Still Here

... and working on my London blog post. This one is taking me longer than usual, mostly with life getting in the way as I pull together photos and footage of our first night in the UK. Tomorrow I will post - it's a promise!
Note: I just posted it today 8/18/2010. Since I started it on 8/13/2010, see below this entry for post.

To London!

Here I sit, kids in school and not having me run around like a headless chicken trying to get supplies together, cat stretched out on the floor in my home office doorway leaving me with an entire day to take care of business and whatnot. (Always wanted to use that word in a sentence - "whatnot".) Alrighty then! Back to that long lost journal where I'm about to take off from Italy to London and beyond:

Friday, December 3rd, 2004

• Fog delayed London flight
  Meaning: we reached the airport but the fog was so heavy we didn't leave until well after midnight. Uggh, as if I wasn't jet-lagged enough.
  
• Took bus to Bergamo, Italy
• Flew to Sanstedt, London
  Picture the three of us walking the empty early morning streets trying to get directions to our hotel from ANYONE, including cabbies who (one) was nice enough to stop and give us some sort of clue as to where we needed to go. Fortunately, we were able to navigate via the map system posted throughout London.
  
• Bus to Victoria Station, London
  That was interesting - you would not believe the people we ran into along the underground bus system. Peddlers, mostly.
  
• Walk from station to hotel (not Hanover 1st night)
• Sleep at 4:30 a.m. (very tired)
  "Very tired" being the understatement of the century after the all-nighter and a half.
  
• Woke up early - 8:40 a.m.
• Tour Bus (open top)
  
  Mom kicks back in upper level of tour bus.
  
  
• Trafalgar Square stopped (photos)
  
  Mom and Allen pose in front of fountain, Trafalgar Square
  
  
• Sherlock Holmes Pub (fish and chips)
  
  Me in front of Sherlock Holmes pub - best fish & chips
  ever tasted!
  
  
• Photos at Lord Nelson Monument
  
  Mom and Me
  
  
• Whitehall, horses, Scotland Yard, Downing Street, Cabinet Buildings, Parliament, Big Ben
  
  The infamous Big Ben
  
  
• WOW!
  
  
  
• Bus to London Bridge/Starbucks
• Walked across London Bridge
  
  Warming up w/Starbucks latte on bridge
  
  
• Walked to London Dungeon
  
• Girls w/halos
  No idea what this was all about... 'halos'?
  
• Bus over London Bridge
  
  Random passengers atop bus over London Bridge
  
  
• Dropped off at London Tower
• Shopping at gift shoppe
• WOW! Boat ride down Thames
  
  Me, Mom, Allen on boat in Thames River
  
  
• photos
  
  London Tower view from Thames River
  
  
  City of London view from Thames River
  
  
  View of London Eye from boat in Thames (dark!)
  
  
• Off at embankment, on the bus
• Bus to Victoria Station
• Walked .5 mile to Hard Rock (50 min wait for table, skipped dinner & shopped at store)
  At this point, I started experiencing painful shin splints possibly due to dehydration. Ugh. But the walk was worth buying Hubs a Hard Rock Cafe - London t-shirt!
  
• Walked back to Victoria
• Ate dinner at Garfunkel's in mall (spent 15 pd/40 M&A, stiffed waitress - no split ticket)
  That's right, we actually stiffed the waitress for not splitting our bill. Such rude Americans? Yikes. Well, at least I was able to get a taste of my English heritage with a meal topped off with peas, a favorite.
• Shopped for pop.
• Walked to Hanover Hotel.
• Called home - tried from 9:40-10:40 - couldn't get out!! :(
  For an entire hour straight, we tried and tried to get a phone connection back to the States to no avail. Finally, sleep took over.

*Big Huge Drum Roll Here*

As we barrel into Back-to-School week, I'm feeling like that DRUM ROLL is following me around as we check off everything on our 'To Do' list in preparation for it all. I know, I know. Where's that Italy journal? It's on the way - no worries. In fact, here's Day #2, Thursday December 2nd, 2004. Not too detail oriented, but keep in mind that I'm headed toward my next destination where it gets all wild & crazy:

• Went to Desanzano (Mom & Dad's place)
• Left at night for Ryanair to London

As you can see, not much time for journaling but I do remember weighing those repacked bags on Mom & Dad's scale to make sure we didn't exceed weight limitations. Then we were off and running - London, England here we come!


















My mom proudly displaying the luggage
tags made by her fabulous grandchildren.