I finally mustered up enough energy to recap the best trip across the pond this June!! Most of the group went a few days earlier so I traveled with Claire, Melissa, and Caroline, and we headed to the airport Wednesday evening. With plenty of time to spare, we grabbed a fun dinner at Ecco before making our way to the gate. The trip was off to a great start when I unexpectedly got moved from my second to last row on the plane up to Premium Plus!! I took total advantage of all the free amenities and slept the entire flight. We arrived at Heathrow around 11 am on Thursday and grabbed a cab to meet the others at Shotover! Once we arrived, we had an amazing al fresco lunch out front. Then, the 4 of us walked the property while the others continued archiving. We helped a little bit before getting ready for a rose cocktail hour in the drawing room with some guests. Then, we grilled out a BBQ outside followed by lots of singing and wine.
The others headed out early to visit a school, so Claire, Caroline, and I slept in (very late) before taking the bus to Oxford with Emerson and Ellie. We grabbed a quick lunch at Leon and then shopped around. We especially loved exploring the covered market, where we found the cutest tea shops (which I decided to buy for my engagement party hostess's gifts!), chocolate stores, and the infamous Ben's Cookies! Once the others were finished with the school, we met up with them at the Magdellen Bridge for punting on River Cherwell! Afterward, we did a little more shopping before it was time for drinks and dinner at The Quod. A few of us ventured to The Alchemist for the most fun and creative drinks! Once we got home, the younger girls planned a surprise headband hunt, hiding all of Abbie's (12) headbands around the house. Afterward, we enjoyed some slow gin in our rooms!
We soaked up our last full day at Shotover on Sunday. We took a fun house tour, walked to the stables, finished our main task with archiving, and had a fun lunch with Alex's sister and brother-in-law. Once we got all cleaned up, we enjoyed cocktail hour in the library followed by our Downton dinner!! We topped the night off with a few rounds of Empire, another headband hunt, and some competitive rounds of Flip Cup. A few of us stayed up late talking in the library before finally calling it a night.
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Gift basket for the lovely hosts
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On Sunday we enjoyed a big breakfast and some time outside before heading to London. We checked in to the nicest AirBnB, which was a great location and a 180 from the historic Shotover. We quickly got ready and made our way to Claridges for high tea. This was such a fun experience and I loved that they even brought me my own specialized vegetarian tea sandwiches. After unlimited amounts of tea and surprise desserts, we walked over to Buckingham Palace and St. James Park. Then, we ventured through Hyde Park where we got to overhear a Pink concert going on and see the most beautiful sunset! Everything seemed to close early, so we grabbed a quick drink at The Queen's Arms on our walk back to the house. We had a few snacks at the house before calling it a night.
We were able to get some exploring in on Monday before my surprise Hen Party! We walked through Kensington Gardens on the way to shop (really just look!) at Harrod's. A few of us stopped at Caffe Concerto on our way home for a quick lunch before putting on our sparkles for the Hen Party! It was the best evening filled with a boat ride on the canal, dinner at a restaurant near Camden Market, and then drinks at a cool bar in Covent Gardens. When we got home, we played 3 Rounds and made a (drunk) version of homemade pizza. It was an absolute blast celebrating with everyone!
The rest of the group was headed to Richmond on Tuesday, but Claire and I really wanted to explore more since it was our first time over there. We walked to the tube with everyone and then split ways as we headed to Westminster Station. We were amazed to get off the tube and immediately look up to Big Ben and Parliament! We then walked over to Westminster Abbey, which was sadly sold out for tours, but enjoyed shopping through their gift shop just as much. We walked by the London Eye and then decided to hop on the train to get to London Bridge. From there, we grabbed the most AMAZING sandwich at The Black Pig in Burrough Market, which was recommended to us by Rebecca's cousin. Once we were refueled, we made our way to Covent Gardens for shopping and an impromptu foot massage! We were glad to stumble upon the REAL part of the Covent Gardens we were wanting to see after being underwhelmed where we explored on our own. This was such a cool area and we enjoyed looking through all the souvenir shops! On our way back to the tube, we stopped in a shop to find the sought-after Gluggle Jugs but were pleased to hear the others found cheaper ones in Richmond. We hopped on the tube once again and headed out to meet them for our last night of drinks and dinner! Once we arrived, we grabbed quick beer at The Prince's Head, which is the pub on Ted Lasso. Then, we walked by Ted's apartment and the green area until we made our way to the river, where we stumbled upon White Cross, which was a great pitstop for an Aperol Spritz. Once we were finished, it was time to meet up with the rest of the group for dinner at White Swan. I loved how laid back Richmond was and it was such a quint little town! Once we got back, we packed up and got ready to head home the following morning.
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