We didn't realize that Kensington Palace was closed off to the public for the most part, but this makes sense since Prince Charles and Kate live there with their two kids. After walking around the whole estate, we spent the remaining hours of sunlight to walk around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Even though the whole expanse was not as big as Central Park in NYC, it was still massive, and I felt like I had walked miles that day. Once the Sun had set, we wanted to grab dinner before heading home so we found a local Italian restaurant nearby which was just lovely. After dinner, we took the train home and stopped to get groceries before turning in the for the night.
The next morning we quickly ate breakfast before heading out for the day. Our first stop of the day was at Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. We were not prepared for the immense crowds that came out to see the spectacle. There were at least 5,000 people crowding around the square to see the famous event. Fortunately, we were able to squeeze our way through the crowds to a section on the side, which provided a decent view of the inner courtyard. The procession was also longer than I expected, as there were bands playing and horses trotting around while the guards did their thing. After it had concluded, we walked to Victoria Station so Dad could go to the bank. After our bring stop there we hopped on another bus that took us through the heart of London. We did a quick lunch break at a hamburger joint at Piccadilly Circus before hopping back on the bus. We passed Trafalgar Square, St. Paul's Cathedral, and the financial district before stopping at the Tower of London and Tower Bridge! Seeing the iconic Tower Bridge was amazing, and I think it was probably my favorite place to see in all of London. We walked across the bridge to take some pictures before heading back to the Tower of London to get tickets before the next morning. We then got on a tour boat that took us along the Thames River back to Westminster square. We then made our way back to the hotel to take a break before dinner. Unfortunately, our parents passes out so Grace and I had to fend for ourselves that evening for dinner. When my Mom woke up, we realized that we had only booked our airbnb until the next day, even though our flight out of London wasn't until Tuesday. We quickly scrambled to find a replacement hotel and fortunately we found a nice spot near Vauxhall Station.
So the next morning after eating breakfast and packing we walked to our hotel to drop our stuff off. Following this we headed back to the Tower of London. After making our way through we beelined to see the Crown Jewels. At first I wasn't impressed with all of the gold plated utensils and gowns, but seeing the Queen's crown was worth the whole tour. Afterwards, we were able to get a tour with a beefeater who told us about the scary executions of the Tower of London including Queen Anne Boleyn. After our whole tour of the castle we decided to get a quick lunch at a nearby sandwich shop. Our family was surprised to learn that the bathrooms were not separated by male and female, as we all used the same bathroom. After lunch, we decided to head back to Trafalgar square in order to see if we could get some theater tickets for that evening. After debating on whether to see a show we've already seen like Wicked or Phantom, we decided to check out a new show called "The Young Frankenstein". After buying our tickets, we walked about a mile north to check out the British Museum, which houses the Rosetta Stone among other famous artifacts. Seeing the Rosetta Stone was crazy! I didn't expect it to be as big as it was. After checking out other exhibits like the mummy and Ancient Egypt exhibit, we decided to head over to Abbey Road before it got too dark. After navigating like three different subway lines, we finally made it. None of us realized that Abbey Road was just an ordinary street that locals drive on, but we found the iconic crosswalk because we saw other tourists there trying to recreate the famous album cover. Our family was a hot mess trying to take the picture, as we were at one point literally stopping traffic from going. After getting the picture, we quickly ate dinner at a local restaurant before making our way over to the Garrick Theater to see the musical. The theater was quite small, which was nice so we could see the actor's faces. Once it had began, we quickly realized how sexual and vulgar the musical was, which was fine with me but I was nervous how my parents would react. Thankfully, it got better during the 2nd act and by the end I think we were all glad to have seen it. It had gotten very late, so we went back to the hotel to prepare for the next day of travel.
