A Hop Across The Pond

10 girls in a one-bedroom apartment with ONE bathroom?! Best time ever. No like seriously, it was awesome.

A while back I had extended the invite to my friends to stay with me while I was working in London, thinking only 3 or 4 would take me up on it. To my surprise, 9 of my closest friends planned their flights and stay at an extremely cozy 200 Sloane Street. It couldn’t have been better.

I think the last time I left you hanging I was just getting back from Berlin. The first two days of the week that followed were just work stuff, laundry, cleaning, groceries – you know, all that fun stuff. Luckily it was a very short week as I planned some vacation time Wed-Fri for when the girls were here. Jennelle was the first to arrive Tuesday night from Berlin. I met her at the Knightsbridge tube stop and brought her back to my pad. One of her coworkers was also in the area so we met him at Brown’s in Leicester square for dinner and cider before calling it a night. Poor Jennelle had gotten only about 5 hours of sleep in the past few days so I let her clonk out and sleep while I went for a quick run around the royal parks Wednesday morning. I knew the upcoming week would not include much exercise so I figured I needed to fit this one in. Before the girls came I set out a big platter of cheese, crackers, hummus, fresh fruits, biscuits, and all kinds of other snacks so they could load up before our exploration day. Other than my suite in college, I really haven’t had a place of my own to entertain people at so I was super excited to have the opportunity to host.

Then, the phone rang. Hello? “Yes, Hi Miss Selvitella – we have quite a few guests here to see you. Should I send them ALL up?”. HA! I was glad to hear that the tone of his voice was more playful than concerned. The Sloane Street elevators are ridiculously small so they needed to take 2 trips up to get to my floor, leaving all the luggage at reception – the lovely concierge offered to take care of it for them. I opened up the door and there they were! I was like a Mexican jumping bean. Big hugs for everyone – man it was good to see the girls again. They all piled in and then came the luggage. It was like jenga trying to figure out where the bags would go and really, where anyone would even sit. We moved the chairs in the kitchen, tossed the luggage in my bedroom, and hung out in the living room to snack and catch up for a bit. Soon after I put my tour guide cap on and took the 10-person parade around Londontown.

The first stop was the Knightsbridge tube station so everyone could get their Oyster cards in the non-rush hour timeframe. Cards all charged up, we left the station and took the rest of the daytime explorations on foot. I walked them through the Knightsbridge area, along Hyde Park, around Green Park, and over to Buckingham Palace. While we stood in front, two horse-drawn carriages were exiting the palace gates. We couldn’t really tell who was inside but for the excitement of this story, let’s just pretend it was the Queen. We took a few group shots by the magnificent mansion, obviously, and then went on our way. The next stop was my favorite park in London – St. James. After stopping for a caffeine charge at the park café vendor, we meandered through the beautiful walkways of St. James. The peak of the park stops you in front of another royal building (I still can’t remember the name), where the Olympic beach volleyball games were held - A very picturesque area where Ben and the Eye peek through the corners. Obviously another group photo here, duh. We continued on toward the court house, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben, snapping shots in telephone booths along the way #sotourist. The gang started getting a little hungry so I lead them down through Trafalgar Square to Picadilly Circus where we found a casual pub in Soho. It definitely wasn’t the best pub but they had a second floor big enough for a group of 10 so we settled. Everyone ordered their first authentic British meal, accompanied by a cider of course, and chatted about the days to come. Always thinking about food, I asked the group what they would like to do for dinner. We had to get up really early the next day to catch the Eurostar to Paris so another casual restaurant was the consensus. I reserved a table at the Crusting Pipe in Covent Garden for 10, based solely on the fact that I like the area. Hopefully it’s good..! We finished up lunch and continued onto Oxford Street, a.k.a. Shopping Utopia. We literally had to plan a meeting time and location because there was no way someone wasn’t getting pulled away from the group on account of a shiny object in the window. Luckily we all stayed together until PRIMARK. Ya, I took them there. They were just as amazed as I was the first time and I am pretty confident each one of them came out with a bag. It was already dark, we were shopped out, and our puppies were barking, (it means our feet were hurting – why does no one else know that expression besides me and my mom?!). Despite the craziness in the underground at that time of day, I took (most of) the girls on their first Tube experience. We got off at Leicester Square and walked over to Covent Garden. London is way ahead of the states with its Christmas decorations – you would think it was December 20^th here. Everything was lit up from top to bottom… there’s even a giant Christmas tree in the middle of CG square. Anyway, we stopped in a pub for about an hour and sat next to two lovely old ladies who got an absolute kick out of us. They loved the fact that we were all here from the US and kept giving us tips on what to do this weekend. I wish we could’ve brought them with us. An hour passed and I lead the parade over to The Crusting Pipe where I had scheduled our dinner reservation. I guess I got lucky because this place was the bomb. We walked down the steps in the Faneuil Hall-looking market place where a small band was playing in the corner and a ginormous disco ball was splashing the walls with glitter. They already had the table set for us under an alcove and garnished with wine-bottle candle holders. It was perfect. We ordered a couple bottles of wine to share with dinner and raised our glass to a successful first day in Europe.

