LPA Highlights Days 1-3

Hello Fellow Bloggers. As promised I am posting pics and highlights from my trip: London, Paris & the Alps (LPA). I am going to post them by days and country to simplify things a bit. I know the pictures definitely don't do these places justice, but I
hope you enjoy them.

Ok, so in this first pic (Day 1-March 18), you can see that we are sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. The day started out a little hairy, as our flight in Springfield, MO was way delayed and I had to rebook us for a later flight from Dallas to London. There was one more flight out of Dallas and there were only 20 seats remaining; I took 12. The flight ended up being full. My group was so thankful there was another flight otherwise we would have spent the night in Dallas. Anyway, we made the flight obviously. It was a very long flight from Dallas (9 hours). But we arrived in London, England on my 30th birthday (March 19). Someone from my group passed a note to the fight attendant, who then passed it on to the captain. As we were taxing on the runway at Heathrow Airport the Captain came on and wished me a Happy 30th Birthday. It was the coolest thing!

Day 2 (March 19): So our first official day in exciting London, England is day 2 of the tour. We headed off right away for a walking tour of the area of the city where our hotel was-Dockland area. Then, we are off to the Tube (London Subway). Notice the picture that says 'Mind the Gap'. Well, that is a warning sign located at the edge of the platform. On some of the subway stops there could be anywhere from a 2" to a 6" or better gap that you had to set over to get onto the subway. As soon as the doors would open a recording would say (in a British accent) "Mind the Gap". We got used to hearing this.
We were in the subway quite frequently, too. On our Day 2 walking tour we saw sights such as the Tower Bridge (above with me in it). All my life I thought this was the London Bridge, but it isn't. It is the Tower Bridge. The London Bridge isn't anything spectacular at all. It looks like a normal bridge. We also saw the Tower of London (located in pic next to Tower Bridge). The Tower of London once was home of Henry the VIIIth..I am Henry the VIIIth I am, Henry the VIIIth I am I am...Now it houses the Crown Jewels of the Royal Family.

On the evening of Day 2 we walked to a busy tavern area where we had dinner. Our first meal in London was something that England is noted for: Fish-n-Chips; which is fish and french fries. It was yummy. On our way to dinner mom and I spotted a London phone booth. So, we had to stop for a photo op. I'll break right here and say my mom had an awesome time and I am so thankful I was able to experience this with her.

Day 3 (March 20): This was another early and busy day. We were guided all around the city seeing site after site. We had a local guide the morning of day 3. He rode the bus with us as we toured the city. We had a stop in the theater area of London to do a little shopping; only had 15 or so minutes. Our first time off the bus and one of my ladies got lost for about 30 minutes. VERY stressful, especially when they told me I had to stay and find her and then make my way back to the hotel. But, all was well. After about a half hour of trying to figure out what to do I spotted her and we were off again. Remember I mentioned something earlier about the Royal Family? Well, after we found my group member who was lost, we made our way to Buckingham Palace. Although we were unable to go it, it was still a sight to see. We were able to witness a changing of the guards while here. Not the guards in front of the Palace, but guards who were on duty down the road. They are on 24 hour duty and have a parade after every shift change. London Police ride their horses in front of the guards going off duty (who are also on horses) and guide them in front of the Palace, where they solute the Palace and are then officially off duty. That was very neat to witness. I was still trying to relax my self from the stressful event of losing someone and didn't get to completely enjoy this part, but it was still fabulous to see.


Here we have Westminster Abbey. I would have loved the opportunity to go inside, but do to time contraints we weren't able to. This is one where a picture just doesn't do justice to the beauty and magnitude of a building.

After being given free time in London, the ladies in my group and I went on a walking tour of London. I bet we walked more than 5 miles on each day while we were here. On our walking tour we visited the National Gallery; houses art by Van Gogh, Monet, and Rembrandt just to name a few. We carried on to the London Eye (looks like a Ferris Wheel). We were all able to get tickets to go up in the London Eye; where we had spectacular views of the city. The Eye is located right across the Thames River from the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben (notice in picture with the Eye, Me, Big Ben). It was wonderful. After having an afternoon of free time we all joined back together for dinner. And, when I say all I mean my group of 12, plus a group of 36 (20 high school FFA students and 16 adults). We had dinner at an Indian restaurant and enjoyed curry chicken. Hot, but yummy. After dinner we opted for the Jack the Ripper walking tour. This took us across London to the very spots were Jack the Ripper left his victims. Very interesting.

Back to the hotel and time to pack up. In the morning we leave for Paris, France via the Eurostar Train. More of my travels tomorrow.

Until next time . . .