The next morning we woke up hella early before attempting to navigate back to Gatwick Airport. It was stressful as were battling the normal London business crowds. Fortunately, we made it to the airport with enough time to spare. The stress quickly went away as we were all excited to go to Salzburg, Austria! Our plane was on time and we landed in Salzburg around 1 pm. We quickly made our way through customs before picking up a taxi that took us to our new airbnb. Once at the airbnb, we quickly settled in and enjoyed how spacious our apartment was! Also, our shower was definitely a step up from the one in London which was a relief. Once we had all unpacked, we made our way into town to find Mirabelle Platz which is where would be meeting the next morning for our Sound of Music tour. After finding the square, we ate lunch at a nearby burger joint before making our way to Old Town. We got to go inside the famous cathedral there which was lovely before touring a nearby cemetery. We all wanted to try some famous Austria dessert so we found a local restaurant that served both sachertorte and apfelstrudel. They were both divine. After eating, we were all exhausted from our day of travel so we headed back to the hotel so Mom could do some laundry.
The next morning we got up bright and early for our Sound of Music tour that would take us to the all the famous filming location of the movie. Our bus drive was hilarious, and a pretty decent singer as well. It was so cool getting to learn about all the behind-the-scenes details of the film and standing in the same locations where they were. It was interesting to learn how they used two different mansions for the Von Trapp family home. Our bus tour took us along a picturesque mountain road that bypasses several Austrian lakes which were magnificent. After stopping in Mondsee where the chapel where the Captain and Maria got married was, we were allowed to stop and eat some famous strudel there. It was becoming difficult to discern which strudel was the best because they were all amazing. After eating, we quickly got back on the bus to head back to Salzburg. After leaving the tour, we made our way back to Old Town Salzburg to see the famous castle on the hill. The climb was brutal, but the views were worth it. Unfortunately, the castle was very expensive just to enter, so we decided to explore nearby trails instead. This was the right decision cuz we were able to find overlooks that looked upon both sides of the mountain. We had been walking for miles, and we were exhausted and hungry so we made our way back to the airbnb to catch our breath. That night, our family wanted traditional German food so we settled on a local German restaurant. My Mom, Grace, and I each got a glass of wine while my Dad got a stein of beer. My wienerschnitzel was great and I was also able to try some of my Dad's goulash. We were stuffed after dinner so we headed back to the hotel because it had already gotten dark.
The next morning, we went back to Mirabella Platz to embark on our next tour which took us to the Bavarian mountains and the famous salt mines there. Our tour guide was great, and we were also with a British couple who went on the Sound of Music tour with us. The views were magnificent and lucky for us it was a sunny day so we could see Hitler's Eagle Nest: a small fort on top of nearby mountain. After stopping to take in the sights, we drove down to a local town for a coffee break. Once again, we all got strudel at a local restaurant, and I think this final strudel was the best one we had during our entire week. After eating, we drove to the nearby salt mines for our tour. After getting in our gear, we took this small train that took us deep into the mountains. We had to take these fun little wooden slides to get to the bottom of the cave which was a blast. Hearing about the salt mining was process was so interesting, and I loved hearing about all the history of the mines. We also got to take a boat ride on Mirror Lake, which literally looked like a literal mirror. It was by far my favorite part in the mines. After taking our train back into the outside world, our bus guide took us back through the mountains to Salzburg. We said goodbye to our British friends before making our way back to Old Town. There was a soccer game going on that day, so all the local cafes had tables set outside in the square. So we settled on a cafe near the big cathedral for lunch. My goulash soup was delicious and it was fun to hear the drunk men's banter on the upcoming game that evening. After lunch, we walked around Old Town one last time before making our way back to the airbnb. We had some errands to run before leaving the next day like buying some last minute groceries and printing out my train ticket for Venice. Thankfully, we had no hiccups with the tickets and we went back to the airbnb to grab dinner. We settled on the local Italian place that we had walked past everyday and my spaghetti carbonara was just fabulous. After dinner, we went bed pretty early as we had to get up the next morning at 6:30 am to catch our trains. The walk to the train station was bittersweet as I was excited to go to Venice but I was sad to leave my family as they headed back to Frankfurt to catch their flight back to the States the next day. I have thoroughly enjoyed my week with my family but I know that I will see them in about 6 and half weeks. Currently, I am on my train to Venice, Italy! I will be meeting up with a couple of friends there for the weekend to close out our Spring Break and I am so excited! I will talk all about our Italian adventures on the next blog post.
Until then,
Tschuss!
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