Thursday:

First task – get 10 girls out of the apartment by 5:30am. Check. We actually made it to Knighstbridge in time to get the first train to St. Pancras national railway station. Got through customs, had a quick breakfast, and boarded the Eurostar at 7am for Paris. If you haven’t taken this trip before let me just tell you that your ears have never popped quite like this before. You couldn’t yawn or swallow enough. Luckily we all passed out 15 minutes into the ride and woke up 2 hours later in France. Getting from the Eurostar station to the metro line was a project. None of us know French so that made it very interesting. Just being polite and attempting to drop ‘bonjour’ and ‘merci’ as much as possible did get us far, though. After about 25 minutes of piddling around the most confusing train station in the world we finally found our line and took it about 7 stops to Place de Clichy. Val had found us a sweet 10 person apartment on Rue d’Amsterdam, right off one of the Place de Clichy spokes. We checked in with the owner, Patrice, who was probably one of the nicest, mild-mannered people I’ve ever met. Not only did he bake chocolate muffins for us, he provided us with wifi codes for all around Paris, set us up with an app that got us discounts on awesome restaurants, and explained that he did not do this for the money. Instead, he works very closely with the WWF part-time and is using all of the profits to help build a fence around a habitat for elephants and rhinos. He thanked us for helping the animals and wished us a great time in Paris. We loved Patrice. We got our acts together, booked a place for dinner, and headed towards the first brasserie for breakfast. Patrice had recommended one around the corner so we checked that out. It was amazeballs – fresh quiches, chocolatey cappuccinos, croissants, and pastries. We definitely started our day right. After the first tasty treat we walked around our area, which just happened to be Moulin Rouge, and then up towards Sacré-Cœur. It was a peaceful sunny day, so warm we didn’t even need our jackets. We trekked up the hills and through the artistry market, finding our destination at the peak. This is arguably the best view of Paris, although I tend to favor the one from Arc De Triomphe. We stood in awe at the monstrosity of georgeousness atop the hill, took more pictures, and walked back down to the town. We decided it was the perfect time for a wine break – I mean, we’re in Paris, why not? 10 of us pulled together a few tables out in front of the restaurant, ordered bottles of Bordeaux and Cabernet Sauvignon, and gazed out onto the winding streets of cobblestone lined with colorful shops and cafes. It turned from peaceful to rowdy pretty quick when our waiter suggested we order a round of shots. We couldn’t say no.. that would be rude, and we don’t want them to think Americans are rude. We took one down and then ordered another. Woops. Our fun faces were on and we decided to jump around the nearby fromageries and markets to pick up snacks for the apartment. I think we collectively purchased 2 bottles of wine, 2 of champagne, 3 blocks of cheese, and crackers. Our wine-antics continued back at the apartment for the next few hours while we got ready for the night. That few hours may have been my favorite part of the entire trip. I felt like I was at home, back in college – hanging out with all my best friends being crazy and telling stories. Later that night we walked over to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night. It was just as magical as it was the first time I saw it, almost exactly 4 years ago that week. It is just nothing you can even describe – seeing the sparkling lights on that iconic structure is like gazing at the Magic Kingdom as a child for the first time. That’s as close of a comparison as I can get. We took a bunch more pictures and then walked over to the restaurant we booked for dinner. All I wanted was duck.. omg I want duck right now actually. Anyway, we ordered more wine and some appetizers for the table. I spoke very highly of the foie gras I had the first time I was in Paris so I actually talked a few people into trying it. That’s duck liver by the way.. and it’s absolutely delish. I apologize to all you vegetarians and vegans out there but I would eat duck every day. Quack Quack. Following the liver, I ordered an actual entrée of duck, sided with mushrooms and onions. It was the best combination of savory, salty, tangy, and sweet in my mouth all at once. Dammit I’m making myself so hungry right now. Anywho – after dins we walked over to the canal and bought tickets for the night cruise, which took us up and down the canal including an audio tour. Another Patrice recommendation came to life here… doing this at night was spectacular. The entire city looked like a Christmas tree, reflecting all its lights into the calm waves of the canal. The cruise capped off our night – we found the nearest metro and rode back over to Rue d’Amsterdam.

