Hi there! 🙂

Today I will be telling you about the first stop of my 3 Week Summer 2018 European Trip: Richmond, in the United Kingdom!

Never in my life would I have thought to be going to Europe, let alone England!

I have been to places outside of the United States and I’ve wanted to travel to more. But in the past I had told myself that if I had never been to Europe, I would have been okay with it.

Until, I was actually there.

I was blown away at how beautiful the cities are and how nice the people are as well.

So why did we decide to go to to Europe in the first place?

Our friend Tim, who my husband met through his own business and who has now become a great friend, invited us to his “Retirement Party” from the British Royal Air Force (RAF).

There is this big Black Tie RAF Ball that happens during the summer in Lincoln where the military officers can blow off some steam while dancing, drinking, and having a great time with friends. The military officers can invite their own guests to join. Tim, used this party as an opportunity to celebrate his own retirement.

We obviously HAD to go! Plus, what girl doesn’t like an excuse to get all dressed up and go to a big fancy party?! This would also be the first time my husband EVER wore a Tux soooo, yeah I was pretty excited to see that too. 🙂

For the rest of that Story Click the link!

Tim was pretty much the biggest reason we ended up going to Europe. Because if he hadn’t invited us to the party I don’t think we would’ve gone at all. So if you’re reading this Tim, thanks for inviting us and being a great friend! We love you buddy! haha

Anyways, back to the Trip.

So like I said before (if you read the “about me” section of my page) my husband and I live in Las Vegas, Nevada so we have a great International Airport here. Which is really convenient because we can travel anywhere from here!

Now with its new Terminal 3 Airport it makes travelling internationally SO much easier. There aren’t as many long lines while checking in, dropping off your bag, or even going through security. We have TSA pre-check which also makes things easier as well (I highly recommend getting it if you travel a lot & if you are from the United States. It saves you time and you don’t have to take your shoes off while going through)!

We flew direct to London Gatwick Airport with British Airways. It was a 10 hour flight BUT it wasn’t too bad especially since our flight was in the afternoon and we could sleep and wake up the next day in England! 🙂

For some tips on handling long flights make sure to check out my “Long Flight? No Problem: Tips to make your flight more Enjoyable!” post

When we arrived we had to go through Customs. If you have ever flown internationally you know that custom security in ANY country can be either really easy going or really scary depending on the agent you get.

Luckily, the agents weren’t scary or mean this time around so it made things so much easier.  Especially after a 10 hour flight, I sure did not want to spend any more time than I had to to actually get into the city!

Tim met us at the airport and greeted us with a big smile! It was nice to finally see our friend again! 🙂 (It really hadn’t been that long since we last saw him. We had seen him on our trip to Orlando in April 2018, but it is still always nice to see friends again especially if they live thousands of miles away!) 

From the airport we traveled about an hour to get to Richmond, a town in England which is about 30 minutes from London where we stayed for 2 nights at Tim’s brothers house. Which is super nice and belongs in a magazine for how cute and comfy it is (Thanks Tim’s brother)!

I made sure to grab some crisps (aka chips because in England, chips are fries and crisps are chips) before the short ride over to Richmond cause I was hungry! If you have ever been on a plane you know that airplane food isn’t the greatest.

When we got to Richmond, we were able to finally take a shower before going on a walk through the town!

Our first stop was for food (cause we were straving!) I had my first real British Fish and Chips at The White Horse, and let me tell you it was DELICIOUS! I’m not a big fan of cooked fish (I’m more of a sushi person) but the British sure do know how to make some good ol’fish and chips! Not a big fan of the peas but that’s how they serve them there. I guess they have to get their greens in some how.

After our bellies were full, Tim,  showed us around the Richmond Bridge area where there are local restaurants and pubs. I had a lovely Lavender Gin and Tonic at Pitcher & Piano that is right next to the Thames River. It has a lovely patio where friends can hang out during the weekend or on a sunny day like the day we were there.

I don’t know how much more I can emphasize how beautiful the day was! The sun was out, people were sunbathing on the grass in the parks, riding their bikes, hanging out with their friends. Just taking in the day!

Apparently,  while we were in England we were lucky enough to be there during their “summer week.” Which is when the sun is out and its “hot.” Now, I put quotation marks around “hot” because I’m from Las Vegas and that weather in England was definitely not “hot.” It was sunny and beautiful,  but absolutely not hot at all like it gets here.

We had great weather in general for our 3 week trip around Europe, which we heard is no very common. So I appreciate that the we were able to enjoy ourselves to the fullest!

 

After our beautiful day in Richmond we headed off to bed to be ready for our next adventure around London!

See ya on the next post!xx

-Ang

To see what we did in London the next day click the link! 🙂

 

A quick side story for y’all!

While we were in Richmond, Tim told me that my favorite actor Tom Hardy,  lives down the street from his brothers house and that his son plays in the park across the street from the house! When he told me my jaw dropped and for the short time I was in Richmond I prayed that I would see him but unfortunately he’s currently filming a movie soooo yeah, I didn’t see him. Not even a glimpse of him riding down the street in his razor scooter.

*Sigh*

Next time, I guess. 😦