Hello everyone! I’ve finished my time in London (so sad), and am now back in Nottingham until we leave for our brief jaunt to Ireland this weekend. I can’t believe that my trip is almost over! It seems like just yesterday I was trying to figure out how to fit all of my stuff in a suitcase – now I’m about to do the same thing all over again, plus all of the extra purchases…yikes.

Sunday morning we woke up and shipped Taylor’s mom off on a train to see Windsor Castle for the day, since we enjoyed it so much when we visited last week. From there, Taylor and I headed back into the city for a bit. Our first stop was Buckingham Palace, so Tay could purchase tickets to come back and visit later this summer when it is open to the public.

By coincidence, we arrived right during the Changing of the Guard ceremony again, so the area was packed! We did manage to get a much closer view than we have had in the past though, making it worth the extra fifteen minutes spent fighting through the crowds.

From there, we wandered around the back of Buckingham and towards Wellington Arch. Fun fact, Mom – this is the arch that you can actually climb to the top of! Not Marble Arch, near our hotel, which has no doors or windows.

Then it was off to do a bit of shopping! We went in Harvey Nichols, a large department store, and I scored a new pair of jeans and a nice quilted Lavenham jacket – neither of which I will be able to wear for the next four months back in sweltering Louisville. Oh well. Then we popped over to Harrods so that Taylor could spend her Christmas gift card from me. By that point, we were starving and grabbed some salads and chocolate from the food halls for lunch. We parked it on the sidewalk outside Harrods and chowed down!

We spent the afternoon relaxing for a bit back at our B&B, waiting for Deb to return from Windsor. Then it was off to dinner at a really good Italian place with Taylor’s friend Sam! On the way, we stopped off to see the Chelsea football (soccer) stadium.

Notice Taylor’s shirt? After we were stuffed with pizza, we headed off to a nearby pub to take in the England vs. Italy game in the Euros 2012 tournament! Sam’s brother Peter and Taylor’s friend Jess came to meet us. The atmosphere was CRAZY! These Englanders sure love their football. Luckily, Peter explained most of the rules for me since I had no idea what was going on. Sadly, England lost in a penalty shootout – but it was still highly exciting to be a part of.

Yesterday morning, we woke up and packed our things. Then we headed off to Wimbledon! Our plan was to stand in line for grounds passes, which you can buy on the day of. Well, apparently everyone else had the same idea since it was finally warm and sunny – when we got there around 11:30, they told us it would be 5-6 hours to get through the line! No thank you. Instead, we walked around the perimeter and peeked in. Kind of like actually seeing it, right?

Once we had toured around the grounds, we headed into the town of Wimbledon itself to eat our picnic lunch in a coffeeshop and do a bit of shopping.

From there, we went back to our B&B for a few hours to rest up, then headed to the train station to make our way back to Nottingham.

Today, we have a lazy day on the books. Taylor’s mom is off to explore a nearby town, Taylor has school/Olympic obligations, and I’m just catching up on Internet things and reading. We have to rest up for all of our Olympic and Ireland adventures to come!