Friday:

It took a little for us to get up and out this morning. But it’s fine because I had a giant ham, egg, and cheese crepe for breakfast, (Note: this was 1 of 3 for the day. No, I’m not proud of it. But so worth it). We had a ton of adventures ahead of us – the metro destination was Champs-Élysées to first check out the Arc. HA! That was an adventure in itself – how the HECK are you supposed to get to that middle circle without being pummeled by oncoming traffic? Well, there’s an underground walkway that took us about 20 minutes to find. Luckily a bystander pointed frantically, saying “boos, tunnelle” over and over again. We figured out he was trying to tell us there was a tunnel behind that bus. Ohhhhh, ok, got it. Finally we got there. We didn’t end up going up to the top but managed to cross back over, stand in the middle of the street, and take some pictures in front. It’s not a good picture unless you’re cheating death, right? We carried on down the Champs-Élysées and stopped here and there to window shop before screeching the breaks at Ladurée, the best macaroon shop EVER. Yes, yes, I know they have a couple shops in London but it originates in Paris and we were SO going in. Encased in glass was a pastel rainbow of mouth-watering cookies, placed pristinely in a line. Some of the girls bought a couple to try while others opted for 1 big macaroon. I obviously bought a box of 6. The tiny, pink, gold-detailed, box was just way too cute to pass up.. AND I’m obsessed with these things. After handing over my credit card to pay for the ridiculously overpriced pillows of sugar, we hopped back out onto the street. I left the group temporarily to pit stop at Bain Consulting’s Paris office, right off the main strip, to visit Isa (My friends from Madrid) who was working there that week. Her office was on the top floor and had a fantabulous view of the city. It was a super quick visit - she was actually working so I had to leave. Met up with the girls and we walked all the way to the end, through Jardin des Tuileries, and over to Le Louvre. A few of the girls went inside but I opted out since I’d been there before. The rest of the group and I decided to head to a nearby brasserie for more wine, cheese, and baguettes. Ya, how jealous are you? So damn French. I think I could definitely live off of French food for the rest of my life: crepes, cheese, baguettes, wine, and duck. I’d be 400lbs but whatever. After the Louvre crowd met up with us, we walked around to Le Pont des Arts, the infamous bridge of locks along the canal. Couples, friends, and travelers from all over the world purchase padlocks, write a message, and lock it in forever on this romantic bridge of wonder. Val bought a lock and wrote all of our initials on it to lock in our amazing Eurotrip memories. I got super sappy and wrote SM+HS on my lock… sorry to embarrass you, Spence. All locked in, we stood on the bridge looking at the messages underneath the sunset. A quick group picture was the last thing on the agenda before walking down the canal to Notre Dame. There was some kind of service going on inside but they were letting the general public in for a peek in the back. After a few “Amens” we headed back for the metro, stopping at a few shops along the way. That night after eating a Nutella crepe for dinner and getting all purdy, we met Holly C’s friends at a hotel party. They brought us in a boujie back room and handed us glasses of champagne. Later on – I think it might have been around 1am, we all got into taxis and went to a huge Parisian club where we were treated with bottle service in our own little area of leather couches and chandeliers. I still don’t know how that happened but it was freaking awesome. We didn’t leave the club until about 4:30am but there was still time for crepe #3. We noticed the small vendor booth by Place de Clichy was still open… “STOP RIGHT HERE!”. The poor taxi driver probably thought it was an emergency. Well, really it was… we needed late-night crepes. And let me tell you, a steak and cheese crepe was probably the best late-night treat I’ve ever had.

