It was the first official full day of a Trip of a Lifetime. With my pink Coach crossbody, and black and white Urban Outfitters shorts, the crew headed to the station. Let me tell you something, it was hot as HELL. Unlike the Long Island Railroad, the trains in England do not have air conditioning. We had finally arrived at our destination (aka London) and as we were headed off the train a man collapsed into another woman's lap. IT WAS THAT HOT. Don't worry we informed someone immediately.
Our plan was to first head off to the Albert and Victoria Museum. We had wanted to attend the beautiful Dior exhibition but there was no possible way we could get tickets. There was a long waiting list. Instead we decided to explore The William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery. I've never seen so many diamonds in one room. Supposedly the room held the necklace that Audrey Hepburn wears in Breakfast at Tiffanys, one of my all time favorite movies. Mackenzie and I searched the room for that necklace but we didn't find it. My favorite piece was a stunning crown, created by Cartier in 1903. Made for Consuelo, Dowager Duchess of Manchester. At the museum they have a beautiful outdoor space filled with flowers and a pond. Kids were playing in the pond since it was so hot, Mackenzie even said "can we go in there". Our mothers saying "absolutely not do you know what could be in there". After trying to get into another exhibit and learning it would be an hour later until we could, we decided it was best to head out onto the streets of London.
Our mini crew ended up at Borough Market, made up of many street vendors selling delicious food. The reason we ultimately ended up there was because Mackenzie had wanted to get empanadas that she was craving. I was hot as hell, and at this point feeling a bit dizzy. We headed into a small restaurant named Brindisa, hoping to get some appetizers and definitely water. Sitting down we just kept waiting for someone to come ask us our order, we got water which I not only drank but put on my face. Ultimately we ended up leaving when my mom got a text. To explain the next part you need some context. I am 100% Irish, my mom is actually first generation in America, and we have a lot of family and close friends living in Ireland. One of those life long Irish friends, Miriam, was in London that day. My mom (Mary Ann) and Miriam basically are sisters separated at birth, they constantly pick and make fun of each other. My mom had planned for us to meet before our dinner, Miriam texted saying she was at a hotel bar and there was air conditioning. After reading the two words air conditioning my mom immediately said we have to go. So we did. We made the journey to the lovely air conditioned hotel. As our mothers and Miriam talked, Mackenzie and I decided to go outside for a walk. We were right near the River Thames and the London Bridge. To me it was a whole new world, one of my biggest dreams in life since I was a little girl was to travel, and now here I was. Standing before the London Bridge, my best friend next to me and we were leaving for Paris the next day. I was on cloud 9.
After reminiscing and updating Miriam, the crew had to go. We had dinner reservations at The Shard. The shard is a 95 floor building and on floor 32 it contains a restaurant with the most breath-taking views of London. Which makes sense as the building is glass. We went through security and ascended to the restaurant. At this point in our trip we had been judging our waiters, if they were boys, saying if they were cute or not. By the way Mackenzie and I had not started this, Annmarie did, just needed to clarify. We even had a list going. I don't remember any of the other boy's names but I remember Antonio, our waiter at The Shard. I had decided right then and there that Antonio was my boyfriend. Mackenzie and I fought over him for a minute, but I reminded her of all the cute boys she went to school (she won't admit that) with and that she had Cody Simpson (that's a long story in itself) so she let me "have him". I always looked out for Antonio before he was coming, of course being the person I am I wanted to know where he was from. He did not have a British accent. Annemarie took charge and straight up asked him, he was from Spain. I immediately thought well I guess I have to go to Spain. Mackenzie and I of course had to check out the bathroom, and on this trip almost every time we went to the bathroom together something either weird, funny, or interesting happened. The Shard's bathroom was just as beautiful as the restaurant with its breathtaking views. We celebrated the trip in the perfect way with champagne, and our moms even surprised us with Happy Birthday Desserts. If you don't think Mackenzie and I are psycho well, we made Annemarie take a photo of Antonio. Without his knowledge of course. Every time we saw The Shard for the rest of the trip, we said "Oh Antonios up there", and I would act like we were going out after his shift. We still talk about Antonio together until this day.
After we had finished our dinner, it was time to head back home and leave Antonio. We made our way to the elevator, and a bunch of people were getting on. My mom, Mackenzie, and Annemarie got on the elevator and then it was as if we were in a movie. You know those scenes as the elevator doors close and the characters reach out together, yeah that happened. The doors started too close, and Annemarie reached out and went "COletteeee" and the doors shut. There I was standing alone on the 32nd of the The Shard all by myself, I was just hoping Antonio would come to save me. I proceeded to get on the elevator the next time it came up, with whom I called Kim Kardashian (no hate to her) because she had a big butt and kept taking photos of herself. I got off the elevator to find my family with their phones out taking photos of me and laughing hysterically. They said to me as we walked off to the station, still laughing our heads off that as soon as the doors had closed they began to hysterically laugh, "the people around us must have thought we were horrible".
We walked across the London Bridge to eventually make our way home. The next day my dreams would come true, I would be in Paris celebrating my 16th birthday. The 7 year old little girl's dreams were officially becoming true.
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