Hello all! Well we are half way through the trip and have not been able to access the Internet easily enough to blog until now. So here’s the trip so far in a nutshell. Note: Several of the sites we went to see do not allow cameras inside, so there aren’t any pictures to share of the insides.
Wednesday/Thursday
Flew to Toronto and then on to London. We couldn’t check in to our hotel so we dropped off our luggage and hit the town. First thing was experiencing the London Underground (subway system). Eric has never ridden public transportation of any kind so sometimes its better to just be thrown into the deep end. We did what every woman wants to do first; we went to Harrod’s Department Store. You know I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal, but wow that was overwhelming even for a shopping pro like me! I quickly realized there was nothing I could afford there and we moved on. Next, we went to Westminster Abbey were we got a guided tour by one of the clergy. Did you know that there are over 3,000 people buried there, including Charles Darwin? That’s crazy. About an hour into the tour we both started struggling to stay awake, so we went back to the hotel and went to bed!!
Friday
This was the day we wanted to venture out of the city core and visit a few other sites. The morning started off with an effortless trip out to Windsor where we found the town still quiet and peaceful. It was lovely. We then visited Windsor Castle and St. George’s Chapel, which is Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite residence. (Melanie if you are reading this, it still would be a great place for parties and apparently the Queen agrees!) Next was a quaint lunch at an Irish pub where we sat outside on a beautiful street and ate fish and chips of course.
Then came the adventure. You see we were on the correct train but it got delayed but like 5 minutes and that really screwed things up. We missed the next train and then the nformation man told us to take a different route. To make a long story short that way took a good 1 ½ hours longer so we spent a lot of time sitting at some interesting stations in the suburbs. We still enjoyed it though. We got to see parts of London off the “tourist route”.
So the train was taking us out to Hampton Court Palace, which turned out to be much cooler than the travel guides let on. It is a living museum, which means the people who work there, dress and act like the people of the time period. Since it was the anniversary of King Henry IV becoming king they really did it up. It was a lot of fun but too short.
Back on the trains to Trafalgar Square to see the National Museum and the National Portrait Museum. The National Museum was amazing and I wish I had had more energy to take it all in but we got a taste of the highlights and that will just have to do for now. The National Portrait Gallery wasn’t really our thing so we didn’t stay for long. It was 9:00 by then so we walked through Leicester Square and on to Covent Gardens were we had dinner. Back to the hotel and SLEEP!
Saturday (Today)
Wow this has been my favorite day so far. We got up, walked down the street to Buckingham Palace. Normally the Palace is closed due to the fact that it is the main palace of the Queen, but fortunately, they opened it for tours two months out of the year. So we actually got to go inside! Let me tell you something that was fantastic!!! It is SO BEAULTFUL! Words and pictures cannot do it justice. We finished just in time to make it for the Changing of the Guards, which we weren’t sure we would get to see. After that we wanted to walk though Green Park and Hyde Park to Kensington Palace. Maps are deceiving sometimes. That was a ridiculously long distance. Our feet were on fire when we finally got there. The parks were wonderful though and we got to see a triathlon happening. At Kensington we stopped to have afternoon tea before going into the museum. Tea here is great. Very different from the States. The museum wasn’t that great but that’s ok because we were kind of done at that point.
A quick Underground trip back to the hotel to drop off our stuff and then the pinnacle of the day, seeing U2 at Wembley Stadium!!! Oh my goodness!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!! The pictures you see here are from my iPhone because again cameras weren’t allowed in the arena. It was so great that I am actually contemplating buying tickets to see it again in Dallas. The stage, the music, the effects…...wow. Getting back to the hotel was interesting too. The tube car was already full but one of the passengers motioned for us to get on anyway. We barely fit and then a big man and woman crammed in as well. I couldn’t stop laughing because we were so packed into that car. There was no moving what so ever. Then the nice Bristish guy who told us to get on looked at us and said, “American’s right?” Was it that obvious? When he found out we were from Texas he just laughed knowing that we have nothing comparable to the Underground. It was hot and gross and fun all at the whole time. That goes in the books as a favorite moment.
That’s it so far. I know it’s a ridiculous amount but how often do you get to take a trip like this? Oh by the way, our hotel is amazing!!! I highly recommend it to anyone heading this way. It has character, the rooms are great, and the location can’t be beat. Ok, we will post again when we can!! Hope you enjoyed it!
