Day THREE

Monday, also known as October 18, 2010

My brain is MUSH! I've seen so much today!

We started off at our breakfast spot, and decided to walk through Hyde Park to get to the Albert Memorial. Hyde Park is so nice and peaceful, yet still pretty busy with walkers, runners, and folks like us (tourists!). There were a few art installations that were interesting, and we looked at them along the way.

The memorial. Wow! It was BIG, and quite fancy! On each of the four corners there was a statue representing a region: Asia, Europe, Africa, and America. What was interesting (and funny!), though, is that all of the area's pigeons seemed to love to sit (and poop) on the America statue! HAHAHA!

[Pause slightly for sleep -- I am exhausted!]

TUESDAY -- october 19.

Ack! I'm so far behind!

So, to sum up (and pick up where I left off), we walked to Buckingham Palace (but missed the changing of the Guard), took a bunch of pictures, then found a place to eat lunch. We took the Underground to the Tower station, and we then decided to walk down to see the Tower of London (the outside - an inside tour would be a day-long event!), and the we walked over the Tower Bridge to the South Side of London. We then walked alllllllll along the River Thames and walked by some interesting sites.

We passed by a Dungeon museum called the Clink, and part of an old building that were remains from centuries ago (part of the great hall, I think). We also walked passed the reconstructed Globe Theater, and walked across the Millennium Bridge. Whoooo!! The bridges were really cool, and the Millennium Bridge is for pedestrians only, and it takes you up to St Paul's Cathedral. We didn't go into that, either, since we had to get to dinner and didn't have much time. It was beautiful from the outside, though!

We walked to Camden Market, well, cut through it, really, to get to the Hospital Club, where we were meeting Barb and Ren for dinner. That building wasn't much to look at from the outside, but it was really cool on the inside! Ren is a member, and he and Barb treated us to dinner -- how nice! We were up on the second floor, which had a loungey bar area, complete with big couches and tables. The restaurant side was open to the lounge, but was really fancy! Luckily they didn't have a dress code, as Brian and I were "slumming it". Barb ordered us some champagne, we ordered dinner, and Ren picked out a bottle of wine, too! All was quite yummy!

It was pretty late by the time we got done with dinner (Barb and Ren had an hour-long trip home), so we had a quick look around to the top floor and a super great view!! Brian and I decided to splurge on a taxi to get us back to the hotel -- too cool! Huge back seats, way cool to see other parts of London, too, and travel above ground! We then made the requisite calls to the hubbies, and I crashed when we got back.

I'll post today's actual events next...

Day Two in London

Sunday, for those keeping track... 17/10/2010

Woke up to a squirrel in my face. Literally. And Brian cackling hysterically. Apparently he was waiting for a while for me to wake up. Thanks, brother.

Oh, joyous SLEEP! It was fantastic! Feel like a new person! We heated up some water (in our lovely electric kettle) for tea (Brian) and Nescafe' (por moi), and we came up with a general plan for the day.

Today we tried showers for the first time, and we realized that the bathroom floor tiles are heated! Tried out the wacky hair dyer hose thing, too. Hmmm... guess my hair's gonna be a bit flat while in London.

The Art Cafe' is officialy our breakfast spot! We had dinner here last night, though I think the breakfasts (especially the latte's) are better! Yaaaaay!


Today we are heading to Portobello Road Market, the London Eye, walk across the Millennium Bridge, and the Covent Garden Market. Who knows what other adventures await! :)

(later that day)
WOW! Beat again. What a day!

(I do need to say, though, that I'm sort of surprised at how few British folk we've actually talked to or seen in the shops, trains, etc... oh well.)

Portobello Road was FANTASTIC! Great little shops and vendors all up and down this long stretch of road -- great buildings, neat little shops and cafe's -- we probably could have spent the entire day there! Brian nearly bought some cool rings, and there were lots of items I was drawn to (but had to resist -- what can I say? I'm a cheapskate!). We found a woman selling amber jewelry, and she told us she was the "Queen of Amber" :). She was from Russia, she said, and had an amazing variety of Amber -- there are hundreds of different kinds! [Can't write the next part - it has to do with a gift we bought! Don't want to spoil the surprise!]

