So it’s Sunday and our last day of our trip. We are here in Jolly old England and I love it! People really say “cheers” and “brilliant”…a lot. But we like it. I think it is better than Danny had expected. The people are super friendly and it is very easy to get around obviously.
We woke up at around 8 am showered and went to the basement for breakfast. There were a few very friendly people serving us eggs and ham (which they called bacon), sausage and toast with orange marmalade and a little pot of coffee. I also had Frosted Flakes which were yummy!
We headed out and walked along until we came across the first pub we could find. So it was 10 am and Danny was having his first beer. He wasn’t alone so I guess that was okay. It was really super cold but the sun was peaking through every so often so overall it was a great morning. We checked out the map and decided to head to Buckingham Palace. The main street to the palace was closed because the London Marathon was the next day so we walked through Saint James Park. I have to say that this city is fabulous. There are parks everywhere and they are so beautiful. There are no bums sleeping on the park benches, no trash or graffiti and they are all beautifully landscaped. Oh and there are not thousands of people with BBQ’s and canopies having birthday parties…not that that is bad…but it made for a VERY peaceful and serene area. I really wish that we had parks like these. There are so many parks and they are great.
So we made it to the Palace which is not really the most interesting building in the world but I guess when you are in London you have to go see where the Queen lives right? So we checked that out…snapped a few pictures and we were on our way. The British Parliament building and Big Ben where not far so we headed in that direction. Along the way we ran into Westminster Abbey. It was really pretty on the outside. It was expensive to get in and by this time we had seen our fair share of churches and mosques so we passed. They pictures of it looked amazing though. So when we turned the corner to head towards Big Ben there were a million freakin people so we went a block over and cut over to the river. From there we could see the Aquarium which is in a really interesting building across the river and the London Eye. In case you don’t know, they London Eye is the a HUGE ferris wheel (don’t know If it’s the biggest but wouldn’t be surprised if it is). Instead of seats there are large pods that hold a lot of people. It moves really slow and I think it takes 30 minutes to get around it. I would have loved to get on it, it only cost 15 pounds, but the line was WAY too long so we skipped it.
Right about this time we started getting really hungry. We thought there would be a lot of places to eat along the river but there weren’t really. We finally found a nice little place across the street from the river and it had a beautiful garden in the back with tables so we decided to have some fish n chips and enjoy the garden. Right as we ordered our food and sat down it began to sprinkle. It had sprinkled a little before and it usually lasted a couple of minutes. As soon as I said that we had been getting really lucky with the weather the heavens opened up and it POURED! As before it only lasted a few minutes so when it finished we cleaned off the chairs and enjoyed the sun. The food was delicious.
It was about 2 o’clock and we had thought that we would head for the tube and hop over to Tower Bridge but Danny was not feeling to well so we decided to go back to the room for a nap. The plan was to rest a little, and then go out for some Indian food and check out Tower Bridge that night. Well, when we woke up Danny was feeling worse than before so we ended up spending the night in the hotel room and that’s where we stayed until it was time to go home. That was a total bummer because we loved London so much, but we have to be thankful that we only missed a couple days of the trip. Now we have an excuse to go back to London too!
The next day we woke up and headed straight to the airport. We ended up a little behind schedule because there was a huge line at the Metro station. I guess it was because of the Marathon, because there are not usually any lines to get tickets at all. So we made it to the airport just in time to walk on the plane. I have to mention that the security at Heathrow was more thorough than anywhere we have been including LAX. They were the only ones that checked our liquids and they actually measured our carry-on luggage and made us check them. The new Terminal 5 was really a nice building and it was very easy and quick to maneuver through.
So at 12 noon our trip officially ended. We were on the plane for a 10 hour flight home and we really weren’t sad. Danny was sick…and we felt like we had been gone FOREVER. We were ready to come home which is a nice feeling to have after a vacation.
