Hey, we're back

We are back in the states now. We've got a lot of photos and stuff to post, but it will take some time. We had a great time in Europe and hope to make it back sooner than later.

More to come...

Photo from saturday nite

Just landed

Waiting at Waterloo Station

It's 9:00 a.m. and we're at Waterloo Station, about to hop on the Eurostar for Paris. A funny thing happened on Wednesday night - after walking around all day (Westminster Abbey, The British Museum and an unsuccessful attempt to get into the Victoria and Albert Museum), we got back to our hotel, ready to pack and head to Paris on Thursday. For some reason, we had it in our heads that we were leaving for Paris on THursday. I was going over our tickets and the accompanying information and saw that we were scheduled for today. So, we had a bonus day in London! Yesterday was nice - we didn't have a huge agenda, just sort of walked around, did whatever - took it a little easier compared the the previous 5 days! I think the fast pace has been catching up with us as it gets harder and harder to roll out of bed in the mornings. Yesterday, we went to Abbey Road - which wasn't much to look at - and the intersection was completely bogged with tourists trying to replicate the Beatles' photo. That was a quick trip, so we went to PIccadilly CIrcus and shopped for a while - Lillywhite's for sporting goods, Fortnum & Mason for tea and truffles. We took our truffles to St. James Park with a bottle of wine and chilled out for a while, which was nice. We did not get rained on yesterday, either, so that was a bonus.

When we arrive in Paris today, we'll meet up with Dan's friend, Jason. It will be nice to see a familiar face. In any case, we'll be posting more photos from Paris, assuming that we can find a wireless internet connection. Stay tuned!

St. James park

Shopping

Photos: London Day 5

Photos: London Day 4

Photos: London Day 3

Yo! Sushi

Cold chillin'

at da British Museum

@ Pizza Express. British Museum is next.

England observations - Tuesday afternoon

It's Tuesday, our 4th day in London. A few observations after being in a foreign country:

-While usually considered a hub of progressive music, London establishments seem to play only music that was recorded in 1985 or before. Examples: Sunday night dinner at "The Princess of Wales" restaurant - Dionne Warwick's Greatest Hits. Sunday night at Piccadilly Circus souvenir shop - Beat It by Michael Jackson. Last night, walking past a middle-eastern restaurant near Wembley - Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. This morning, at breakfast at our hotel - The Boys of SUmmer by Don Henley. I'm not complaining as I love all of these songs and will lip-synch or sing them aloud to Dan whenever I get the chance. Dan is the one suffering. Right now, as I write this in Starbucks - Here Comes the Rain Again by the Eurythmics.

-When they say that London is rainy, that really doesn't explain the extremely sudden cloudbursts you get - even though it's perfectly bright and sunny outside. Dan and I got drenched yesterday watching the Changing of the Guard in a mob of tourists. Naturally, the rain stopped as soon as the ceremony was over. Which leads me to..

-the Tourists. Yes, we belong to this group, but I've never been in such multi-cultural mobs as we've experienced here. Today, we went to the Tower of London for a marathon 3+ hour visit, followed by a trip to St. Paul's Cathedral. The Tower was something we had to experience and Dan and I both enjoyed it. Same thing for St. Paul's. However, both of these places have lots of very narrow passageways and staircases. IF you get stuck behind a group of, say, French schoolchildren or an elderly tour group, you're a goner. I keep thinking of my mom, who gets claustrophobic in crowds, and even though it comes with the territory of being a tourist, I can't help but think that this would be her worst nightmare.

We didn't post anything last night because we got back from the Pearl Jam concert so late. I'm sure we'll post more of the concert photos (and videos) once we upload them all. Note to Dad - I survived the concert, no need to worry. Dan and I were both tired this morning, but wanted to get to the Tower early, and it was worth it. One of the funniest things at the Tower of London was how tourists were permitted to view the Crown Jewels. After a series of short films showing the Queen's coronation, up-close views of the royal scepter, royal punchbowl, etc...you're ushered into a long, narrow room with the crown jewels in cases in the center of the room. On either side of the cases are "moving sidewalks" like those at CVG. Dan took one look at the moving sidewalks and exclaimed, "this is the best idea I've ever seen!" In retrospect, it's still cracking me up that the experience of viewing the Crown Jewels was so assembly-line-ish. I have literally been dying to see the Crown Jewels since I was 10 years old, so I had imagined it as a much more reverent experience. Seeing the Crown Jewels was over much too fast, so once I jumped off the conveyor belt at one end, I ran back around to the start and I rode the other side a la the Racer. Now that I think about it, Dan and I should have started on either sides of the cases and raced to the end. Opportunity lost.

