London and back

Wednesday
Another early morning to travel to London. Everything went smoothly, we found our hostels and ate at Subway. I have to admit a turkey sandwich at Subway was a nice fresh change from pizza, pasta and fish n chips. Then we rested for a while and tried to go see a band that we love, Girl Talk, but it was sold out. So we went to another place nearby and had some dinner. We called it an early night because we were pretty exhausted.
Thursday
We made our way to Buckingham Palace and were surprised to have made it just in time for changing of the guards, it was neat to see, but sort of uneventful. I loved seeing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye. Then we stopped for some traditional English fish n chips and then went to SoHo and Picadilly Circus to shop and look around. We searched everywhere for a place for dinner and finally decided on a falafel place. It was SO good. I love falafel, who knew? Then we went to a movie theater and watched “He’s Just Not That Into You.” This was one of my favorite things we did all of spring break. It was so nice to sit and be warm and comfortable and entertained. Definitely a nice little taste of America.
Friday
National Gallery- Art here: Titian, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Raphael, Rembrandt, Monet, Van Gogh, Pisarro, Manet, Cezanne, Degas. My favorites, maybe typical, Monet and Van Gogh- so amazing to see.
National Potrait Gallery- I don’t even know how to explain this place but it was really really neat to visit. Some really cool photography and paintings.
*all museums in London are free (except war rooms) how great!
Kensington High Street (saw Kensington Palace- where Princess Diana lived) for shopping and walking around. I liked this area a lot.
Saturday
Notting Hill/Camden/ Portabello Road – I LOVED this area. To be honest, I wasn’t really in love with London because it reminded me so much of America. Portabello Road completely redeemed London for me. It’s the quaintest little town and the streets are literally filled with people and tons of stands selling antiques, clothes, jewelry, etc. I found some great flats and a cute new shirt. We ate lunch in a little nearby park and then walked around the market some more. Then we went to Hyde Park (right by our hostel) and layed around for a little while. Then we went to Sainsburys (grocery store) on a mission for peanut butter. We found some, but unfortunately it counts as a liquid in your carry on and is not allowed.
Sadly, my phone wouldn’t work in London and after buying a calling card and multiple attempts with the hostel phone I gave up on seeing my family in London. That just means I’ll have to go back!
Sunday we made one more early morning to get back to Rome. We had no trouble and made it back to Ariccia safely and happily. I had missed everything about Italy so much.
And we moved into the PALACE!!! It’s so amazing. I have this perfect little nook, all the storage for my obsession with organization, a full restaurant grade kitchen, and heated floors! After unpacking our first priority was dinner at our favorite pizza place.
Monday
Market for fresh fruit that we can now easily store in our huge kitchen.
Class with a Michelangelo expert
Afternoon off to get settled in the palace, to learn how to work all the appliances, to recharge our phones and grocery shop.
Tonight we tried a new place for dinner, 3 Musketeers, where I got a great caprese salad and rigotoni carbonara (eggs, bacon and cheese- sounds weird but it’s quite good.)