Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Our England Trip - Day 1 {and a half}

The amount of photos and memories and stories to tell after a 10-day trip out of your home country is a bit overwhelming. There’s so much I want to share on my blog, and I think I’ve come up with a cohesive way to make that happen.

I’ll be taking the standard “How do you eat an elephant” approach – one bite at a time. I’ve decided to create blog posts highlighting one day of our trip at a time. I’ll share photos and stories, and sometimes I will include excerpts from the travel journal that I kept as well.

Also, a note about the photos. Carrie and I agreed to share photos from the sources we were using, so some of the shots I'll be sharing are from Carrie's camera. We also got some fun Instagrams during our trip, so there will be a mixture of photo formats within my vacation posts. As mentioned previously, I didn't use my big camera on this trip - it was too bloody cold to mess with it! ;o)

Ok - let's do it...


From my travel journal: Day One

“Oh my gosh, what a day! Leaving on a flight at 9:00 p.m. made for a long day of anticipation! And now, after all this waiting and planning, we are finally on our way! In the air on a giant British Airways flight…”

“...twenty-four minutes remaining on our 10-hour flight – the concept of an over-night flight sounded like a good idea when we booked it. I maybe got 5 hours sleep – off and on… Ready to get out of this seat, off of this plane, and in to London!!!”


We arrived at our hotel around 5:00, found a place for dinner, walked around Covent Garden a bit, then retired to our hotel room. Not much of a "day one" so...



Day One and a Half:
“Jetlag took its toll and our sleep was off last night. As a result, we had a late start this morning. But the late start was good because we ended up running in to our blog friend, Alison {she arrived from Spain!} in the lobby as she was checking in to her room."

Alison joined us for the day, and we took a bus tour of London. We bundled up and braved the cold weather by sitting on the top of the bus in the open air. Oooohhhhh…so cold!!! But we were happy!



We got off the bus and toured the Tower of London and that was incredible! I wish we’d had more time there, and in hindsight I realize we may have rushed through it just because we were so cold. {Carrie and I somewhat adjusted to the cold temps as the week went on, but I do remember that first full day being extremely cold! I was chilled to the bone when we went to bed that night – just could not get myself warmed up! High temp that day was 39°, or 3c!}

 


 Yes, we took every opportunity to look like tourists: 
Anyway, Tower of London – great tour guide {Beefeater} and it was super cool to see the Crown Jewels – spectacular! There’s so much history there, and I loved marveling at the amazing architecture!

Back on the bus...
The three of us got back on the bus for a while, and ended up getting off to enjoy dinner and drinks at Hard Rock Cafe. Alison and I have been blog friends for a few years now, and we’ve shared many emails that included hopes to drink margaritas together someday. In London, we made that happen. {Silly to think of drinking an iced drink after coming in from the cold, but we got our chance and we seized the moment!}

Our first full day in London went by so quickly! We were saying goodnight and heading off to our rooms before we knew it. Tomorrow would be an exciting day as the three of us would be making our way to Debs14’s house for a visit.

!

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great pictures Deb! How neat that you bumped into Alison when she was checking in. It looks like you were the only brave souls on top of the bus - I see an awful lot of empty seats there. :) Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your trip.

Abi said...

I love the photos and can't wait for more details of your trip. It was a very cold week in fairness. Even us brits were shivering and moaning about the weather. It isn't always this cold I promise!

Fiona@staring at the sea said...

How serendipitous that you bumped into Alison in the lobby. Perfect timing! I think you've hit upon the perfect way to share your trip, one bite at a time :o)

Lizzie said...

Great post, Deb! I would love to have been there too. X

Cheri said...

I'm going to be reading each of these posts thinking to myself... "that looks familiar" because I've seen Sarah's pictures of the same sites. And then I'm going to be thinking "ah, someday....". wistful sigh.

Irene said...

Day and a Half looked full. You have me wanting to see more.

traci said...

oh deb. this looks like such fun. i am living through you. can't wait to see more.

Robyn said...

I wish I had emailed you some bundle-up tips before you left! It stinks to be cold! But with enough layers 39 would have been manageable.

next time. ;) ha!

Great post!!

debs14 said...

Great start to your holiday blogposts! I promise you that England isn't always this cold in March. You'll just have to come back again in the summer! We couldn't guarantee high temperatures but we may be able to guarantee no snow ;-)

Denise said...

I am so going to enjoy re-living this with you all over again. Great photos,and I love that you are including bits from your journal too xxxx

Beverly said...

Love that you are sharing this in bits because I think we will get even more of your experience.So awesome that the timing was perfect for Alison to join ya'll. I may have started off on the top deck with you but it wouldn't have lasted and surely ya'll could have enjoyed an Irish Coffee. I am thinking I'd rather enjoy a margarita with you in Arizona and Alison in Spain ;)

scrappyjacky said...

Like Beverly I'm thinking an Irish coffee might have been a better bet!!
Can't believe how much you packed in while still suffering from jetlag!!

Alison said...

love the post my friend!...and I agree that we would have spent more time at The Tower if it hadn't been so cold..and no regrets about the margaritas!
Alison xx

Stephanie @ La Dolce Vita said...

Great pics and it looks like you had sooo much fun!! Can't wait to see more!

Rhona said...

I know I'm going to love these posts. Your photos are fantastic and I'm so looking forward to seeing more. Unfortunately we've still got cold weather and have had snow flurries on and off all day today. xx

alexa said...

You communicate your excitement and enjoyment (despite our awful weather - now you know why we are always talking bout it!) and it is lovely to feel your infectious enthusiasm! So glad you liked it. And us. :).

Anonymous said...

What a lovely post, I almost feel that I was there with you. Am so looking forward to your posts over the next few days. The weather promises to be a little warmer at the weekend - I do hope so as I am so fed up with the cold.

Maria Ontiveros said...

Looking forward to more - I love the quotes from your travel journal.
Rinda

Lady J said...

Oh, I can't wait to go...only 13 more years until the youngest is in college and we can go! ;)

By-the-way....why is the bike lane in a zig-zag? Is that a bike -lane?
-Jessica (Lady J)

Karen said...

Great photos, and brrrr--I'm with you, not a fan of the cold which is too bad considering where I live! I don't think I could have braved the open air bus!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...