The Rococo Roamer

The White Drawing Room

The King's Bedchamber

Source

St. George's Hall

Source

So as you can see, it was once again raining all day, but because we visited during the holidays the inside was beautifully decorated with Christmas decor. We used Viator.com to book the tour (including Stonehenge & Bath, same day). I'll be booking with them again!

To book a guided tour of Windsor Castle go here.

Next Stop: Stonehenge!

There are two previous parts to this trip:
London (Day 1)|London (Day2)

Do you dream of visiting the Queen's residence?

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http://bonnieroseblog.co.uk/2014/01/love-write-travel.html

London (Day 2)

Day two in London was no day of rest either. Plus, it was New Year's Eve and I had no official plans...yet. On this day, I got to see St. Paul's Cathedral, The Globe Theater, Burrough Market, HMS Belfast, Tower Bridge, enjoy an Afternoon Tea, and spend NYE partying at a club in Islington. B was amazing at navigating the Tube. We zipped all over London with ease.

First stop of the day was St. Paul's Cathedral.

St. Paul's Cathedral, done in the English Baroque style, looks pretty normal outside but has a lot going on inside. You have to pay to get in and there are audio guides included. There is also a crypt and you can walk over a thousand steps to get to the top of the dome. I had no idea there were so many steps and I was going cross eyed by the time we got to the top. But seeing the view of London at the top of the dome was nice.

Next I wanted to see Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

The Globe Theater is south of St. Paul's Cathedral near the Tower Bridge. I'm not really a theater person, but you can't deny how great his written plays are. Having studied an entire semester of Shakespeare's works, I had to see the Globe Theater which today (because of multiple fires), is a replica of what the stage would look like in Shakespeare's time. Back in the day, plays used to be illegal and definitely not a place where women were allowed. If you head to The Globe, make sure to check out the nearby Borough Market which is full of local food stuffs.

Also near this area is the HMS Belfast, which B wanted to see. The HMS Belfast was a Royal Navy warship that had a long history in WWII. It is now a museum that floats on the River Thames. We didn't go inside the museum, though this is obviously an option.

The Table Scaper (Oh the Places I've Been!)

Right next to the HMS Beslfast is the Tower Bridge. You can literally see it in the same picture above. It can be a very pretty sight, especially when illuminated at night and it leads to the Tower of London.

For my last day in London, I wanted to make sure I experienced an "Afternoon Tea." I found one near the Tower Bridge that wasn't super expensive. You get a layer of scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam which is delicious, a layer of finger sandwiches, and a layer of sweets along with your choice of tea. The price wasn't bad at 18 GBP (some can be very expensive). I loved it!

If you'd like to try an Afternoon Tea at the Quarter Bar and Lounge, head to:

London Bridge Hotel,

8-18 London Bridge St, London SE1 9SG, United Kingdom

+44 20 7855 2200

We made some last minute plans to spend New Year's Eve at a crazy night club in Islington called Passing Clouds. It was one of the strangest clubs I've ever been to but a lot of fun. I'd describe it as a reggae space odyssey night club. We met up with some of my college besties that we hadn't seen since our wedding (over a year ago) to ring in the New Year. It was a fabulous night.

Stay tuned for my last day in England where I took a day trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath, England, to see the Roman Baths.

For today's itinerary in London I rated as follows:

Next Stop: Windsor Castle
(If you missed Day 1 you can click here)

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7 Offbeat Bookshelves for the Home

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http://bonnieroseblog.co.uk/2014/01/photo-shoot-bavaria-germany.html

7 Offbeat Bookshelves for the Home

This week, in my FurnitureFashion.com article, I show off 7 weird looking bookshelves. I love reading and I am a firm believer that books are better than e-readers. I've never owned one and probably never will. Never say never right? But seriously, I want to one day have a library room in my house. Meanwhile, here are some offbeat bookshelves that I really admire. My favorites are the Design Workshop Rolling Cart and the Flexi Shelving. To see the rest of the offbeat bookshelf inspiration and images click the link below.

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London (Day 1)

I had a whirlwind adventure in London for the past week including a New Year's celebration. I had 3 full days to spend in the U.K. and did I ever spend it jammed packed with activities. There is so much to do in London that the options seemed overwhelming at first. Where would I stay? What would I do? What do you eat in the U.K.? But the one that I needed to figure out first was where would I stay. The neighborhoods to me were so confusing. Each one has their own breath of life.

Booking a hotel at the last minute for New Year's was becoming too expensive so I ended up using Airbnb.com. This is a website that I have used before and it was a life saver. You get to have rooms or sometimes whole apartments to yourself that people rent out at a price that is way cheaper than a hotel. This means you can vacation like a local and even have a bigger number of guests without breaking the bank. And Airbnb is the middle man like Paypal, so you aren't getting ripped off by a stranger. What I learned this time around is that Airbnb is also a great too for finding rooms in bigger cities. This was especially good for London because it gave me a little bio for each neighborhood and you pick your neighborhood based on what you want to do. Do you want to stay in a touristy, artsy, or wealthy neighborhood? Airbnb can help you figure that out and then you figure out price and location to the city center accordingly. Seriously a lifesaver. I've also used Homeaway.com which is a similar website. A little fun fact: I found out later that the area of our apartment that we stayed in was literally the former kill route of Jack the Ripper...I can see why that wasn't added in the description though I think it adds to the appeal.

On day one I managed to visit Camden Lock Market, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, London Eye, and Harrods! Let's start with Camden Lock.

So I need to start off by saying that it rained everyday we were in England. The only other time I brought my umbrella and used it on a trip was Amsterdam. It was also pretty windy in England. And due to this factor 50% of my pictures are from my iPhone. But of course we had to push through the bad weather. I've been wanting to visit the Camden Lock Market because I heard it was a cool/different side of London. It's filled with hipster/handmade items, food, and souvenirs.

Head far enough into the market and you'll step right into the Stables which is a market in an old underground stable. It's pretty cool looking and it has the same kind of stuff as the Camden Lock.

And of course we had to try the famous fish and chips!

Next we strolled over to see a cluster of famous sights all in the same general area. Here's Big Ben, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament and various other famous buildings.

Walk a little further and you can see the Buckingham Palace.

We also took the tube to the Natural History Museum and the building is beautiful in itself, but there was an hour long wait to get in so we decided against it. I've always wanted to check out Harrods in all it's ridiculously expensive glory, so we headed that way. It's pretty much the most extravagant department store you'll ever see. In the middle of one of the rooms there was a mother feeding her 3 year old son caviar and oysters. I mean really? I made sure not to touch anything for fear of breaking something. We walked around for quite a bit but once we got to the pet spa we knew it was time leave.

Harrods all decked out for the holidays

I rated today's itinerary in London as follows:

Stay tuned for Day 2 of London!

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