London Day 3 & 4!!

Sorry we didn't write yesterday, we got home late and were totally pooped! Yesterday morning Emily and I got up early and took the tube into London with Ryan. He showed us how to find a couple stores and the bus tour we wanted to take. So we started walking down Oxford street, which is the most busy shopping street in the world. Delanie told us about this store called Primark, she said they have clothes similar to H&M, but cheaper, so of course we had to go! Everything was very cute, really cheap, and we could have bought everything, but didn't. We did find a number of cute things, and neither of us spent more than 15 pounds! Then we walked to the Big Bus Tour stand and bought our tickets (Sorry Gramma Karen we wanted to try your London bus tour, but we didn't think we had enough time and didn't have enough confidence in ourselves yet). This tour took us all around! We saw the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, the London Eye (which we might go on either tomorrow or Monday), Buckingham Palace and Westminister Abbey. We got off the bus at Westminister Abbey and went in, I (Sami) remember the cloisters from the last time we were there. The church is beautiful, but we felt like there were tombs and graves shoved into every little space available. We also got off at Buckingham Palace, there were no guards outside the gate, unfortunately, but we did see some. We also got off at Saint Paul's Cathedral and climbed up to the top. These stairs seemed like nothing compared to the stairs of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, the Arc de Triomphe and Robert's apartment everyday. It wasn't that hot all day, especially in the morning. We think the British are a little crazy if they call this a "heat wave." So we took the tube back at the end of the day to get changed and go out with Ryan and Delanie for drinks and dinner. We took a taxi to the Punchbowl, which is a club owned by Guy Ritchie, Madonna's exhusband. We had this drink which was good, we have no clue what it was, but it was good. Then we went to Hush a really cute restaurant not far away. There I had Victorian sausages and Emily had a steak pie. Then to drink we were hooked up with a Champagne Rose Beer, it was really interesting, but pretty good, very light. Then when we were walking down New Bond Street after dinner trying to hail a cab, the paparazzi swarmed and out of a car comes Kissinger's daughter and STEVE MARTIN. They were going into Gordon Ramsey's restaurant at the Claridge Hotel. He was looking pretty old, but that was our first star sighting and it was pretty cool. Then... this morning after waffles we headed towards Camden Market. It is an adventure traveling the streets with the boys, but a fun one. On the way we went to Abbey Road! I (now Emily talking) was so excited :D We got some good pictures walking across the famous road and in front of Abbey Road recording studios. I even walked across the street barefoot, just like Paul! Afterwards we walked to Paul McCartney's London house. Then we were off to the market. Camden Market is where punk rock evolved. It was such a cool area and we could've spent all day there! There were so many booths, eateries, and people. It was a lot of fun. Sami and I then headed off to Harrods, a huge famous department store. It was really busy because right now all the summer sales are taking place. The store is amazing, especially the food area. There are champange bars, practically every kind of restaurant, and sections devoted to cheese, wine, candy, and almost any food you can think of. We strolled through the different departments and even looked at wedding dresses and versace gowns :) The washroom (bathroom) was very impressive. There was a woman there greeting you and directing you to an open toilette. They even had a wide spread of perfumes on the counters you could try when you were finished washing your hands. Sami used Marc Jacob's rain and I used the classic Chanel No 5. We left Harrods and went into a couple other stores nearby. Then we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. There was so much to see, but Sami and I are a little exhausted from museums. We did our best exploring and headed back to Delanie and Ryan's. When we got down into the tube there was a huge backup because so many people were trying to get on the line. The platform was so over crowded they stopped the ticket machines and made people wait to go down to the platform. Finally the train came and we were let through. We had a delicious dinner, including a hummus platter, coos coos, and shiskabobs. During dinner and before hand we watched the Wimbeldon championship matches. They were great. After dinner when the boys went to bed, Delanie, Ryan, Sami, and I watched Twilight. I was very excited because it is one of my favorite movies and none of them had seen it. Tomorrow Sami and I hope to make it to the London eye, but if not there is always Monday! We are also planning on going to the music festival in Hyde park tomorrow evening. That should be lots of fun. We have a ton of pictures, but we will probably wait to post them until we get back to Paris. We miss and love you all!

Sami and Emily :)