Day 4: Paris

Bonjour!  

We caught the Eurostar from St. Pancras this morning at 8:55 and made our journey through the Chunnel to Paris.

Riding the Eurostar

A note for the future:  go ahead an buy the Metro pass they offer on the train.  As soon as we made it through the turnstiles, we were heckled by teenage girls,wanting us to sign something to support....something.    Luckily, we had read in our guidebooks some of the tricks these pick-pockets will attempt.  It was frustrating getting our tickets at the ATM-like machine (which wasn't taking our cards initially and only accepted coins) and making our way onto a very crowded train.  It's a good thing our hostel was only one stop away.

Le Regent

Our tiny room.  We have a sink.  There are dorm-style showers/toilets.

After checking in at the hostel, we headed for Champs de Elyseesi.  We had lunch at an adorable little cafe, Chez Clement, near the Arc de Triomphe.  I wasn't in a picture-taking mood today.  I guess I'm getting tired of looking like a tourist.  But my lunch was surely worthy of a picture.  It was delicious.  I had the Steak de Canard (duck steak with a green pepper sauce).  A glass of wine was 15 cents more than a glass of water.....so naturally I had both : )  The best part of lunch was probably listening in on the conversations going on on either side of us....although we didn't understand one word of it!

We decided to hit Paris by foot, crossing the River Seine on our way to the Eiffel Tower.

But guess what?  Today just happens to be Bastille Day.

Don't we just have the greatest luck?  At this point, the police were everywhere, blocking the roads leading to the tower.  Apparently there are to be some major fireworks.  Too bad we're too annoyed to bother watching them.  I have never in my life seen so many police.  I guess we'll try to get closer tomorrow.  We took a few pictures as we made our way back (only stopping at one patisserie along the way).

Hopefully tomorrow will turn out to be a better day for seeing the sights.

Au Revoir

London: Day 3

We began our day at Hyde Park and made our way to Kensington Palace.  I have never been inside Kensignton Palace before, but I didn't imagine it would be quite like this......
Apparently, they decided to do something a little more modern to attract tourists.  Our take on it?  A little weird.  It was like stepping into Alice's Wonderland, only no Johnny Depp.  This section of the palace has been open since 1898, and this year, they decided to create a new exhibit titled "The Enchanted Palace."  I wish I had photos to show, but alas, they weren't allowed.  The concept:  each room is devoted to a different princess.  We were given a map and clues as to what to look for in each room.  There was a poem for each princess.  Plus a lot of "enchanted" decor that didn't make much sense to us...it was pretty trippy.  To me, the best part of visiting palaces and cathedrals/abbeys in Europe is seeing it as it has been for hundreds of years.  We just tried to look past all the weird stuff. 
The seven princesses were:
1. Mary
2. Caroline
3. Charolette
4. Victoria
5. Margarete
6. Dianna
7. Anne

"Look for us, we are all here, all seven of us."  Not creepy at all.....

Kensington Gardens

Our next stop was the mecca of all shopaholics:  Harrod's, a store so large, you need a map to navigate it.  No joke.  There are 6 levels total, each with different sections of merchandise.

  We spent a lot of time on the escalaters....almost too afraid to venture inside one of the rooms.

Especially when you see names like Dior, Prada, and Hermes...We found a few cool items.  One room was devoted to vintage movie posters.  For 700 pounds, you could have an autographed portrait of Ron or Hermione.  We picked up lunch at the massive food court on the ground level.  I was so hungry yet so overwhelmed by the amount of food in that room.  I must have wandered around for 15 minutes before I decided to go with a fresh broccoli and mozzarella salad, a spring roll, and a sample of something else....that I can not remember the name of.  Sorry, poor documenting on my part.

We then headed to Picadilly Circus with hopes of catching Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre....but that didn't happen.  Disappointed, we decided to head to Buckingham Palace.

We got to see the arrival of some very important visitor.  No idea who he was.  We were hoping to see Will and Kate : (

The Wellington Arch

We also chanced upon the "Loo of the Year."

I did a lousy job of taking pictures on our 3rd day in London.  Several of these Katherine took.  I just knew I had an extra pair of batteries in my "Mary Poppins Purse."  I can usually find anything I need in there.  But alas, no batteries.  So no pictures.

We returned to Hyde Park and found the Peter Pan Statue.  This was no easy task.  It was like a scavenger hunt.....and Hyde Park is huge!

We did get to see a show after all.  We went to Leichester Square and purchased 1/2-priced tickets.  We didn't have many choices, so we settled on Chicago.  The choreography was amazing!  The actress playing Velma Kelly and the actor playing Amos were our favorites; however, Christie Brinkley has apparently decided to step into Broadway, and we did not like watching her as Roxie Hart.  I'm not exactly how she got the part.....

We had dinner at Sartori, probably the most authentic Italian food I've ever had.  We ordered the margarita pizza...and wow....we Americans have really ruined pizza!  This pizza was so simple, but tasted better than any pizza I've ever eaten.  The staff were also the friendliest people we conversed with in London.  And get this:  wishes he had a southern American accent.....???  We found this extremely funny.

This brings an end to the London portion of our trip.  We're off to Paris next!

Day 2: London

I could spend a whole week in London alone.  There's so much to do!
We did have a few hangups this morning.  First of all, we overslept by an hour, but that turned out to be a good thing.  When we got to the Tube station, our travel passes, which we purchased with our London Passes, wouldn't go through.  The attendant told us that our passes wouldn't be good until 9:30.  We didn't get that important detail.  Note:  remember that for future trips to London! So we took a seat at the cafe next door and listened to a girl cuss out her boyfriend.  She was saying some pretty awful stuff....what is it about the accent that makes everything sound good?  Maybe that's just me.....Anyway.  Our hostel is definitely out of central London, so we finalized our touristy day plans in the 25 minutes we had to wait for our passes to be valid.

