Jolly days and nights in London with Sam and Team Mueller.

The Euro-life started late on the January 6^th, at Dulles Airport as my parents said adios. I can never keep it all together when leaving for another country for four months when my dad starts crying. I arrived in London after a smooth flight and soon saw how much snow can cause a city to panic... the slush on the runway was enough to cancel and delay flights. I’m sure some Londoners would have been in tears a couple weeks ago to see the eighteen inches on snow on our back deck. I then soon arrived to Team Mueller’s house via private car; this is a life I could get used to. It was so great to see Colleen and the little Muellers after so long. Their house is so great and so perfect for them. Not long after I arrived at the Mueller’s house, my best friend Sam arrived to spend the weekend with me. Sam is a year-long student with BCA and spent the holidays in London with a mutual friend, also a year-longer with BCA, and her family. Sam and I spent the rest of the day at the Mueller house catching up and laughing. It’s always weird to actually see someone’s face in front of you when you have seen it through a computer for the past four months. Sam and I dined on burgers and chips with Colleen and the kids and chatted about Harry Potter, London and of course, Arsenal Football Club, Jack’s one love. After dinner Sam and I prepared ourselves for the following day by watching the fifth Harry Potter movie... however, I was a little tired from the previous 48 hours of festivities and didn’t even make it to 8:30, such a champ.

Sam and I started off our day early....10am with a trip on the Underground, as Jack corrected Sam, not the Metro. However, not before we walked passed Abbey Road, less than three blocks from Colleen’s house, really no big deal.

Weeks before, Sam had discovered a free “Walking Tour and Treasure Hunt Harry Potter Tour” of London. Two 20-year olds not only spending the day thinking about nothing but Harry Potter, but also a treasure hunt...the life we lead. We bet a pitcher of Sangria on the treasure hunt and started our hunt. Of course Sam found the first clue, a Golden Flying Ship above the Astor Estate Office.

Our next clue was within two blocks, a face located on a building in Essex Street. Yours truly conquered clue number 2... however, not before we took our picture in a phone booth!

Clue number three took us to St. Clements, however the day before I had been reading the walking tour and had seen the answer to this clue and thank god because we never would have found “rat tails.”

Then came our first Harry Potter stop, Gringotts Bank! Gringotts Bank, also known as the Australian Embassy, was so surreal and it was so hard to believer we were standing right there!

Next stop, the Roman Baths, being the cultured women we are, neither of us knew what these were, however we found it necessary to take pictures just in case. We then read on in our tour guide that Dickens was a regular of the Baths, we proceeded to take more pictures.

Being the fully-able map reading women that we are, we proceeded to get lost and found ourselves two stops ahead of our correct location. Yet, Sam managed to find clue number four at Somerset House.

On our way to Somerset House we walked by the Thames River and I saw my first glimpses of Big Ben, Westminster, the London Eye and everything else London-picturesque. It was so weird to see things that I have google-imaged for weeks, in person. Sam and I continued on and actually got back on track and found ourselves at the Church of St. Mary Le Strand, home of the May-Pole.

The steps leading up to the church were a little icy, so Sam and I decided we didn’t want to break any bones and took pictures from the outside. It was already 12:30 and we had worked up an appetite, not to mention quite the thirst. We stopped at the Wellington and had some lunch, accompanied by my first legal beer in London, it was so refreshing and felt so good to be legal to drink.

Our next stop was the Lyceum Theater, we decided not to go in, as we had 24 more pages of our walking tour to complete. However, clue number five was: What is the connection between the Lyceum Theater and Dracula? (I’m not even sure Arlene can answer this one)

The Lyceum Theater is where Bram Stoker wrote Dracula whilst working at the Lyceum, but of course, like us, you wouldn’t know this until you read the grey plaque on the theater wall...or looked in the back of our tour guide for the answer. Our next clue lead us to Covent Garden, where Sam discovered clue number six (we started loosing count after a while, as you will start to notice).

Next stop was Goodwin’s court and Cecil Court, and as the tour guide says, they were probably inspirations for J.K. Rowling in creating Diagon Alley.

Cecil Court was nothing but bookstores varying in all types of books.

Two stores in particular, The Witch Ball and Watkins Books, describe the alley perfectly. Watkins Books is the oldest occultist and mystical bookshop in the world, Sam and I couldn’t help but stop in and warm us up for a bit. Next was Trafalgar Square, and by now Sam and I had had enough of the cold, the wind and the unsalted sidewalks, and did a drive by of the square.

However, Sam wasn’t cold enough to find clue number six... or eight, a face on the side of Garrick Arms Pub.

Although I was discouraged that the score was now four to one, I was determined to make a comeback. On our trip down the narrow alley of Brydges Place I found clue number nine.

We decided to reward ourselves with Starbucks, which surprisingly cost the same as in the states, minus the exchange rate. Looks like I’ll have to wait until I return to the states for another Chai Tea Latte. Our guide then took us to Davenport’s Magic Shop, and clearly an inspiration to J.K. Davenport’s is the oldest family magic business in the world.