Saturday:

I think we got 3 hours of sleep. We had to be up, ready, and completely packed up by 10am to checkout with Patrice. The first thing on the agenda that morning was coffee. But we had to take the metro to the Eiffel Tower first. We had planned to actually go up to the top but the line was about 2 hours long and we didn’t have time to do that. Instead, we got some street food for breakfast and hung out by the base of the Tower. Guess what I got? Bingo – Nutella crepe. AND coffee. We played around on the greenery and took about 300 pictures. Before going back to the Eurostar for our return trip, we stopped over at a café for some of the others to grab a cappuccino, shopped around, and picked up our bags at the apartment. Another 2 hour journey of semi-sleep and ear popping but we made it back to London safe and sound. Everyone was pretty much pooped by the time we got back so I took them to the pub on my street, which also happens to be my favorite pub in London. I haven’t been to a ton of them but they are just so friendly here… maybe it’s because they know me by now but regardless, it’s great. The girls all seemed to love it as much as I do. We all got Rekorderlig ciders (my fave) and a British dish. It was rainy but almost made it that much more perfect. It was a quintessential night in London. We spent the rest of the night very cozy in my flat, watching British TV and laughing at Val who tried to eat nuts that she was allergic to. Don’t worry, she didn’t die. Her tongue was just on fire.

Sunday:

Up and at ‘em. The ten of us were out of the apartment by 9:30am to make our way over to the Tower of London where they were memorializing all those lost in WWI. They have been building a sea of red poppies around the Tower’s moat, for months now and were about to add the last one in the next few days, totaling to almost 900,000. We got there just in time and were able to participate in the 2 minute moment of silence with the giant crowed that had flocked to the area that day. Afterwards, I took them onto the Tower Bridge so that we could relive Spice World in our own way. It was insanely busy over there so we decided to walk down to the market on Brick Lane. I pointed out the beautiful graffiti art on the brick buildings along our route until arriving at the market. This is definitely one of my favorites – I think I told you about it before. Any kind of food you can possibly imagine, from every corner of the world, was there. We tried Italian gnocchi, Greek stuffed grape leaves, Lebanese dumplings, mulled wine, and many other ethnic samples. Between our snacks, the girls and I shopped at the vendor booths inside for jewelry, scarves, dresses, and other trinkets. We finished out shopping extravaganza, at the market at least, and took the tube back to Knightsbridge where I brought the girls to the giant H+M across from my flat. Yes, there is an H+M across the street from me… serious problem. Even from my semester abroad in Madrid I noticed the H+Ms in Europe to be 100x better than the ones at home, no idea why. We dropped some more cash, quickly went back to the flat to change, and headed for High Tea. I had made reservations at the Capital Hotel down the street, between my flat and Harrods. We enjoyed our own pots of tea, mini sandwiches, pastries, and scones with jam and jelly. Do you know the difference between jam and jelly? Some of you know it. I alarmed the waiter when I asked for the check only after about an hour – it’s usually a 3 hour deal – Harrods was closing at 6 and it was already 4:50. The girls HAD to see the inside of Harrods before they left. There was no way we weren’t going to lose each other so we picked a meeting spot outside by the Christmas tree and went along our merry ways. At 6 we met up, dropped our things at my apartment, changed into less-High-Tea-outfits, and went into Covent Garden again for our last night out together. Sunday Funday brought us to Punch and Judy, the balcony bar that I like to bring my visitors to. We got a drink and sat outside, overlooking all the Christmas lights. Punch and Judy had already stopped serving dinner so we decided to walk back toward Leicester Square to find a restaurant. A guy standing outside Maxwell’s restaurant and bar spotted us and said, “Do you want to have amazing food at Maxwell’s? We LOVE the United States of America here! We LOVE American football”. We must’ve been dripping stars and stripes and he may have been lying but he totally got our attention. We got a table for 10 at Maxwell’s and ordered a few drinks with dinner, recanting all of the awesome things we had seen, done, and tasted that extra-long weekend.

