By; Erin Ziering
To be honest, when Ian presented me with the opportunity to visit him on set of the Sharknado 5, filming in London, I didn’t want to pack my bags. My first response was, “What about our babies?” Ian quickly reminded me that our children are no longer “babies” and that they would be fine and happy with my parents. He also reminded me the importance of our marriage and staying connected. The reason we have such happy girls is because we are happy. With him being away for 2 months we had to find a way to keep our connection and his 5 days off in the city of London seemed like the perfect opportunity!
I packed my bags and left on an evening Virgin Atlantic flight to London on my birthday. Non-stop to London was 10 hours. As an exhausted mother, it was easy to fall asleep in the first 10 minutes of the flight! I literally opened my eyes when it was time to land.
I was greeted by the cast and crew of his movie in London and Ian quickly swept me away on our own. It had been weeks since we had seen each other. He planned for us to stay in the Grosvenor House Suites.
Erin and Ian in London
The Grosvenor House Suites combined the refined services of a luxury hotel with the privacy, comfort and generous living space of a contemporary residence. We were greeted by the most professional staff and were escorted to our 2 bedroom suite. They even had pictures of our kids and family on the table to make us feel right at home. The suites were located at London’s most exclusive address in Mayfair London. The luxury shower was one of the first experiences I wanted from this gorgeous suite. A romantic rainfall shower looking out onto the park. The decor made us feel right at home and the bedroom had all the comforts we could dream of.
We enjoyed a late lunch at the Grosvenor’s restaurant, Atrium. The natural sunlight flooded through the 7 story glass ceiling while we sipped our first glass of champagne together on the trip.
We couldn’t wait to start touring through the city. Our hand-in-hand tour through the city included checking out Big Ben and dreaming about weddings next door in Westminster Abbey. We walked to Buckingham Palace and arrived just in time to watch the changing of the guards. It was such a historic experience, seeing something that has been happening for so many generations. From there we walked all the way to Sketch for our first High Tea!
Sketch was such a cool experience. It definitely had the classic touches of high tea, but in a very unique environment. The room we had our tea in was all pink and the bathroom was little white pods! By this time in our day we finally ended talking about the children and found so many other things to talk about, just like when we were dating. It may have taken 24 hours but we were there. We were back.
We headed back to our room and put on our best looks for the evening. Ian had a special night planned at a restaurant called Sexy Fish and followed up with a night of cocktails at Park Chinois. We stayed there until closing! We had the best time and made friends with our bartender Raphael! If you are ever in London, Park Chinois is a must and definitely sit at the bar to enjoy the company of our new friend!
After a night of cocktails we spent the next afternoon, which was Valentine’s Day, cuddled in bed at the Grovesnor Jumeriah Suites. This was something that we could never do on a vacation with our kids. We treated ourselves to the 5 star breakfast in bed and spent the afternoon enjoying some shows on our computer. Ian surprised me this evening with tickets to see Drake! We danced the night away.
We spent the rest of our trip enjoying the classic treasures of London! We visited the Tower of London and imagined being Kind and Queen together. We had High Tea at the 130 year old Savoy Hotel. To end the trip we enjoyed a service at Westminster Abbey. It was truly breathtaking.
It was such a magical trip. 4 Days alone. It was a chance for us to be “us.” To fall deeper in love and remember all the little things that we need from each other.
For more romantic getaways check out- Iceland and It’s adventures
