Day 2 started with sleeping in, breakfast at the hotel, a chat with our concierge about taking a Stonehenge tour the next day, and a short walk to Buckingham palace for the Changing of the Guards:

After that, we took a bus ride to the Tower of London.  The history behind the Tower has fascinated me ever since I fell in love with Philippa Gregory books 10 years ago.  I was dying to see the Crown Jewels and where Anne Boleyn was buried.  Those did not disappoint! No pictures were allowed inside, but I took this one outside by the moat:I knew that I would also be seeing it along the marathon course.  Being somewhere so rich with hundreds and hundreds of years of history is amazing to me.

After touring the Tower and getting a bite to eat, we headed back to the hotel via the tube (after riding the bus that morning we decided that too much time was being wasted in traffic and the tube was much faster, though it did take some initial figuring out.)  It was about 6:30 that we arrived back and we asked our concierge if there any teeny tiny little chance that we could get show tickets for that night.  He pulled it off! We got tickets to Matilda that started at 7:30.  Before we headed back to our rooms, we asked him where we could find the delicious candy that was always set out in their lobby.  He apologized and said he didn’t know where we could buy it.  Keep in mind up until this point, we had been stopping at the concierge desk for every single question we had (like transportation, food, anything) and they always had an answer and were so helpful and nice.

We headed to our rooms and changed before getting a cab to Matilda, which was showing in an area of the city called Covent Garden.  It was the most darling area.  We knew that we wanted to come back if we had a chance to.We loved the show.

We headed back to our hotel and I got some solid FaceTime sessions with some of my favorites: (I wonder if Gus missed following me around all day because he can never be more than yard from my feet at all times.)

Day 3 started with breakfast at our hotel before the tour bus picked us up for our tour of Windsor, Bath, and Stonehenge.  We spent a lot of time on a bus (posted Day 1 while on the bus) so it was a good activity for the day before a marathon- not too much walking.

At Windsor we saw the private apartments and the cathedral where all past royalty was buried (amazing!).  It was absolutely beautiful and dripping with history (again, no photos allowed inside.)  Her majesty the Queen was in while we were there.  I was wondering what she was doing just past the courtyard, but then I remembered it was her 90th birthday the day before, and she was probably exhausted from all her many celebrations and was most likely resting. After Windsor Castle, was a trip to Bath.  It is an ancient city where hot springs were discovered and the architecture around it has been there for thousands of years- thousands! Crazy.  It has long been believed that the water has magical powers and there’s one wishing well in particular that is known for making wishes come true.  Perfect!! They served the water from a fountain (it’s filtered) so I drank it like a mad woman thinking of the magical powers I would need for the marathon the next day.  I also threw TWO pound coins in the wishing well- one for each wish.  Spoiler alert- they both came true.This particular building was where the hot springs were, but the entire city of Bath was charming and beautiful. I loved it there.

Next was Stonehenge.  I’ve always wanted to see this magical place! It was fascinating to listen to the tour guide tell us of the stories and history behind these enormous stones.  The first time B and I visited Ireland, we went to a place called Newgrange and Stonehenge had a very very similar history.  It is all so fascinating to me. After Stonehenge was a long bus ride back to the hotel.  On the walk back from the bus station where we were dropped off, we found an Italian Restaurant and had spaghetti (we had pizza for lunch in Bath), then walked back to our hotel.

When we got to our room, we found this:

The concierge had put the delicious candy from the lobby of the hotel in bags for us!  Here’s what the note read:So nice, right??

And right after we got our candy and notes, I got a text from our mutual friend and realized- IT WAS JENESEY’S BIRTHDAY!!! You guys, I died.  Yes, I am the most horrible friend on the face of the planet.  I mean horrible.  I have always been awful with birthdays but this was the icing on the cake! I screamed, “why didn’t you remind me??” She laughed it off and said it was not a big deal.  Yes it is!!! I apologized about a thousand times and we laughed.  Yes, I am still mad at myself.  But, luckily she’s a good friend and is very forgiving.  And she knows I adore her.  I’m still scheming up a plan to make up for it.

After setting out our clothes and apologizing more for spacing her birthday, we tried our best to get some shut eye.  Marathon day was tomorrow!!!

Guys, I am dying, and I mean dying, to write my Race Rundown.  I’m working on it! I can’t wait to write everything.  This race was pure magic from beginning to end and I have so many thoughts floating around in my head that I can’t wait to get out.