A few months ago I was in London exploring the city solo by day and eating Indian food with Michael by night. The Eurostar makes travel between Paris and London an easy* 2 1/2 hour trip so I knew I would be back at some point. I just had no idea how soon the next opportunity would come to visit again.

Fast forward to two weeks ago: I set off to my husband's office to meet up for lunch, and got the surprise of my life. My brother and his sweet girlfriend flew in for a short vacation in Paris and the Loire Valley. David had to go back to New York after that whirlwind weekend, but Carissa had plans to continue on to London. And I was generously invited along for a girls' getaway in London.

That's about all the context you need and then some. Spring was in full bloom, sunshine abundant, and we enjoyed spending time together in this cool capital.

Without further ado and more unnecessary ramblings, here's our three-day excursion in pictures:

Buckingham Palace with a dose of bright flowers. Stunning.

It was Carissa's first time in London, so we had a lot of ground to cover for an introduction to the city. After Buckingham Palace and Big Ben was a walk along the Thames.

Carissa is not particularly fond of spending lots of time in museums, and definitely not art museums. So if you have similar interests, you should know the three museums/places of interest that made the cut were Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, and the British Museum. They were a great representation of London in the time we had.

I love walking around the Tower of London and getting glimpses of modern London surrounding such a historic site that has been around for almost 1,000 years.

Legend has it that if the ravens leave the Tower, the Kingdom will fall

The British Museum is full of interesting artifacts like the Lewis chessmen and the Rosetta Stone. I think this was the sunniest day I have ever been in its Great Court!

I didn't mention that we managed to cram all three sites into one busy day. So if you need a snack like we did by the end of all that, stop for a coffee and sweet at nearby Wild and Wood Coffee.

Not an hour before I was telling Carissa how I miss carrot cake. And there it was, at Wild and Wood Coffee. Also of note: I had my first cronut sighting. This coffee shop gets a delivery around 11-11:30am daily.

On our last morning in London, I took Carissa to my favorite place for tea: Yumchaa. They have a few locations but I've only been to the one in Soho.

Mango tea and a scone - perfect start to a day in London

We stopped at iconic Harrods to walk through those beautiful food halls and do some window shopping in the shoe department.

And after lunch in Hyde Park, it was sadly time to part ways and head back home.

Thanks for the great memories, Carissa!

*The Eurostar is normally an easy trip between London and Paris unless this happens and you're stranded in London for the night. Which amusingly resulted in Carissa getting home to New York before I made it back to Paris. But no complaints, that experience isn't stopping me from planning my next trip to London!