London
Last week Mike and I layed eyes on Europe for the first time. I can't put into words how much I loved this trip. We both love history, culture, art and food. I especially loved all of the beautiful architecture and tradition in London. We both were dead tired when we got home due to jet lag and walking our tails off through every museum and old building we could find. Mike had blisters on his feet by the time we were done, so it wasn't your typical relaxation trip, nonetheless we both had a great time and I hope to go discover another European city again soon. For some reason after hearing the British accent for a week you just feel a little smarter and more refined. I hope it rubbed off on us enough to actually become a reality. ha ha With 331 photographs to sort through it will be hard to blog about this trip, but here it goes. 
When we first arrived at Heathrow we made our way to the tube with all our luggage and rode into London. Our first encounter with the culture was the phrase "Mind the Gap" while riding on the tube. We heard this phrase about 20 times before we got off at our Green Park stop in London. As we ascended the stairs from the underground station, we instantly realized we weren't sure where we were, but we were forced to just start walking because people were in a hurry, the sidewalks were crowded, and with our baggage we could have really caused a pedestrian traffic jam. After a few wrong turns we finally made it to the Cavendish Hotel where we would spend the next five nights. We crashed in our tiny but clean little room and tried to recooperate a bit before taking a double decker bus ride around the city. We were so amazed at the beauty,architecture and history as we cruised around London. It helped us get a sense of the city as a whole before we tackled it the next morning.
The first day we explored the Tower of London. It was so interesting learning about the history of what took place there. The crown jewels were glittery and flashy, but I actually enjoyed the other parts of it better. Outside the gates we ate the traditional fish and chips and had pigeons all around us hoping to scavenger up our scraps. Then we took a cruise on the Thames near the Tower Bridge. That was really another fun way to see the city without having to walk so much.
Westminister Abbey was our favorite site we visited. Unfortunately you can't take photos of the inside which is probably more impressive than the outside, but I am happy we have these photos to remember we were there.
The London experience is not complete without taking a stroll by Big Ben, seeing the Parliament building and Victoria's tower, and admiring the red phone booths and black "Supernanny" taxis.
The nicest part about our hotel was the location. We could walk almost everywhere. One night we went to The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and ironically ate Italian at the Spaghetti House. We thought their foreign restaurants were much better than the English ones.
One day we journeyed to the acclaimed British Museum to see some cool stuff. Despite the fact that Mike had just learned the night before that he would be deployed in June and he had some mean blisters starting on his feet, we managed to still enjoy the highlights of this museum. Our kids informed us when they saw these photos that we both look like nerds. I guess we will take that as a compliment. :)
We had to try twice to see the changing of the guard, because apparently they only do it every other day until summer time. Luckily our hotel was only about 5 blocks away so it wasn't a big deal. We watched the fanfare as they marched in off The Mall and then didn't stick around with the rest of the tourists in London to actually see the change take place in the gates, since Rick Steve's (our unofficial tour guide) told us the coolest part is watching them march. It seemed like every person in London was there at Buckingham Palace.
St. Paul's church was way more impressive on the inside than the outside so I'm glad we decided to pay to go in. Again, we couldn't take any photos inside, but we hiked up to the top and took some pretty cool pictures of the city from there until the rain finally got us.
This night we ate our best meal in London at, funny enough, a little Thai place called the Blue Lagoon. It was delicious and made looking at all the art at the National Gallery even better.
Our last day we were pretty worn out, but we did take a quick trip to South Kensington to see Harrod's (which was a little disappointing unless you love shopping, which neither of us really do), ate lunch at Pret a Manger, and then looked around the Victoria & Albert museum and the Natural History Museum briefly since they were both free. We were grateful that we had a direct flight to Atlanta because when we faced reality again, we needed all the rest we could manage. Unfortunately we forgot to bring our van to the airport, so we all drove home from Atlanta in the accord and got to be nice and close as we told about the week we had experienced. We played hodgie podgie the whole way and despite a few tired outbursts of "will you stop touching me", we made it home and snuggled into our own beds. It is nice to go on vacation, but it sure is nice to be home again.
