Hampton Court & Zizzi's

Today we had the opportunity to visit Hampton Court, where I believe King Henry the VI and Queen Mary lived. It was a pretty good time :) I woke up randomly at 6:00am this morning, pretty well rested. I didn't need to be up until 7:00 because we weren't meeting to leave to Hampton Court until 8:30. So I stayed in bed for awhile, which was nice. We took the tube to Waterloo Station, where we jumped on a 30min train that took us to Hampton Court. I didn't really know what to expect once we got there, and it ended up being a pretty cool place. The gardens were beautiful and the history and architecture of the building/castle were awe inspiring. Here a few shots from the visit:

This is the large courtyard after entering through the main gates. Pretty impressive!!

I love these old bricks that most of the structure is made up of. You can tell they're hundreds of years old, and the differing coloration of them is pretty neat.

This is the backside of Hampton Court where the gardens begin.

Just taking some cool pics.

These chimneys were really cool! Each one of them has been carved a different way. I thought it was interesting that someone took time to carve such an intricate detail into something that couldn't be fully appreciated (especially in that time period) because they're so far away from the natural eye. Check out the close up below, pretty cool!

Just a little photo shoot on one of the garden paths.

So many cool doors in London! Each one has its own unique characteristics :)

Just playing a little at the antique store after we left H.C. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some sweet pictures with our stylish grandma hats. ;)

Okay, so we were able to go to this restaurant for lunch called Zizzi's. As a recommendation of Susie's (one of my professors) and this place was to DIE for! From design of the restaurant, to the delicious food and great presentation, this place nailed it! We ordered a couple of pizzas to share, and I couldn't pass up the calamari appetizer so we shared one of those as well, and I'm so glad I did!

So we got two large pizzas, I think the spicy chicken ( chicken, pepperoni, sausage, jalapenos, some goat and mozzarella cheese, and the thin crust of course) and the margarita (mozzarella cheese, fresh tomatoes, and basil with thin crust) SOO good :)

The deliciously breaded calamari and balsamic mixed greens salad, I'm hooked!!

The gang of the day :) (way to keep your eyes open Steph! ;) )

"Dining is and always was a great artistic opportunity" - Frank Lloyd Wright

Zizzi's sure did a great job living up to that quote. They took advantage of every opportunity to make their dining experience "artistic" from the sleek sliverware and tall narrow stainless steel water pitcher, to the thoughtful presentation of their meals and fun and quirky designs throughout the restaurant. What a cool experience!