Europe...Days 1 & 2

Let me start out by saying that, Yes. I am one of those people that leaves my kids while I travel and spend time with my husband. Do I think it's worth it? Absolutely. Every second away, every penny spent. While I love my kids and enjoy traveling with them as well, a married couple needs time to be together as husband and wife without being mom and dad. Even if it's 1 week out of a year or 1 night out of a year. We have grown so much doing things together on vacation that we could have never done otherwise. We missed our kids. We talked to them often. But it was still worth it. So yes, I am 'ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE' who leaves my kids. Troy and I were so lucky to be able to go to Europe. Last year, we took a bump on an airplane to Hawaii and received $800 in flight credits. We had 1 year to use them. As we were trying to figure out where to go, and how much it would cost to fly to certain places, it turned out it was cheaper to fly to London than it was to Florida or to Hawaii (we did have to use a specific airline - so we couldn't shop around). So - in December, we booked our flight to London. As we were trying to decide where in Europe to go, we decided that instead of spending a ton of time traveling, we were going to see all we could of England, and then spend a few days in Paris, and the french countryside. So...that was the plan. We got a 3 day London Pass - which when we got home, figured it saved us over 350 pounds. So - if anyone is planning on going there - check out the London Pass! We are super lucky to have an awesome niece that came to stay at our house with our kids, as well as some great family that took turns on the weekends letting our kids sleepover! Thanks so much! I am more than willing to pay back the favor! Let me start out by explaining my 'travel journal'. Every night before I would go to bed on our trip, I would type out the whole days happenings, and ask Troy questions, and remember names of buildings. I am so happy I do this, because I would have NEVER remembered all that I have written. So, I will blog in the order of my journal - we will start at Day1. I didn't want to watermark all my photos - but legally all my photos are copyrighted. Please do not steal my photos (which are such low resolution, you couldn't do much with them) or use them in any way without my permission...oh - a little about the exchange rate...1 pound is about $1.65...but with fees exchanging money - it ends up being about 2 to 1. INSANE! Day 1 We arrived in London this morning. We were so happy to land – only to have it take 2 hours to get through customs. It was truly a nightmare. I kept thinking that Olympics are going to stink - they better figure out the issues, because it was awful. We got some Brit money and bought tube passes. We couldn’t figure out why they wouldn’t work – and some guys had to tell us we were trying to go in the exit. Ooops… it only happened once. We were trying to catch a bike tour, and tried to hurry to our hotel to drop off our bags and then make our way to the bike tour. We missed it by 15 minutes. It was so frustrating because our flight sat on the ground in Houston for 30 minutes before take off, and then 2 hours in customs. We were sad to miss it. We decided no matter what, we would still have a great day – so off we went. We started at Trafalgar Square. We walked around the fountains, and checked out the huge lion statues.

Then we went to the National Gallery – they have amazing art work there. Neither of us are that interested in art, but I did want to see some Monet’s. They were beautiful. We crossed the street to Saint Martin in the Fields Church. They had beautiful stained glass windows that were swirly. I loved them.

We kept walking and ended up in Saint James Park. There were daffodils everywhere. Not just in flower beds – but all over the lawn – like they were wild.

We got a crepe and a drink in the park, and sat on some beach chairs. Let me tell you about our drink. We got a 'large' to share, which cost us 3 lbs or $5. The soda was about 10 oz. That was their 'large'. Then we sat down on these beach chairs we thought were so awesome to have in a park, and a man came up and told us it cost 1.5 pounds to sit in the chairs. We moved. How dumb is that. We soon realized by these first 2 encounters, that eating was going to be expensive! We realized we were very close to Buckingham Palace and headed over. We were just in time to see the changing of the guards. It was pretty cool. We also saw the famous balcony where Kate and William had their first kiss.

 I had to throw this photo in of Troy.  This summed up our trip...trying to figure out where we were going and how to get there!

 We walked down Princess Diana’s Memorial Walkway to the Winston Churchill Museum and War Room Tour. It was pretty impressive all that he accomplished during WWII.

We then made our way to Westminster Abbey. It was amazing. It is so old. At least 1000 years old. So many people are buried there – and they have memorials to people. It was so crazy. I don’t think they could shove any more statues in there! It was definitely a beautiful building – and crazy to be in it where it holds so much history.

