Ireland & UK Roadtrip - part 17 - London Finale!

The last stop on my roadtrip tour was London to visit with the amazing Susie. The night I arrived she was attending the Take That reunion tour with a bunch of her girl friends, so I had the night to relax, watch English TV, and curl up with all the Tesco's treats I could carry.  Special thanks to Matt for holding the keys to the apartment for me!

This is what greeted me in the apartment.  A glitter chocolate pirate topped cupcake.  Susie is such a rockstar!

Saturday we hung out, caught up, and that evening went to the Bam Bam Club in Piccadilly Circus to see a crazy comedy burlesque dinner show.  Super fun and highly recommended.  Amazing for future fancy dress and Halloween costume ideas.   

I also now want to figure out how to instal this in my house:

We transformed the evening into a night of epic planking as I had never heard of this ridiculous trend.  I think what I appreciate most about this night was our unplanned animal print outfit coordination. Susie in leopard spots and me in black and white zebra stripes.  

After the show, they turn the place into a club.  We felt a bit like we were back in Germany with the silly music and awkward dance moves from the guests.  

We took our planking show on the road as we headed back to Hither Green.  

This is me and one of the lions at Trafalgar Square.  It's quite hard to climb the base of the statue in heels and a dress.  My attempt to sit on the lion was not a success.  I tried w/ out the heels, but that lion is big and slippery and no need for me to visit an English hospital. This is as close as I got.  Next time I'll bring sneakers and maybe a helmet.

So the epic Ireland & UK roadtrip came to an end.  Three more countries, about 19 more cities, soooo much fun, great reunions and new friends, and exactly what I needed to recharge.  In typical travel madness, I was flying direct from London to Bologna for a work trip.  No big deal, Bandit's happy at the hund pension and I'll sleep in my bed some other time.  Twenty days away from home is certainly not the longest trip!

Ireland & UK Roadtrip - Part 16 - Stonehenge

One of the places that has always been on my to see list is Stonehenge.  I stopped on the way to London from Bath.  While in the middle of rural fields, there is for sure something magical and mysterious about the stones.  You could stare at them for hours.  Super cool!  

One of the coolest things for me to see were all the faces I could make out in the rocks.  It made me think of the Disney movie Atlantis where the gods of the past are trapped in stone until they are needed again.  Yes, I will accept royalties for that film.

See, I was there!

How it may have looked originally.

Ireland & UK Roadtrip - Part 15 - Bath

Back in England and starting to wrap up my roadtrip, I went to Bath on way to London.  I arrived in the early evening, delayed a bit coming from Cardiff because I had to stop driving to have a phone interview.  Then once I arrived there was a small hotel issue - the one I booked in route was totally sketchy and had to find a new one last minute.  I dropped off my things and went out to go exploring a bit.

First stop the urban planning and architectural phenom - The Royal Crescent...

The park leading south from the Royal Crescent.

Then I walked back towards the city center to explore. Bath is a beautiful city and you can absolutely still feel the Italian/Romanesque approach to street layout, charm, mystery and energy.  Bath is definitely a place I could live.  

Creepy window displays, yes please.

Another Unicorn!  

 

 The park overlooking the river.

 

Finally dinner.  Verona based red wine and delicious Italian food. Beautiful food + beautiful city = a good day. 

The next morning I started at Bath Abby.

Then I went to the Roman Baths.  I was super excited to see this and it did not disappoint. You take an audio guide private tour through the bath and the museum there showing all the Roman artifacts found in the area.  Awesome.   

 Crazy alien artifact.  Hello, Ancient Aliens. 

Sometimes water is just seeping through the floor.  Unfortunately, you can't go in the baths as they're toxic today.  No fun.

How amazing is this!  A sparkling, shimmering interior moon pool.  I want this in my house! 

After touring the baths, I walked around the city a bit more.  There's something cool around every corner.

Thanks, Bath!  Hopefully see you again soon.