Sightseeing in London

Despite being concerned about my lost wallet and frustrated by having to deal with the consequences of losing something so important, I am so very grateful to be able to be in London. I feel very fortunate to be able to take such a nice vacation and appreciative of the Strategic team who are "holding down the fort" while we are gone.

We got our first real glimpses of the city today. Although we drove through it yesterday, I spent more of my time sleeping than observing. We hopped on a Hop-on Hop-Off tour bus today. Unfortunately we got such a late start that we did not take much advantage of the hop off feature.

This is actually a great way to at least get a quick look at the sights - enough to convince us that we must return someday. There is such a long and rich history here that the US seems like a mere baby.

Some of the "must see more of" places that we passed are The Tower of London, Parliament, Buckingham Palace and various Museums. This is not to mention the shopping, theatre, and restaurants that called our names.

We did hop off once to take a ride on the Eye, th

e largest ferris wheel in the world. The wheel moves so slowly that it takes 30 minutes to take the circuit. We were in the pod with about 15 other people

Some of the things that I learned today.

• Green park was originally a cemetary for leapors (sp). There are no ponds or flower beds in the park. Eeww.
• The first miniskirts were work in London.
• The first Hard Rock Cafe opened in London. The owners got the idea because they could not find a good burger here.
• One of the favorite foods of people here is Indian. I guess that is what the result of colonization. The first Indian restaurant opened here in the early 1800s.
• They have such high regard for Winston Churchhill that his statue has an electrick current that scares birds away. They do not want pigeons pooping on his head.

Funny conversation of the day: We passed a statue of a nude man. Kristina pointed it out to Ben and they laughed about seeing the man's butt. Ben said something about his butt cheeks. I thought to myself . . . it is a good thing we did not drive past the other side. I can just imagine what that conversation would be like.

Tomorrow we are headed to the ship.

Jet Lagged in London

Les and I shuffled down the street in search of a restaurant as our overactive, sleep deprived children ran circles around us. I know alot of kids get super busy when they are tired and that it is not unique to ours, but managing them can be very challenging.

The staff at the hotel directed us to Covent Garden, an area with lots of shops and restaurants, saying that we could find all kinds of food there (Indian, Thai, Chinese). As I listened to their suggestions, I tried to wrap my mind around the idea of coming all the way to London and then eating Chinese food. It seems absurd.

After walking a few blocks and passing several of the restaurants mentioned at the hotel, we decided on an English pub and enjoyed a traditional English meal, fish and chips. It seemed like lunch to us (noon EST), but was really about 5pm local time. Although fried foods are not my favorite, I feel satisfied that I have had a true British experience. (I think I actually like those other foods better though.)

As we lingered over our meal, the food settled in and I once again grew tired. My thoughts of taking a walk vanished, and we returned to the hotel for rest and wallet searching. It is now almost 7 p.m. here, and I am looking forward to going to bed tonight.

By the way, Wikepedia says that jet lag can take about 1.5 days per time zone to adjust. If that is true, we will be "jet lagging" for almost half of our visit!

Arrived in London but the Wallet Didn't

I seem to be really get myself worked up about leaving town. Did I remember to do everything? Are we taking enough money? What kind of clothes will we need? Did I pack enough? I spent most of the day yesterday feeling anxious about these things as we prepared to leave.

At times it seemed that things took twice as long as they should. After spending hours trying to do a load of laundry, I finally discovered that the water valve was turned off. Then I lost the cat, and finally discovered that she was locked out on the porch. Then I lost the keys to the storage unit where the suitcases are kept . . . and my day went on like that.

Well, I thought it was all over once we left the house. My anxiety is overcome by the sweet relief that all tasks are completed and we are on our way. All seemed to be fine until I got to the hotel this morning and discovered that I lost my wallet . . . good grief . . . so now the calls and searching are on.

Well on a brighter note, the flight was on time and very smooth. We left Dulles at 10 p.m - just in time for sleeping - and arrived at about 5 a.m. EST. That means it was 10 a.m. here. Although we were tired, we did get some sleep on the plane and are functioning. (Although not well enough to keep from losing my wallet.)

Tip: The extra legroom coach seats are worth the price for a long flight. 5 extra inches of leg room make a big difference when trying to sleep. I don't think I would do it for a shorter flight though.

So far, my impressions of London are that it is steeped in tradition and is a very old city. Whenever I come to Europe, I am always struck by how much older the building are than in the US. Of course, I understand this on an intellectual level - I learned about it in history class. However, it is different to see it in person.

We drove through various parts of London on the way from the airport to the hotel. Each area of the city seems to have its own character and charm. To really appreciate this city, one would need more than just two days.

Funniest conversation of the trip: Ben expressed disappointment about leaving his balloon at the restaurant (went to Red Robin on the way to the airport). Kristina tried to console him by saying that it was no big deal, balloons are not that important, and she does not even really like them.

Then he said, "so can I have yours."

"Well, I didn't really mean . . . sometimes its actually the reverse . . . actually . . ." She sputtered.

"So, that means no?"