Another hangup:  we've only traveled by foot and Tube, and the line we needed was having major delays this morning : /  But we finally reached our destination:

The White Tower at the Tower of London

I think posts are better in pictures....

Traitor's Gate:  Prisoners were brought on a barge on the Thames.  They passed under London Bridge where the heads of recently executed where displayed on pikes....pretty gruesome!

Tower Green:  the execution site for many prisoners.  The best-known are the 3 Queens of England.  Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, and  Lady Jane Grey.

A memorial for those who were executed.  Many of their names are listed around on the top circle.  The bottom reads "Gentle visitor pause awhile : where you stand death cut away the light of many days : here jeweled names were broken from the vivid thread of life : may they rest in peace while we walk the generations around their strife and courage : under there restless skies."  

I really enjoyed the Tower.  I'm obsessed with all things Tudor : )

We stood in a ridiculously long line to see the Crown Jewels, but it was well worth it.

I noticed a vendor in the courtyard while going into the Tower.  It looked too good....I couldn't resist!  It was even in a newspaper-print box.  Greg told me several years ago that it was traditionally wrapped in newspaper for you to eat on the go.  See?  Fast food has been around for ages.

Some tasty Fish & Chips.  I seasoned mine with vinegar and had a side of "white sauce," which turned out to be mayo.  Another side note:  it's not "ketchup. it's 'tomato sauce.'"

Headed a little farther west to check out some major touristy spots.

St. Paul's Cathedral.  One of my favs.  It's absolutely gorgeous!  Well done, Christopher Wren.

The things people will do to earn a buck....er....pound.

The Millenium "Wobbly" Bridge.

Wobbly Bridge & St. Paul's

Shakespeare's Globe.  They were sold out for tonight and tomorrow night : (  Might have a chance to catch a play on our return through London.

A Chopin board....get it? : )

Return to Westminster Abbey

We had the coolest experience:  we attended an organ recital at the Abbey.  I didn't know organ music could be so beautiful!  If you want to experience Westminster Abbey, this is the way to go.  The recital was 10 pounds but worth every pence ; )  You get to soak in all the beautiful architecture and design without the crowds...while listening to some amazing music.

On the program:
Bach:  Fantasia and Fugue in G minor
Fredrik Sixten:  Prelude and Fugue in memoriam Naurice Durufle
Walter G. Alcock:  Fantasie-Impromptu
Alexandre Guilmant:  Sonata V in C minor

Day 1: London

Well, we finally made it!  I've been looking forward to this trip for so long, and when the day finally came, I almost couldn't believe it was really here.  So here's how our first day of travel/London went:

Our international flight departed Chicago at 9:13 Sunday evening.  Somehow, Katherine and I ended up  sitting on opposite ends of the plane.  The ironic thing is that she was crammed in the back with no leg room (not ideal for someone who is 6'1), and I was in the front row and able to completely stretch my legs out in front of me (probably shouldn't have told her that!)  In the past, I have never been able to sleep on the plane.  I don't know if it was the Tylenol PM I took, my attempt to read some more of Atlas Shrugged, or the fact that I had really quiet traveling companions, but I fell asleep shortly after dinner.  I woke up many times and spent a good deal of time in a half-concious state, but I definitely didn't struggle with "jet lag" like I have in the past.

11:25 am--We arrive at Heathrow.  Going through customs took a long, LONG, LONG time. In the past, I've traveled through GLOBUS, so I've never had to worry about transport from the airport.  I'm so proud of myself for navigating us through the Tube!  We made it to our hostel without any problems.
2:00 pm--We arrive at our first Hostel.  I wasn't crazy about the walk from the Underground station to the hostel...but our room is great.  Very small, but it's all we need.  And you can't beat the price.
3:30/4-ish--We made our way to Picadilly (how cool is that name! It's my favourite so far) Circus to the London Visitor Center to pick up our London passes.
4:30--We stopped in a little sandwich shop across the street for lunch/dinner....not really sure which.  Our stomachs were just telling us it was time to eat!  (something besides airplane food)
5:15--We wandered around (literally, we were just walking about; maps are optional) until we made our way to Trafalger Square.  We used our passes and did a short audio tour of the National Gallery.  According to Rick Steves, it's one of the best guided tours in Europe.  We saw paintings by Leonardo, Botticelli, Velazquez, Rembrandt, Turner, and van Gogh....well, we ran out of time (closed at 6), but these are artists/paintings we should have seen : )

Nelson's column

National Gallery

We saw Big Ben, so we continued to walk in that general direction......We strolled along historic Whitehall.

#10 Downing Street

The guards at #10.  Did you know they've been on duty for 12 hours?  How terribly dull!

Westminster Abbey, location of the Royal Wedding

Big Ben and Parliament

Our London Passes got us free admission on a cruise of the Thames...why not?

River Cruise.  My dermatologist still wont' admit that I have a problem with pre-mature wrinkles.  Exhibit A : /

London Eye--a glorified ferris wheel--but it gives the best views of London

Dome of St. Paul's and the "Wobbly Bridge."

Shakespear's Globe.  Katherine and I are hoping to catch a play.  The "groundling" seat are only 5 pounds!

London Bridge--kinda plain and simple.  That song creates such a hype!

Proof that it's the REAL London Bridge

The Belfast, from WWII

Tower Bridge, often mistaken for London Bridge.  Here's a bridge worthy of a song!

At Starbucks, you never feel too far from home.  They had visitors place a pin on the map of where they're from.  How cool is that?

I know tomorrow has many, many exciting things in store.  We begin at the Tower of London.  We're going to catch an evensong service at Westminster Abbey and hopefully see some Shakespeare.  I love Europe!