Tomorrow, we'll probably hit Westminster Abbey and the British Museum. These past days have been verrrrry long days of walking and Griswold-ian sightseeing, but it's great. We wouldn't have it any other way. So much to see here and we're loving every minute of it.

Post-script: TWO Seed shout-outs to Gretchen and Rad - I took a photo of Wakefield Tower this morning with my phone, but it apparently didn't go through. Will try to re-send it. After our visit to the Tower of London, we were famished. We went to Wagamama, where I finished an appetizer and an entire plate of Yaki Soba. Hope all is well back at the ranch!

Wakefield tower w/beefeater

Pearl Jam

Spent the last hour lost in wembley-finally found the green man

The Tube

Changing of the guards

Dan, impressed by my fish n chips. Postscript: I ate the entire plate of fish 'n chips - it was delicious. Dan had bangers & mash, which I sampled. Also delicious. English food isn't all that bad.

Rainy days &mondays

London: Day Three

We're up! Headed to the Pearl Jam show today at Wembley Arena. But first, we'll be making a stop at the London Eye to take in an aerial view of the city and then catch the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

London is absolutely unreal. Every turn reveals something historical, important or something we saw in a movie at some point :) Most buildings are older than we have ever seen in our lifetimes. There are tons of people here, and often times, you feel that you are the only English speaking people around - but that's really neat, actually. It's like everyone here is somewhat of an outsider and we all just happen to be here at the same time.

The Tube is badass. We've been all over this city in the first day and half that we've been here. It's easy to get around and pretty fast. Today we'll be hitting a few different spots in town - but all are in separate parts of town. The Tube makes it that easy to plan your day and get around.

Okay, that's all for now. Big day today. We'll be having a few pints before the show tonight!

Oh, we'll probably be picking up the new White Stripes CD today. A day earlier than we could in the states. HAHA RONSON!!!

Photos from Day Two

PS - for some reason, my blogger interface is in German right now. That makes it a little tougher to post :) POST VEROPFFENLICHEN!!!

St. Paul's Cathedral = Online!

Yep, G and I are sitting in from of St. Paul's Cathedral in the heart of London. Here's a photo from the webcam ^^

It's been a busy day today. We just left the Tate Modern, rode a double decker tour bus and took a water tour of the Thames earlier.

Might hit Yo! Sushi tonight. Werd.

Dan @ Tate Modern

@ Tate Modern

Tower bridge from the thames

London: Day Two

So, what's on tap for our second day?

- Bus tour
- Tate Modern
- Tower of London? Might do that Tuesday or something
- Eat some good food
- Take too many photos
- Lots of walking
- Work on our British accents

Photos from London: Day One

Here are a few shots of our first day in London:

Westminster Abby

Trafalgar Square

Piccadilly Circus

Cincy to London

After a loooong flight, we landed in London around 9:30 local time this morning. Not sure how much sleep we actually got (or didn't get) on the plane, but we're determined to keep going - with lots of caffeine! Checking into our hotel was an experience oddly similar to the Griswolds'; the room and hotel are much more - shall i say compact - than the website made it out to be. No complaints, though, this part of town (Kensington) is beautiful and there's a friendly dog at our hotel. Dan and I dodged into a cafe to get out of the rain, so once it clears up a bit, we'll check out this area more and probably take the Tube over to Piccadilly Circus. More later!

Victoria Station

This photo does NOTHING to show you how crazy this place was. It was damn busy when we arrived.

@ Gatwick

Dinner

Pasta, salad (ranch), roll, butter, cheese product, crackers (a lovely butterfly shape!), cup o' water, brownie and fashionable Delta flatware. yum.

Boarding

You would think that Dan just got off the plane... but he's just boarding it here.

Boarding soon

Lovely weather in London

Test

Going to London

This is what it would look like if I was taking a photo in front of Big Ben.

Our Euro vacation blog

Hi all!

The plan is to use this blog space to post a few things as we are running around London and Paris. Our phone should work overseas, so be on the look out for cameraphone photos here and there.

THE TRIP

Fri 06.15: Fly from Cincy to London
Sat 06.16: Arrive in London
Mon 06.18: Pearl Jam show at Wembley Arena in London
Thu 06.21: Take the chunnel from London to Paris
Mon 06.25: Fly from Paris to Cincy

More later...