After walking all the way down the street, and then all the way back up the other side of the street (so much to see!) we headed to the Underground, and stepped off at Westminster Station ("Mind the Gap!"). We were immediately faced with Big Ben -- it's big alright! the Westminster Abbey (which I somehow managed NOT to get a picture of), and the House of Parliament. Such majestic buildings! Oh, and there were a TON of people with the same idea... crowds, crowds, and more crowds. A bit annoying at times, but we soldiered on. We walked over the Westminster Bridge and down to the London Eye. Crowded, Crowded, Crowded! We got our tickets for our "flight" and queued up, with the rest of the cattle. We were searched/patted down on the way in ("got anything sharp in that bag?" "Only a safety pin" "I meant like scissors or a knife." "Oh, no, nothing like that"), and we entered our little pod.

Well, it wasn't little, it was big enough for about 10-15 people to walk around or sit on a bench down the middle, and was completely surrounded by glass, for a 360 degree view. There were two little kids, along with their Italian parents/grandparents/other family, and they were running around in there most of the time, as the rest of us tried to enjoy the amazing views. The mom halfheartedly tried to stop them, but she gave up, since a little while later they were playing with the air conditioner/ventilation and then started SPITTING on the glass and SMEARING it! So gross! :( Kinda killed the experience a bit.

Once back on the ground we high-tailed it through Jubilee Park along the River Thames, where there were a lot of street performers. We didn't really stop, though, as we were anxious to get away from the intensity of these crowds.

The Jubilee Bridge was really nice, a pedestrian bridge that took us back to the North side of London. Wandering around there a bit, we headed to the Covent Garden Market. meh. It was okay, but we were cranky after our run-in with Satan's Italian Spawn on the Eye. Brian and I decided to get some coffee and sit for a bit. Once again we pulled out the map and guide book, and made a plan based on where we were.

To get the train, we headed back to Trafalgar Square and headed underground. Got back to the Queensway Station, and we found a yummy pub and had dinner. I had a falafel burger with chips and a Stella, and Brian had some sausage and mashed potatoes, known as Bangers and Mash. He also had some yummy broccoli soup and a hard cider called Strongbow. Yummy!

Brian needed a new calling card, so we headed to a shop (he's much chattier than I am, apparently), then called our hubbies to check in. Got a bottle of water for the hotel room (the tap or "still" water is warm :( ), and we headed for our London home.

We have a neighbor now! He's Arabic, or speaks the language, at least. We know this because he's LOUD. And he's been on the phone. A LOT.

So, we chilled. Had some tea, and made the plan for the next day. Brian makes fun of my lists, but it helps to keep up with what we've seen! Tomorrow we're hoping to see the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Millennium Bridge, London Bridge, plus we're meeting Brian's friend Barb (and her boyfriend Ren) for dinner at some place called The Hospital Club near the Covent Garden Tube. So, I guess I should go to bed now -- Nighty Night!

Landing in London

Saturday (I think!?!?)

We're in London, baby! Brian made it to our Chicago gate just in time (dead cow and fried potatoes in hand). We boarded the plane and immediately started cracking ourselves up! It started simply enough -- Brian was unpacking his backpack and pulled out a HUGE ziplock baggy, held it up to my face and said "Craisins?" That set us both off giggling, and set the tone for most of the trip.

We took some self-portraits (which became a ritual we started each day with), played with the buttons and features on the consoles, and settled in to watch movies on our little screens! I watched "Grown Ups" and "Toy Story 3" and Brian watched "Karate Kid" and "Toy Story 3". We tried to sleep, but were horribly unsuccessful.

The food was meh... airplane food.

It was a really long flight. I mean, REALLY long. Did I mention it was long? Luckily it was also uneventful, only very minor turbulence every once in a while.


We got to Heathrow and luckily did not have to deal with picking up luggage, since we both carried our suitcases on. It took a while to actually get off the plane -- we were close to the back of a REALLY big plane!

Once we got off the plane with our carry-ons we had to find Customs and then the train. Both took a long time to find -- there are a lot of long, winding tunnels under this city! We got our passports stamped (my first!!!) and headed to the Heathrow Express train. We took the train to Paddington Station, and found out that the train we needed to take us to Bayswater wasn't working, so that we had to take a bus. That was kind of a waste, though, since it ended up being fairly close by. It was kind of nice, though, to not have to negotiate sidewalks with suitcases.

