United Kingdom 2024 — Eco Akamai

Operation Mak’s 21st Birthday happened in London and we had so much fun celebrating!

We arrived the W Hotel at Leicester Square and we immediately felt at home in London Town. Our first stop was to The Ritz to enjoy some Gin & Tonics at The Rivoli Bar. Afterwards, on the recommendation of our new friend Hermione, we walked over to the Royal Academy of Arts to see their new sculpture for the exhibit Entangled Pasts, 1768–now: Art, Colonialism and Change.

“The Royal Academy in London has unveiled a monumental new public sculpture by the Bahamian-born interdisciplinary artist Tavares Strachan. The First Supper (Galaxy Black) (2023) has been installed in the courtyard as part of “Entangled Pasts, 1768-now: Art, Colonialism and Change,” a new exhibition that puts the RA’s historic artworks in conversation with contemporary masterpieces to explore and challenge narratives around empire, race, and colonialism.”

Then we were off to The Lucky Pig for our cocktail class, where we fell in love with the espresso martini!

Day #2: Today we are touring London by foot. We walked over Black Friars bridge to the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels … and the Ravens! Lunch was sausage rolls at Borough Market and fun memories of being there before on our Muggles Tour (fun fact, in Bridget Jones Diary, her flat is located along these roads). Next we went to the Tate Modern Museum to soak up some art. And to end the perfect day, we had dinner with Mak at Hotel.

Hello Tower of London!

We so wanted to grab lunch at the Coppa Club in one of these beyond cute Domes, but they were all booked for the day.

A familiar sight from our Muggles Tour in 2014!

Hello Borough Market!

Hello Tate Modern!

Adorable refreshments that we throughly enjoyed!

Then we walked back to the W to have dinner with Mak!

Day #3: The day started with a dream of riding horses in Hyde Park. We celebrated afterwards with Aperol Spritzes at The Serpentine Then we walked the city to Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square. Next it was to Harrods for shopping and lunch of smoky salmon and ceasar salad with some champagne to toast Mak 21st birthday … after all, Lori was there when he was born! The evening took us to beyond delicious Indian food at Dishoom for a 9pm festive birthday celebration for Mak. So fun celebrating with him in London!

Day #4: Today was our Day Tour to Blenheim Palace and the Cotswolds. We planned to get there early to find the bus with ease … only to run around trying to find the bus kiosk, only to realize we were in the correct place at the beginning all along. After the enchanting Blenheim, we toured the Cotswolds towns of Bourton-on-the-Water, then to Bampton-in-the-Bush, where they filmed Downton Abbey.

And we learned a new word today …. Numpty, a name for bad drivers.

We arrived back to hotel at 7:30pm and we had our Peeking Duck from Harrod’s, Hendrick’s Gin and Tonics, and we watched Bridget Jones Diary. The perfect night after a big day of adventure!

Bourton-on-the-Water

Bampton-in-the-Bush

Day #5: We were pp early and off to tour Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and City of Bath with Mak! At Windsor we toured the Chapel, paid our respects to the Queen, and explored the State Apartments, which were beautifully decorated. After the changing of the Guards we grabbed egg sandwiches for lunch and Mak devoured a doughnut. We drove by Frogmore and Royal Ascot. Stonehenge was mystical and magical. And the City of Bath won our hearts! We toured the ancient baths and cozied up for some snacks and Espresso Martinis with Mak.

A quick view of Royal Ascot!

Finally fulfilled my life long dream of visiting Stonehenge!

And our last stop of the day is to the City of Bath!

Day #6: Our last full day was a rainy day in London! We explored Covent Gardens and scored some new fabulous scarves and records for Lori. Then it was off to Nag Head to warm up at a traditional English Pub. And lastly over to Tommi’s burgers to meet Mak for a final-final meal of burgers and fries from one of our favorite spots from his 5th grade adventure … so happy it was still here! After many hugs goodbye, we headed back to the hotel, and of course grabbed our final-final Hendricks Gin & Tonics.

We loved our adventure to London!!!! Goodbye until next time!