Friday, September 16, 2011

London in a Nutshell ( a Novel is more like it!)

Actually, we aren't staying in London. We are about 35 minutes out by train. We have had an amazing time visiting with the Pearsons and are SUPER GRATEFUL for their hospitality. Not only are they an amazing family, they are genuinely marvelous people! Their home is lovely and their dogs are wonderful. Oh how I'll miss Waffle and Donut!!! <3 <3 I haven't posted a blog update since we got to England but I have been update Facebook!

Day 1: We arrived at Gatwick EARLY! 30 minutes early to be exact. We landed at 0615 and weren't scheduled to land until 0650. YAY! That meant less time in the air. Chas met us at the airport with a lovely hold up sign made by Charlie in Disney font and with Mickey balloons.



Chas drove us to the Pearson house which is lovely and became "home" for two nights. This is the back view of the garden and Waffle (I <3 Waffle!) Our next dog will be a white Golden Retriever.


After a shower and getting ourselves together we headed off to see London! We started with lunch at Mark's and Spencer and ate our lunch in Covent Garden. After two bites of my yummy sarnie I dropped it on the ground where it was much destroyed by pigeons!




After lunch we headed out to explore London! We started at the London Eye. We were so thrilled that we got Brian got on it!






After the London Eye we walked the South Bank. First we ran into scary Mickey! Tracy wanted to run away!! Then we continued our walk...at the National Theatre we found some giant chairs made of grass and we stopped for a beer at a pub overlooking the Thames and across from St. Paul's Cathedral. Then we crossed the Millenium Bridge (think Harry Potter) and crossed back over the Thames.







After this we walked to Oxford Street, shopped, and had dinner. The highlight was definitely shopping at Primark. There really isn't an American equivalent. I was able to buy a nice winter coat for our trip to Sterling's country for 16 pounds. This equates to about $26. Really, wait until you see it in pics. It's amazing! I spent the equivalent of $89 and bought that coat, a pair of really nice thermals for me, a pair of really nice thermals for Sterling, a pair of really cute quilted ballerina shoes (for me of course) and two pair of fuzzy socks for Sterling. Then we headed back. By the time we got home we had been  awake for nearly 35 hours...we fell asleep immediately.

Day 2:

Tracy had to wake us up at 0945 because we were still asleep. It's not jet lag, we've been doing great since we followed Gregg Baron's advice on NOT SLEEPING until it was bedtime here. It was just that we were genuinely tired. We got up, had breakfast and were driven to the train station. Chas helped us to get our tickets and off we headed (ON OUR OWN!!!) to London to meet Sarah!

I keep saying we are on London, but we really aren't. We are about 35 minutes outside of London by train. We are in a small village called Marsworth. The closest train station is at Tring. It's a beautiful train ride through the country to get to London and we pass Wembley Stadium on the way (which Brian LOVES!) Here are some pictures and a short video of our train ride from today!






We met Sarah in London and headed to Oxford Street again. We visited the Disney store there and took our picture with Busby Mickey and the Big Ben in the Disney Store. Then we headed to Buckingham Palace. There are no pictures allowed inside of the Buckingham Palace so here are the pictures we were able to get. It really is beautiful! No Busbys today :( But I did get a picture of the guard that was outside.The only souvenier I've bought were my chapsticks! Practical and SUPER CUTE!!!! After Buckingham Palace we headed home













 Ok...I'm done waiting for the video of the train ride to load...and Im ready to repack and go to bed! The next time I post I will be in Sterling's country!!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PRAY for safe travels!!!

1 comment:

  1. Can't wait to read the next few weeks! Have a safe flight!~

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