I'm doing it. I'm actually going to blog about our trip to Europe. I figure if I just do one post a day I'll be done in 3 weeks. Yes we were gone that long! Woohoo! It was so awesome!
Day one was actually when we got to London from Beijing. Our flight left at about 2 in the afternoon, and it was about 9 hours. We decided to take the cheap, long way to our place. It was fine. We got a good feel for the subway system and we got our travel cards to get us through for the next 6 days. We had to stand on the train, and a drunk lady almost fell into me a few times. It was awesome. Mostly because of her accent. She asked me where I was from. It is a tricky question, but I went with Arizona. She kept asking me how people live there because it is so hot. She was genuinely concerned. Or her alcohol was concerned. "Your skin is so fair!" she kept saying. But it is a fair question. How do people live there?!!
It was supposed to be a short walk from the tube stop to Zoe's house ...
*Quick side note: Zoe offered her house up for us to stay in. So so so nice. We only had one city left to make hotel reservations for and it was London. It was a bit trickier because of location and cost. Then we got her most wonderful offer. We were (and are still!) so grateful. It saved us a ton of money, and the location was great. And we got to hang with some old friends and find out more about London.
... but we took a wrong turn and walked around her neighborhood for about an hour. It wouldn't have been that bad because it was nice out, and it was fun to look around. The one problem was that at that time, none of us had slept in about 22 hours. Of course no one slept on the plane! Actually I think the boys fell asleep an hour or so before we landed. Which is actually less helpful than no sleep at all. But we made it, and they were so nice to share some dinner with those of us who could stay awake that long. I went straight to sleep.
The first picture I took in London. I got a huge smile when I saw this sign. So iconic!
The next day, which was actually day two, but really day one, we decided to take the bus tour around the city. But before that we had breakfast. Nate and I got up pretty early (jet lag) and we decided to run out to the grocery store. We got Tesco Express breakfast! The first of many many meals in London from Tesco. But it was awesome. Awesome. Bread and cheese and yummy jam and yogurt. Oh the yogurt was delicious! And the cheese! So many varieties and so affordable. It doesn't take much for people who are living in China to be happy. Dairy. That says it all.
So, the train ride...
By complete coincidence, we happened to be in London on the Queen's birthday. Or fake birthday. I guess the weather is better in June. Anyway, they have a celebration called the Trooping of the Color. There's a parade and other traditions. We didn't see any of it. Just this at the gate as we were driving by on the bus. I thought it looked pretty cool.
We got off the bus and went to Hamleys toy store. It was okay. We got to see a life size Queen Elizabeth made out of Legos. You don't see that at every toy store.
We walked around some more. Found a phone booth...
... and made it to Covent Garden.
Where we had fish and chips.
And ice cream.
Walked back to Trafalgar Square.
Took more pictures.
I thought it would be fun to take this picture, but then it just made me nervous. There isn't that much stone around that lion. And the boys were climbing all over it. If they fell off, they would go straight to the ground and it was high. It was taller than me.
Then we walked to St. James Park and Green Park.
I love this picture of the taxis all lined up.
It's not a trip to Europe without chasing some pigeons.
So wonderful to have so much green in the middle of the city. London is beautiful. I loved every second of the first day.
No comments:
Post a Comment