Our next stop was in search of clue ten, which proved my comeback on Adelaide Street.

Our walking tour then took us to Sherlock Holmes Pub, unfortunately Sam and I didn’t go in, we were still a little discouraged over the cost of our Starbucks, and kept on trucking.

Our next stop was the Ministry of Magic, however we got a little distracted and found ourselves on the Hungerford Bridge.

We then continued on our hunt for the Ministry of Magic, but not before we passed Scotland Yard.

Unfortunately, the phone booth Harry and Mr. Weasley used in the movie as an elevator to the Ministry of Magic was just a prop.

Sam and I were a little disappointed...but we were able to make due with what we had. We then headed to the Old Admiralty Building where we found the Horse Guards of the Household Calvary and the Life Guards.

On our way to Westminster and Big Ben, we found Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives.

We kept on trucking and finally saw Big Ben up close and across Westminster Bridge.

Then, Sam found clue number twelve.

I would also like to comment that Sam cheated on this clue, as she had the guide in her hand she told me the lion was on our right... when in fact it was on the left.

As you can tell, our treasure hunt and walking tour was a little treacherous. We kept on trucking and decided that our next stop would be our last...the Lambeth Bridge, another Harry Potter location... “Why the long face, man?”

We headed back to the Underground and back to St. John’s Woods for dinner at the Muellers.

The following day Sam and I decided to head over to Buckingham Palace for tea with the Queen herself... or the changing of the guard.

It was SO cold outside, Sam literally thought she was never going to have feeling in her toes. “Can I get frostbite in the my toes, Carrie?” “Yeah, Sam. They’re first things to go...” We were so happy to see those fuzzy hats and the four minutes it took them to change the guards.

It was exciting to see those really cool hats though.

Our next stop was the Leaky Cauldron in Borough Market. Sam and I had just about had enough of the cold and decided to warm up with some lunch.

Yet, during lunch it began to snow, we were so thankful we were on the inside watching all the cold people squirm outside. We continued on our trek and found the Leaky Cauldron, actually a Flower Shop in the Muggle World. The next Leaky Cauldron we were in search of took us over the London Bridge, where we could also see the Tower Bridge and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

The next Leaky Cauldron wasn’t far and is actually an eye glasses store in the Muggle World.

We then walked another block and found ourselves at Diagon Alley, also known as Leadenhall Market. It was so pretty with all the lights from the holidays.

And then, our final and most important Harry Potter stop was next, Platform 9 ¾. We found ourselves at King’s Crossing and were in such shock to finally find the infamous platform. It was amazing and everything I could have dreamed of.

Sam and I headed back to Headquarters where Nilda had prepared another amazing meal for us. After dinner, Sam and I had planned a Pub Walk with the company London walks. We spent two hours in the freezing cold visiting various pubs in Kensington. Sam really enjoyed the walk and it was nice to see some of the non-touristy areas of London. The little houses and the more expensive houses were so interesting. Not to mention, the side stories our guide told us about the houses and apartments we saw were well worth the £5. The tour ended with Harrod’s lit up in its hundreds and hundreds of white lights.

I was a little disappointed I couldn’t go in, but I’m sure my parents are thankful that they were closed. Sam and I ended our night was a beer and an onion loaf and called it a day.

The following day was a day Jack had been waiting all week for... Arsenal versus Everton. I was excited to a real football game in England. I’ve seen South American football and now English football, I really have seen it all.

The game was great, and there were over 60,000 fans that battled the freezing cold temperatures. It was so interesting to see the different style of football in England, not only can people bet on the game, who scores the first and last goal, the final score, etc., but also that beer isn’t sold during the game. Yet, it was a blessing at halftime when there were free beers for everyone, definitely something I could get used to! During the second half it started to snow, and the snow began to stick, I was so cold I didn’t think I was going to make it out of the seat.

At the half, the score was zero to zero, however not far after the score became 2-1 with 8 minutes left. John and Colleen made the decision to leave the game early in order to beat the traffic and the snow that had yet to fall. Jack was a little upset that his team had lost the game and learned a little thing or two about being a real Arsenal fan.

 However, after we had left the game, with only minutes left, Arsenal was able to tie the score up, which made the ride home with Jack a little more bearable. Nilda, Owen and Kate were waiting for us when we returned home and Nilda had another delicious meal prepared. Colleen sent the kids to bed early, without their Jolly Night, in preparation for the following day’s festivities, Princess Kate’s 4^th Birthday Party. Colleen and I topped off the night in pajamas and some episodes of Weeds and had our own Jolly night. 

Princess Kate’s party was at Pizza Express, and had some of the best pizza I have ever eaten. The princess themed party went off without a hitch and Princess Kate was a vision in her Zebra dress. Princess Gemma was in attendance and was able to keep the attention of 27 four-year-olds for an hour.

Princess Kate had a cupcake cake and it was delicious. Princess Kate had so much fun at her party. Colleen and I had another Jolly Night with delicious Thai food and a few episodes of Weeds.

All in all, I had an amazing time in London. I can’t wait to visit Team Mueller again! It was a great way to start off the European adventure. Cheers!