London {Part II} : Day 1

How cool is it that you can get to London in just 1.5 hours?  Way cool.  And guess what?  It only cost us about $80--round trip.  If you're ever in Germany, whether to live or visit, www.germanwings.com is the way to go.  You can do what's called blind booking and depending on what time of the year it is and where you're trying to go, you can get flights as low as 39.99 Euro.  Trust me!  I've seen it.

Anyway...I digress.

London...in one word:  EXHAUSTING

Okay, here's another one:  AWESOME

Our flight took off at 7:00 a.m., so we were up and at 'em at 4:00.  You can imagine how tired we were by the time we landed in London.  But hey, we sucked it up and immediately hit the ground running.

In the essence of time, I'll just let our pictures do most of the talking.  I will link the major places we visited to websites just because I don't have the energy to go into history, facts, details, etc.  Plus, let's face the facts...when you're out and about with a toddler with no husband to help, you're not really listening to the tour guide or reading displays.  You're busy quelling cries and/or screams and trying not to lose sight of said toddler.  It's exhausting.  I always just say or think, "I'll Google this stuff later."  

We took a train from the airport to Liverpool Station.

From there, we took a cab to our 'flat'.  Ha! I still crack up when I say that!  Just a note...lodging in most European cities can be pretty expensive.  When we travel, we almost always stay in an apartment versus a hotel.  You'd be amazed at how many nice apartments are out there...and we've had a few great ones.  If you ever plan on traveling out to this side of the world...www.homeaway.com is the way to go! Our flat in London was just okay.  We were in quite a rush to find a place to stay and settled on whatever we could find that looked decent.  The apartment itself was decent...

...the neighborhood?  Not so much.  Like the art work?  And it's not so much that the neighborhood was bad, there was just a lot of graffiti and bars nearby.  Oh well, it was a place to crash each night!  Plus, there were some really cool restaurants nearby as well.

So I think I can vouch for our whole group when I say that we set out to do some very particular things while in London. 

Take a picture near one of the signature Royal Phonebooths....Check!

Exchange our U.S. dollars for some British Pounds....Check! 
Aren't they pretty?

Do some damage with said British Pounds...Check! 

And did we ever!  Within minutes we found sidewalk sales down the street from our flat.  Everywhere else, it was souvenirs galore!

See cars driving on the other side of the road (and riding in a car on the other side of the road)...Check!

See how they have to put reminders on the streets for tourists to check right before crossing?

Ride the 'tube' or subway in London...Check! 

You know a subway is near when you see signs for the Underground.

See members of the Royal Guard...Check!

Have some traditional British fish & chips...Check!

Yum!

Tour the Tower of London and see the Crown Jewels...Check!

No pictures, but the jewels were gorgeous.  Some serious bling-bling going on, if you know what I mean.



In front of a mural of the White Tower...and Vaiosina playing with her double-decker bus souvenir!

Vaiosina and I going into the 'Bloody Tower'

Go for a ride on the London Eye and get a great view of the city...Check!

What a ride!  When you ask Vaiosina what she did in London, she always screams, "The Eye!"

Great view of London's many bridges spanning across the River Thames

View of Westminster Palace (Parliament Building) and Big Ben

Take a tour through London on a double-decker bus...Check!

After our Tower of London tour, we were absolutely tired and content to just tour the rest of the city by bus.  We got a close-up view of Westminster Palace (Parliament Building) and Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, Kensington Palace, etc.  By this time, my iPhone gave out and I couldn't take any pictures.  At least I can say I saw mostly everything!

See the Royal Family...Check!

Okay...maybe not quite.  Being in London is as close as I'm ever gonna get to these people.

Would you believe this was only Day 1?

Seriously.  But this knocked out pretty much all of our London wish list!

Thanks for sticking with me through this entire post!  Please stay tuned for Day 2 which entails our trips to Windsor Castle, the Roman Baths and Stone Henge.