Wednesday/Thursday
Flew to Toronto and then on to London. We couldn’t check in to our hotel so we dropped off our luggage and hit the town. First thing was experiencing the London Underground (subway system). Eric has never ridden public transportation of any kind so sometimes its better to just be thrown into the deep end. We did what every woman wants to do first; we went to Harrod’s Department Store. You know I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal, but wow that was overwhelming even for a shopping pro like me! I quickly realized there was nothing I could afford there and we moved on. Next, we went to Westminster Abbey were we got a guided tour by one of the clergy. Did you know that there are over 3,000 people buried there, including Charles Darwin? That’s crazy. About an hour into the tour we both started struggling to stay awake, so we went back to the hotel and went to bed!!
Friday
This was the day we wanted to venture out of the city core and visit a few other sites. The morning started off with an effortless trip out to Windsor where we found the town still quiet and peaceful. It was lovely. We then visited Windsor Castle and St. George’s Chapel, which is Queen Elizabeth II’s favorite residence. (Melanie if you are reading this, it still would be a great place for parties and apparently the Queen agrees!) Next was a quaint lunch at an Irish pub where we sat outside on a beautiful street and ate fish and chips of course.
Then came the adventure. You see we were on the correct train but it got delayed but like 5 minutes and that really screwed things up. We missed the next train and then the nformation man told us to take a different route. To make a long story short that way took a good 1 ½ hours longer so we spent a lot of time sitting at some interesting stations in the suburbs. We still enjoyed it though. We got to see parts of London off the “tourist route”.
So the train was taking us out to Hampton Court Palace, which turned out to be much cooler than the travel guides let on. It is a living museum, which means the people who work there, dress and act like the people of the time period. Since it was the anniversary of King Henry IV becoming king they really did it up. It was a lot of fun but too short.
Back on the trains to Trafalgar Square to see the National Museum and the National Portrait Museum. The National Museum was amazing and I wish I had had more energy to take it all in but we got a taste of the highlights and that will just have to do for now. The National Portrait Gallery wasn’t really our thing so we didn’t stay for long. It was 9:00 by then so we walked through Leicester Square and on to Covent Gardens were we had dinner. Back to the hotel and SLEEP!
Saturday (Today)
Wow this has been my favorite day so far. We got up, walked down the street to Buckingham Palace. Normally the Palace is closed due to the fact that it is the main palace of the Queen, but fortunately, they opened it for tours two months out of the year. So we actually got to go inside! Let me tell you something that was fantastic!!! It is SO BEAULTFUL! Words and pictures cannot do it justice. We finished just in time to make it for the Changing of the Guards, which we weren’t sure we would get to see. After that we wanted to walk though Green Park and Hyde Park to Kensington Palace. Maps are deceiving sometimes. That was a ridiculously long distance. Our feet were on fire when we finally got there. The parks were wonderful though and we got to see a triathlon happening. At Kensington we stopped to have afternoon tea before going into the museum. Tea here is great. Very different from the States. The museum wasn’t that great but that’s ok because we were kind of done at that point.
A quick Underground trip back to the hotel to drop off our stuff and then the pinnacle of the day, seeing U2 at Wembley Stadium!!! Oh my goodness!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!! The pictures you see here are from my iPhone because again cameras weren’t allowed in the arena. It was so great that I am actually contemplating buying tickets to see it again in Dallas. The stage, the music, the effects…...wow. Getting back to the hotel was interesting too. The tube car was already full but one of the passengers motioned for us to get on anyway. We barely fit and then a big man and woman crammed in as well. I couldn’t stop laughing because we were so packed into that car. There was no moving what so ever. Then the nice Bristish guy who told us to get on looked at us and said, “American’s right?” Was it that obvious? When he found out we were from Texas he just laughed knowing that we have nothing comparable to the Underground. It was hot and gross and fun all at the whole time. That goes in the books as a favorite moment.
That’s it so far. I know it’s a ridiculous amount but how often do you get to take a trip like this? Oh by the way, our hotel is amazing!!! I highly recommend it to anyone heading this way. It has character, the rooms are great, and the location can’t be beat. Ok, we will post again when we can!! Hope you enjoyed it!
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