Mid July we set off for the vacation of a lifetime!
We took the train to Delhi for our flights.
We stayed in a cabin for the first time to be like Harry Potter and the kids thought it was the coolest thing.
We always stop at Aerocity and get kebabs, daal and ramaali roti from Khan Chacha... a fave of ours from our Delhi days.
Madelyn wanted to take this picture and I thought it was the cutest thing. She is growing up so quickly and wonderfully.
We flew from Delhi to Paris. 1st stop.. macaroons and pastries because you have to in France?!
The airport had a free arcade for kids... it was awesome!
England from overhead.
Our first couple days we spend in London. We did all the touristy things. I was blown away because I didn't realize the entire center of London was so intricately and beautifully built. I love architecture and design so everything was a delight to me.
Ezra loved the telephone booths. I explained a day when there were no cellphones and this is how you would call someone outside your house. Needless to say, he was shocked at the idea.
We found a teashop near Hyde Park for a traditional Afternoon Tea. There were a few types of sandwiches, a few types of cakes and scones with clotted cream and jam. I had Earl Grey tea, the kids had coke and Luke had coffee.. American party of 4. haha!
I have always wanted to do this.. :)
Next we went to the Natural History Museum which was really fascinating.
I was blown away with the building itself.
The kids were blown away with all the dinosaur bones.
After that we went to Hyde Park. There were some local kids playing soccer. Ezra always amazes me at his willingness to ask strangers if he can play and he joins in. He is super self-assured which is a great quality.
Madelyn is usually less willing to talk to new kids first and she loves nature more than sports so she was perfectly content to hunt for rocks and sticks.
Hanging with this guy and appreciating the fun we get to have together.
We went to the playground and the kids had a blast. London is way more multicultural than I imagined.
Just some beautiful scenes.
Literally every street was just awesome looking.
The next day we took a hop on/hop off bus tour.
Love having her by my side.
Westminster Abbey and Big Ben
St. Paul's Cathedral
Tower Bridge and our super cool tourist crowns.
Our bus tour came with a boat ride. I was most shocked by the Globe Theatre. I had studied that in school and to see something that Shakespeare used still in tact and functioning was amazing. The UK definitely knows how to restore and keep its structures and history.
Buckingham Palace.
We saw the guards changing but not the queen.
The 150th annual British Open was at St. Andrews, the birthplace of Golf, and Tiger Woods was playing this year so it felt so momentous to have gotten tickets and be present.
We took the kids to the World Golf Museum... making the trip a little educational since they are skipping school.
St. Andrews was breathtaking.
The streets were dreamy!
It was all stone and castle-like.
It was also off the ocean.
This is the courtyard used in the Harry Potter movies.
We ate lunch here everyday. The grocery stores sell a $4 sandwich, chip, drink meal that we took full advantage of!
They're favorite part was that we were glamping next to the course. We had a huge tent to stay in. They had mattresses for us but we brought blankets and pillows. It was cold at night so we snuggled really close together in on pod. Also, as more people arrived it got louder, later as people stayed up. They all slept fine despite the noise, and I put an audiobook on with my headphones which always puts me to sleep.
There were these really nice portable bathrooms.
There were also picnic tables, food trucks and a soccer field for the kids to play in. It was super family friendly and fun. I loved getting to know other families from the UK... and their accents were awesome!
Snuggled up and snacking in our tent.
There were hundreds of tents it was crazy!
Every day after lunch, the boys would go back to watch some more golf and Madelyn and I would go on a girl's date for some hot cocoa, coffee and pastries.
The kid's loved the activities they had at the course. We would stop by for fun in the middle of watching the tournament.
So cool to see a place with so much history!
All the streets are just beautiful.
We rooted for Scottie Scheffler, but the last day he didn't shoot well and Cameron Smith won.
A family selfie at the iconic 18th hole.
This was Tiger walking up to the 18th hole at sunset. So beautiful!
The sun started to set around 8pm and didn't actually go down until midnight. It was crazy!
One morning Luke went out early to follow the leaders and the kids and I had a slower morning. They watched a movie on the iPad and I watched the tournaments from the tvs in the large tent.
Ezra loved the virtual golf game. Super cool!
We had such a great time at the British Open!
We only had tickets to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of the tournament. Then we headed up North to explore the Scottish Highlands. It was mind-blowingly beautiful!
We found a Scottish storm-trooper.
There were verses engraved on the wall downtown in a Scottish town we stopped at for lunch.
The kids with the iconic bridge from Harry Potter.
We are big Harry Potter fans so this was so awesome to see in person.
This is the lake next to Hogwarts. For the movie they added Hogwarts on a cliff on the right side of this scene.
We stayed one night in this cabin next to a lake in Glencoe.
It was such a cute cabin with a kitchenette, bathroom, bed in the back and pull out couch.
We watched the last of the Open with Doritos and a view.
This lake by the cabin had jellyfish and was so clear that you saw straight through it.
What a beautiful place!
A sweet family photo before we left.
We even stopped by Lochness lake but didn't see Nessie the monster. :)
The next day we went to Edinburgh to see Victoria Street where JK Rowling wrote the first Harry Potter books. I can definitely see where they got visual inspiration for Diagon Alley.
There was also a beautiful cathedral nearby.
On our way back to England we drove by the coast which was a beautiful cliff side.
We stopped by Sheffield on our way back to London to spend the day with some family friends of Luke's family. They met 20 years ago on a cruise and have kept in contact since. It was amazing to meet up with them and hear about life in the UK from their perspective.
They made a huge BBQ spread. It was delicious!
Such a fun way to end our UK adventure.
On the flight from London the Orlando they served us an afternoon tea with little sandwiches, a cake and a scone?! It was awesome!
We then spent the next week at a Universal hotel and enjoyed the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. There are also great rides that are from Dr. Seuss and Jurassic Park.
Madelyn loves carousels. :)
Madelyn was big enough to go on Hagrid's ride and she was so excited!
The kids were so excited to go back because they have a much better understanding of Harry Potter than they did 2 years ago.
We also got to ride the Hogwarts Express from one park to the other which was super fun!
We love the Volcano Bay waterpark. It has wristbands that allow you to virtually wait in a line and then go play elsewhere. Plus the aqua coaster ride is awesome!
Everyday we went to the parks for 4-5 hours then went back to the hotel to eat, swim, catch up on work and rest for the next day.
After some meetings which brought us to Orlando in the first place, we headed back to India with so many memories and photos from seriously the best vacay ever!
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