When we first arrived at Heathrow we made our way to the tube with all our luggage and rode into London. Our first encounter with the culture was the phrase "Mind the Gap" while riding on the tube. We heard this phrase about 20 times before we got off at our Green Park stop in London. As we ascended the stairs from the underground station, we instantly realized we weren't sure where we were, but we were forced to just start walking because people were in a hurry, the sidewalks were crowded, and with our baggage we could have really caused a pedestrian traffic jam. After a few wrong turns we finally made it to the Cavendish Hotel where we would spend the next five nights. We crashed in our tiny but clean little room and tried to recooperate a bit before taking a double decker bus ride around the city. We were so amazed at the beauty,architecture and history as we cruised around London. It helped us get a sense of the city as a whole before we tackled it the next morning. 
The first day we explored the Tower of London. It was so interesting learning about the history of what took place there. The crown jewels were glittery and flashy, but I actually enjoyed the other parts of it better. Outside the gates we ate the traditional fish and chips and had pigeons all around us hoping to scavenger up our scraps. Then we took a cruise on the Thames near the Tower Bridge. That was really another fun way to see the city without having to walk so much.
Westminister Abbey was our favorite site we visited. Unfortunately you can't take photos of the inside which is probably more impressive than the outside, but I am happy we have these photos to remember we were there.
The London experience is not complete without taking a stroll by Big Ben, seeing the Parliament building and Victoria's tower, and admiring the red phone booths and black "Supernanny" taxis. 
The nicest part about our hotel was the location. We could walk almost everywhere. One night we went to The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and ironically ate Italian at the Spaghetti House. We thought their foreign restaurants were much better than the English ones. 
One day we journeyed to the acclaimed British Museum to see some cool stuff. Despite the fact that Mike had just learned the night before that he would be deployed in June and he had some mean blisters starting on his feet, we managed to still enjoy the highlights of this museum. Our kids informed us when they saw these photos that we both look like nerds. I guess we will take that as a compliment. :)
We had to try twice to see the changing of the guard, because apparently they only do it every other day until summer time. Luckily our hotel was only about 5 blocks away so it wasn't a big deal. We watched the fanfare as they marched in off The Mall and then didn't stick around with the rest of the tourists in London to actually see the change take place in the gates, since Rick Steve's (our unofficial tour guide) told us the coolest part is watching them march. It seemed like every person in London was there at Buckingham Palace.
St. Paul's church was way more impressive on the inside than the outside so I'm glad we decided to pay to go in. Again, we couldn't take any photos inside, but we hiked up to the top and took some pretty cool pictures of the city from there until the rain finally got us.
This night we ate our best meal in London at, funny enough, a little Thai place called the Blue Lagoon. It was delicious and made looking at all the art at the National Gallery even better.
Our last day we were pretty worn out, but we did take a quick trip to South Kensington to see Harrod's (which was a little disappointing unless you love shopping, which neither of us really do), ate lunch at Pret a Manger, and then looked around the Victoria & Albert museum and the Natural History Museum briefly since they were both free. We were grateful that we had a direct flight to Atlanta because when we faced reality again, we needed all the rest we could manage. Unfortunately we forgot to bring our van to the airport, so we all drove home from Atlanta in the accord and got to be nice and close as we told about the week we had experienced. We played hodgie podgie the whole way and despite a few tired outbursts of "will you stop touching me", we made it home and snuggled into our own beds. It is nice to go on vacation, but it sure is nice to be home again.
Wow, how cool! What made you decide to go to London? I'm sad that Mike will be deployed in June. Hopefully it will be quick and uneventful.. Love the pics. I'm so jealous and so glad you're keeping us up on all the fun things you guys are doing!
ReplyDeleteWow! London looks so awesome! That was a surprise! I haven't looked at any blogs in about 3 weeks. Fun to catch up! Europe's still on our list, but we haven't made it yet. Good to know the places to go. Sorry to hear about Mike's deployment. Too bad you learned of it while on vacation!!
ReplyDeleteGlad that you had a fun trip. I do hope that you felt more cultured every time you were around me! Sorry to hear about Mike. We hope everything goes well.
ReplyDelete