We headed to the wharf and passed by Big Ben(technically Big Ben is the bell – not the building, you can't see Big Ben). It is all so amazing to see in real life. We took a boat down to the London Tower Bridge. The boat passed along the river and so many amazing buildings.

The tour guide on the boat was great. At one point, we passed under a bridge, and there was a man standing on the bridge in short jean cut offs. The guide said over the loud speaker to him, “Now that’s a pair of shorts Mate! Give us a wave.”. But, everything sounds much better in a British accent. We got to the London Tower Bridge and took a tour and walked across the top and down through the boiler rooms. Hopefully we will see it lit up at night one of the next few days.

We got some of the ‘best hot chocolate’ that wasn’t really the best. It was totally thick – but dark chocolate…not my favorite. For dinner we got fish n chips. I have a hard time trying new foreign foods – but it was okay. Troy and I shared a platter – and what I ate was plenty. We decided to ride on a red double decker city bus part of the way home. We lucked out and got an old version. They have newer models of the bus – but I like the look of the older ones better. We sat on the very top – and a boy about Jake’s age sat right in front of us – at the front and top of the double decker bus. The only way I can describe it is that it felt like we were on the Harry Potter Night bus. Stopping, going, squeezing in tiny spaces – everything. The little boy in front of us would squeal – and we would all gasp when a bicyclist got a little too close. It was so fun. We both wished we had our kids to experience it - just to see their reactions. Although – there is no way our kids would have made it to that point in our day. While we miss them so much – we are enjoying the time away and doing things that we wouldn’t be able to do if they were here. We have both been struggling being tired all day long. In fact, I missed most of Westminster Abbey, because I found a chair, sat, and may have dozed off. I am hoping for a good nights sleep so we can go again all day tomorrow! We hope the kids are doing well. It’s hard not having phone access when we want and need it. We did buy a cell phone here that is prepaid so we can call the kids. Both of us are really struggling to stay awake to even talk to them tonight. On our way home from calling the kids, we saw a man peeing on the street. He didn’t even turn his back! It made me a little nervous about the area we are staying in – but I have Troy to protect me. We have loved today and are enjoying every second!

DAY 2

We got up and ate breakfast.  2 pieces of toast and a hard boiled egg.  Okay – but not really a hearty breakfast.  They only have tea and coffee, so we didn’t even have anything to drink.  We made it to our bike tour today.  While we were waiting for the tour to start – there was a man down in the river making a sand scultputre.  It was amazing and hilarious – yep – we are suckers who threw him some pence.  

 The bike ride was great.  I think we went about 6 miles in about 2 hours.  Not great exercise – but it was so much fun.  And more exercise than riding a bus.  We learned a lot too.  We biked through the Westminster School – which is kinda like Hogwarts in Harry Potter – “except there’s no magic – just money.”  The students wore suit coats and ties and girls blazers and skirts.  Boys start going to this school at age 11 and girls start when they are 16.  It’s uber conservative.  The cost is 35000 lbs or about $70000 a year.  I can’t even imagine sending Kyle to someplace like that.  The point is for them to grow up having contacts – it’s how they can get into the House of Lords – British Parliament.  We biked by Buckingham Palace again, and the Clarence House where Prince Charles lives.  Brits don’t like Prince Charles and wish the throne would get passed over him to his son.  A girl in our bike tour biffed it on her bike.  Hard.  So – she wanted my bike.  I had a small kids bike – that was pretty fun to ride.  It had wicked witch handle bars – and it was super fun – compared to my road bike.  

 Anyways – I took her bike – even though the frame was too big for me, I could still use it – I just had to be careful mounting and dismounting since my feet wouldn’t hit the ground.  We biked through Trafalgar Square and this time we took a closer look at the Lions.  I guess back in the day when they were sculpted, the sculpter hadn’t really been around lions.  The heads look awesome – but the legs look more like frog legs.  Once it was pointed out – it was pretty funny.  We biked through the royal courts of justice and then passed St. Pauls Cathedral.  After the bike ride we ate lunch.  We had meat pies with minty mushed peas.  Now – the only reason we tried this was because our friend, Drew, had suggested it.  I have to admit – I wasn’t a fan of the mint flavor in the peas – but I loved everything else.  I am so picky about food.  Especially if I have no clue what it is – so Troy and I have been sharing a meal.  We figure if it’s great – then we’ll go back for more.  So far – we haven’t gone back for more.  And – we’ve saved $$.  We then went to London Tower.

