London Vacation Days 1 & 2

Ok...so after LOTS of sleep and stalling, here is the recap of the Jarvis/McFadden trip to London. As in England. Also known as THE city that I have dreamed about going to for as long as I can remember. And I've been there TWICE!!!

Ok. Enough stalling more...

The adventure started for me on Thursday, June 4 when I had the day off of work to get ready. Also known as the day of doctor's appointment (and waiting 45 minutes to see ANYONE), rushing to get laundry done, and then rushing to get home to clean the apartment before the big trip. Not too bad, considering my last day of work before the vacation consisted of a movie watching party (and nothing like How To Succeed In Being Pleasant On The Phone--but The Incredibles!! Yes as in DISNEY! State Farm rocks!)

Anyways. Friday comes along and finds Cary and I literally throwing things into the suitcase. I was trying to convince Cary that the medium suitcase would not fit both of our stuff AND souveniers...until he proved me wrong by packing ANOTHER case inside the other with our clothes in! Leave it to him to make me smile...but this paragraph should have come with a warning to my parents to not read, considering they had fully packed the weekend before! Call me a procrastinator!!!

Cary and I spent lunchtime with his dad, not only for some great company and delicious food (I had a great grilled cheese sandwich!) but also to drop our beloved pooch off. It was hard to leave Chester!!! I am going to be a clingy mom! Around 2:30 mom came and picked Cary and I up and we went back to the house to wait for our ride. Mom's friend and co-worker, Dawn, has a very sweet husband that was willing to pack all of us into his truck and trek us through traffic to the airport.

After getting rid of our baggage and getting through security, we found our way to locate our gate and then eat. But we also found a super cool art thing that was a labyrinth that played a little music as you stepped around. Hard to describe in writing--why oh why didn't I get pictures??!!!

The flight left at 7:00ish, and of course I was nervous. My parents sat directly in front of us on the plane, where we had the 2 window/aisle seats on the left side of the plane. Cary loves to look out the window, so I was happy to let him have the spot. The in-flight movies were not very entertaining (and difficult to hear), but that is ok, because not long after dinner (a very delectible lasagna with cold rolls) I managed to try to fall asleep, and was successful for a lot of the flight (yay anti-nausea/drowsy pills!). When breakfast came around, I enjoyed my croissant. But when I carefully opened my pressure-filled yogurt, it exploded...all over me. My face never felt more soft! :o)

I was so excited when we landed. During the descending, Cary was nice enough to switch seats with me so that I might have a chance to glimpse at the castles as we got closer to the airport. We were successful! We were able to spot Windsor Castle and its small ferris wheel (not to be mistaken for the Eye) on the way in--beautiful!

The airport was chaotic, as is expected. Getting through customs was easy, and locating our luggage great. But then it began the LONG walk to the Underground. Let me tell you this--if you are planning a trip to London, get an Oyster Pass--it works for the Tube and Buses--what a lifesaver! Once we got this, we hopped onto the Tube and made our 30-45 minute trip to the heart of London.

At this point, I was so exhausted, but from warnings from other world travellers (Brenda, Gary, and Cary) I knew we were not smart if we fell asleep once we got into the hotel. Besides...it was 11:30 in the morning in London!!! There is much to explore!!!

We all freshened up and then met (Cary and I had a small room on the 2nd floor, mom and dad had their larger, more beautiful view room on the 4th). When we started walking, we realized we were only 1/2 mile away from Buckingham Palace--what a location!!! We were going to be neighbors with the Queen for a week! After a few pictures at the gates of the palace we walked through a park (Green Park) and made our way up to Hard Rock Cafe. The wait there was 30 minutes, so the 4 of us decided to make our first English meal in a cute, fun pub called the Crown and Rose. Mom, dad, and Cary all tried the Fish n' Chips while I feasted on a burger. Not too bad!

After dinner, we took a stroll through a small (tiny!) part of Hyde park, which featured a beautiful Rose Garden, with so many beautiful, fragrant flowers and a fountain in the middle. While there, a bridal party was having their photos taken...what a beautiful place to have a wedding/photos!

We walked back to the hotel after spending some time soaking in the beauty. The night was called early for obvious reasons, but I was so glad to crawl into bed that evening (with the sun still peaking through the windows). Cary and I woke up again a little later and watched tv for a couple of hours, but sleep found its way to us again, and we woke up for our next day's adventure!