We made it to our hotel, and to our room without any problem. Kensington Gardens Hotel -- cute! Not huge, but very cute. We changed shirts and "freshened up" (brushed teeth and washed face) and off we went! (Sleep-deprived and all!) First we had to find a Barclay's Bank to get some cash -- I got L100 (that's supposed to be pounds) to start with. The pound notes are interesting, but the pound coins are really cool! We debated lunch, and ended up at the Noodle Oodle, though we had no noodles, only rice :). After lunch we felt much better, and we headed out to get calling cards and to call our hubbies (most of the phone booths I went to in London, by the way, smelled of urine. Lovely).

Then we decided to wander around a bit. Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park were beautiful! The buildings surrounding them are really neat, too. At Hyde Park we started taking pictures with Phil Oakley, our squirrel companion and familiar. We even tried to get pictures of him with an actual squirrel, but it just knocked him off the fence and ran off!




We wandered to Piccadilly Circus (and no, there are no clowns!), which reminded me a lot of Times Square in NYC, and it was crazy full of people! Found a little shop to sit and eat a donut and have some coffee. Man, it felt good to sit after all of that walking! After consulting the map and guide book (something we did A LOT), we headed on foot (sore feet!) toward King James Park near the Household Cavalry Museum. Amazing buildings! We saw more squirrels, and Phil (and Brian and I) had to use the loo. (Previous to this point, actually, Phil was "Phyllis", but because he went to the Men's Loo, he clearly had completed his gender transformation and was now a boy.)


We took some great pictures of the London Eye in the distance, and even got some with a British Guard. He had a "JUST KILL ME" look, with all of the tourists around.

Trafalgar Square was so cool! We looked around a bit (well, I did, Brian's been to London before, and was pretty much leading me around), figured out where we were heading next, and took the trains back to our part of town. We found the Art Cafe' on Queensway for some fish and chips, and a phone booth for Brian to call Michael and check in. I'm not much of a "phone person", so I didn't make as many phone calls as Brian did. While Brian was on the phone, I tried to find a sewing kit to fix the velcro on my bag, and a Pashmina to "blend" with the Europeans. No luck today!

We headed toward our hotel -- actually went to the hotel next door to get the key to our room, and chilled. I made Phil a purple scarf, we took some pictures, and pretty much passed out.



(Okay, now that I've finished this, I can see it will be a bit time-consuming and frustrating to add a lot of pictures. Also, you can see that most of my pictures are of Brian, just as most of his are of me. So, to see more pics, feel free to go to Brian's Flickr page or my Facebook page)

Notes from the Poo Pages

Okay, before I begin, let me explain the Poo Pages mentioned above. I knew I'd want to write things down about my trip, as we went, and so I bought a small journal that would fit in my purse. It's got a zebra-print cover, and the paper is all made from -- you guessed it -- poo. Elephant poo, to be exact. It's made by a company called The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper, and it's tagline is awesome: "We're number one at number two!". So, it became fondly known to us as the Poo Poo journal or the Poo Diary, and was often the start of many juvenile poo jokes that left us in giggle fits.

Now, another note: Remember, I will be posting separate entries for each day we were traveling, as I wrote them in the diary. I will add some commentary and reflections, as well as pictures (if the technology gods are with me). So, here it goes:

*ahem*

Friday, October 15, 2010 -- Chicago, IL

Arrived at O'Hare without any problem, just a jam-packed flight! I'm at my gate, finishing my peanut-butter-filled pretzels I bought at the Raleigh-Durham airport, waiting for Brian. Nothing terribly interesting to report so far. I miss Joe and the kitties already, but I have no doubt that this will be the trip of a lifetime!!

OOOOOH! A Guinness commercial! :)

Now at this point I should point out that I have no pictures from the airport-portion of the trip. I used my cell phone to text some pics to Joe, and when I figure out how to get them from my phone to my computer, I will add some. This is not particularly exciting, I know, but it's a start.

Coming SOON!

I had an AMAZING trip to London and parts of Ireland! I wanted to share some of my adventures, but we had no real way to blog while my brother and I were there. So, I will be sharing our adventures post-trip. Complete with pictures, if technology cooperates!


Stay tuned!