  This is the home of the crowned jewels.  It was so crazy to see all of these jewels – swords – orbs, scepters.  It’s just amazing how monarchy is such a different world.  Beefeaters guard the crowned jewels.  (See Photo)  The London Tower is also the place that was a prison/torture chamber...

We then headed over to St Pauls Cathedral.  We walked up a ton of stairs just below the dome.  It was an amazing view.  On our way to the London Bridge- we ran into a man peeing on the stairway.  I just can’t figure out this British peeing thing.  It’s definitely not a locational thing, and made me feel a lot better about where we are staying!  We then went down to the crypt to see where all the people were buried.  It is so strange to me that the church floor is burial ground.  We went to the London Bridge Experience.  It was really a spook alley.  I HATE haunted houses.  I kept my arms around Troy and kept my head down the whole time.  I only yelled out once – but a creep was whispering in my ear from behind and it scared me.  I wasn’t a fan of this place. 

 We decided to go to Kings Cross.  Naturally – had to look for Platform 9 ¾.  We found it.  We also ate Mexican food here.  I don’t know if it’s my picky palate – but I swear food has a different taste here.   

We decided to head back to the theatre district – see if we could catch a broadway show.  We couldn’t – we were a bit late.  We did run across more men peeing.  This time – they were peeing into a urinal that was placed in the middle of the sidewalk.  It’s a 4 stall urinal – well, I wouldn’t really call it a stall.  More like – I don’t know…You will have to check out the photo.  It had a picture of a man on it.  Thank heavens – I’m sure women may mistake it to be for them.  We were just in this exact spot yesterday, and I’m sure this urinal was brought in for the weekend.  What goes on around here?  Who teaches their kids it’s okay to pee in public?  One lady decided to take a photo of the man peeing, and he caught her and was pissed.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha…well, he was yelling at her, and she walked away.  He couldn’t understand why she would take a photo of that.  I know exactly why!  – I’m sure nobody back home will believe me without a photo either!   

At this point it was dark – and we wanted to see the London Tower Bridge at night as well as walk across the Millenium Bridge.  We made our way to the bus and walked over.  It was beautiful.  I tried some things with my camera – and I think I got a good shot. 

 On the other side of the bridge was the Tate Modern.  It was time for a toilet break – and we don’t pee on the streets.  They were open and had free toilets.  We found out that it’s a modern art museum.  They had one floor with free exhibits, so we decided to check it out.  Wow.  It was weird.  I think I have a bit of an open mind when it comes to art – but I was wrong.  I don’t.  This stuff was weird.  Like dried poo on a stick -  weird.  Not making that up – I have a photo. 

 My other favorite was a white octagon shape on the wall.  The description said that the shape is never put up the same way – always making it different, and that it’s just barely a different color – so that you’re not really aware you have art on the wall until you look at it.  Seriously?  Man – I’m pretty sure we have award winning art displayed all over my home.  

  

We kind of had a good time walking around laughing at some of the art.  We made our way back to the underground and to our hotel.  Now – I wouldn’t call this a hotel.  It’s pretty awful.  So far, my only regret of the trip.  The photos on the website look NOTHING like this place.  Our room is about 8x16 feet and that INCLUDES the shower, toilet, and sink.  We wanted to stay at ‘quaint’ B&B’s – but I’m still wondering what I was thinking.  I really think I was a victim of false advertising.  I am just hoping and praying the other places we have planned to stay are better than this.  I’m going to take a photo of this place and compare it with the one on the website.  Should be an interesting comparison. 

 Well it’s time for bed – and conveniently there are fireworks going on all around us.  We have no clue why.  It’s daylight savings for London tomorrow – so we lose more time.  We have another busy day scheduled tomorrow – can’t wait! 

A bit about traveling in London... So - they really say 'mind the gap' everytime you get of the tube. Some of the gaps are pretty big. I would have been scared a few places if my kids would have been with us!

As you all know, they drive on the left hand side of the street. Well, as a pedestrian, downtown London gets crazy trying to figure out what directions cars are coming before you cross. We are so used to just looking right, and then walking. Well, we would have been hit by a bus many times if not for these painted signs on the pavement. They truly saved our life numerous times.