That was the last night with the 10 person crazy-parade. I had to go into work on Monday for a meeting but the girls got in an extra day of exploring and visiting the London Eye. When I arrived back to Sloane Street that night, I walked into a spotless flat, with a thank-you card, and gift placed on the table. My friends are better than your friends. Sorry, that’s rude – but they really are special people. I should be the one thanking YOU GIRLS for booking flights to come visit… no need to thank me. It was a vacation of a lifetime and I have all the best people to thank for it. You are all amazing.

After all that fun, I’ve spent this week catching up on work and juice-cleansing. Last night was pretty cool though – I went to an old, abandoned tube station to watch a movie. I know, sounds pretty bizarre, but it was actually an organized event, posted on TimeOutLondon.com. They have this pop-up theatre running for a long weekend – you pick the date and the movie you want to see and buy a ticket for 5 quid. A few of us walked over after work and approached a random side door covered in graffiti – we weren’t sure if we were in the right place but it said right on the door, “Here for the pillow cinema? Please knock”. Well alright. Knock Knock. A man looking all dapper in his suit greeted us at the door, took down our names, and gave us our pillow theatre wristbands. I bet you are all wondering why I keep saying “pillow theatre”… would’ve been nice if I explained that before, huh? OK, so the whole idea is that they have a bunch of giant beanbags in the old tube station and you can bring your pillow there to hang out and watch a movie. Apparently a few weeks ago they had “Hot Tub Theatre” and replaced the bean bags with blow up hot tubs. Cool concept but also somewhat gross, count me out for those germs. So anyway – some of the crew grabbed drinks and snacks at the bar and we walked down into the dungeon of mystery. We opened the black curtain and were presented with basically a couple-fest.. but it was OK because we were a group of 2 and 2.. just sharing the bean bags a little differently than the others. The movie, “There Will Be Blood”, was extremely odd but the atmosphere was unique enough to keep my interest.

Today we had our regular Friday morning breakfast at a nearby restaurant, Dishoom, that is opening up shortly to the public but allowing local businesses to try them out. I’ll give them a thumbs up. Tomorrow I am actually venturing off on a solo adventure: I bought a bus tour ticket that takes you around for 10 hours to Bath, Stonehenge, and Windsor Castle. I am pretty much out of weekends since Ash is coming next week (YAY!) so I figured I needed to venture outside London at least once. Don’t worry, I’ll be back with more stories and pictures after the tour.

Thanks again for keeping up with my adventures – I am so pleased to hear how many of you I’ve kept entertained throughout my journey. I’ll only have a few more to post before leaving on Nov 30^th so enjoy the rest of the time with me while you can! XO