Lucky in London

People! We're nearing the home stretch. I need to get all these photos posted so I can go back to writing wordy blogs that people only skim because I don't know how to trim the fat. Thanks for hanging in there.

Our "Ireland Adventure" turned into a "UK Extravaganza" when we decided to hop a hundred dollar flight down to London for a day. That's right, just a day. We were lucky enough (with the way the flights were scheduled) to spend 35 hours exploring (and surviving) the city. Again, the good-weather followed our itinerary, and we had some sunny and blue skies for a portion of our trip.



A good chunk of the photos we took were of buildings and things we only kinda sorta knew what they were. Well, maybe that was just me. But I was blown away by how old and gorgeous all the stonework was--and how well preserved it is. Boston is a tiny throwaway town compared to the size and age of the London area. Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Westminster Abbey, House of Parliament, etc... incredible. Like I stated before, photos don't do it justice.

Here's a photo of something I was 100 percent sure I knew what it was:

Sunset at the end of a looooooong walk back to the hostel, chocolates in the famous Harrod's Department Store, the travelers in front of something old.

We spent one night in a hostel in South Kensington right near Hyde Park. Exhausted from the two-thousand stairs the day before and stressed from traveling by car, plane, train, tube, and crutch to get to the hostel, I may have been a little teary when Julie and I checked in. It might have been the tears, it might have been Tron, or it might have been divine intervention that nudged the checker-in desk man to give the four of us a private room. I'm just sayin'... second time Tron helped us out.

We would have changed our clothes for the theater, but decided we didn't care enough to do so... and after a twelve minute rest on the beds, we launched ourselves back into the world. We had a show to get to! I've seen Wicked before, but found uber cheap tickets and had to see it in London--and take Julie, who'd never been. Our seats were in the second to last row and not even in the same section... but Tron to the resucue again! Boom. Moved to handicapped seats in the 4th row of the balcony. The show was amazing of course--it was kind of odd to see it acted out with Briticsh accents. In fact, some of the lyrics in the songs didn't rhyme the way they *should* have based on the British pronunciation. It kind of cracked me up.

After the show we grabbed a drink and some Nyquil at a stand in the Tube station--the bird flu was begin to spread its wings. We all slept with varying degrees of difficulty (hello squeaky bunk beds!) and were ready to get up in the morning. None of us showered--some of our hair was a little worse for the wear. Too sick to do much.

Are you ready for another stroke-mouth video?

Take a bus tour in London. Especially if you're short on time. They're get-on, get-off wherever you want and circle the entire city. Our pass was ~$40 and good for two days. It was crazy how much distance we traveled and how much ground we covered. Being crippled, this was the smartest thing I ever could have done as it minimized the walking we did. Until it was too late, the busses stopped running, and we walked the few miles back to the hostel. Oh joy. It was cloudy 100% of the time we were on the bus; but we hauled ourselves off at Westminster Abby and the House of Parliament. Within 60 seconds of disembarking, the clouds parted and the sun shone. We managed some pretty amazing pictures, and chalked up another weather miracle moment.

Esther was trying to document the hold-up I created on any kind of stairs (or my first steps in England, the jury is still out), our hostel room, and me trying to work out the kink in my neck from said hostel bed.

SO there you have it. Another loooong post with too many photos and disjointed stories. Soon enough I can go back to posts with not enough photos and disjointed stories. It's a win-win. Or lose-lose. Depends which glass you're drinking from I guess.

London is awesome! One of these days I'll hope to get there when I'm not on crutches holding everyone up. In case you were wondering, London fashion is pretty sweet--most of what I can remember is a sea of amazing coats and boots. Next trip, I'll dress like the fashionista that I am, have good hair, and walk faster than anyone can keep up with. That's a promise.