May 21, 2026
We were up at 5 so we could walk to the train station and catch our flight to London. (Yes, we were going to the right place this time!) We grabbed a quick bite in the airport and then we both passed out for the entire plane ride to London. It was much needed. After arriving in London we took the Picadilly underground line to Hammersmith and then took a bus to Barnes and then walked 10 minutes to get to our Airbnb. It's a coach house in a garden on a quiet street and is SO BEAUTIFUL. Evan and I did a load of laundry and then hung our clothes all around to dry.
We hopped back on the bus and then the train, this time to Covent Garden, where we were meeting up with my cousin Joe for lunch. We ate at Dishoom, an Indian restaurant that's come highly recommended to us from multiple people. We tried lamb biryani, chaat, naan, mixed greens and a few other dishes. It was a little too spicy for my and Joe's taste.
After lunch we walked through London to the new Banksy that was erected in April- a full size "patriot" blinded by the flag....
After that we walked to see Big Ben, The Cromwell Center and Westminster Abbey. The detail in the buildings is just so ornate.
Then we walked through St. James' Park where we really enjoyed watching the ducks, pigeons and swans. We sat on a bench (my favorite) for a little while before walking to Buckingham Palace and watching the changing of the guard.
Then we started our journey back to the Airbnb, but were ghosted by our bus (we thought this only happened in Chicago!). We made it back eventually to find my parents sitting in the garden outside our Airbnb. We all headed to dinner on the patio at Red Lion, a famous English pub, that was a 10 minute walk from our Airbnb. We told mom and dad about our travels thus far, and they told us about how they tried to check in for their flight at 10pm Tuesday night but couldn't get checked in. After multiple attempts it dawned on my mom that they had renewed their passports after their last trip to Europe and so the number on the English visa (which they had applied for prior to their last trip and was technically still good) didn't match their new passport numbers so was invalid. My mom panicked and got my dad out of bed in the middle of the night so she could take his picture for the English visa. They applied right then but were so worried what they would do if it took the standard 3 day window to be approved. Luckily they were approved in minutes (my dad must look pretty good, even in the middle of the night) and so were able to get checked in. Thank goodness!
After dinner we walked to Coach and Horses for Kassidy and Nick's welcome reception. We thought it would be a quick 10 minute walk, but somehow got lost and took the 30 minute scenic route. The reception was held outside on the back patio which was perfect because the weather had cooled. We embraced my cousins, aunt and uncle, heard their harrowing travel story and enjoyed spending the evening together. Evan, my parents and I, walked the ten minutes (this time we got it right) home from Coach and Horses, and headed to bed. It was close to 1130 after all.
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