Europe here I come!

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For everyone that has been patient, thank you. I've been having a great time and finally have a chance to share it with you. Expect a ton of blogs soon. Here is the first edition, and might be a bit of a long one...

After a nice relaxing summer of visits and preparations, I started off on my 245 day trip, with only a bit of apprehension. My start was prolonged one more day as my original flight was cancelled. I finally took off on Sunday evening without a hitch. I landed midday Monday, a bit tired and very excited. As it was a holiday in the UK, my friends Jill and James met me at Heathrow. I had my first taste of the touring by getting a very quick "National Lampoons" style tour of London, including Picadilly Circus, the Millenium Wheel, Thames River, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace (from afar). I was pleasantly surprised with London. It is a nice city. Not as overwhelming as I first assumed it would be. However, I did get a rare day when the sun was out and there weren't any showers!

Due to the delay in my flight, I started my organized tour the next day. At 4:30am to be exact! I met someone from the tour immediately after leaving my room and we were instant friends. I met a lot of really great people on the tour, which was good as I spent A LOT of time with them over the 32 days! Good thing I like Aussies, as I was trapped on a bus with 45 of them for a month! We made our way to Paris by bus (also another place I spent A LOT of time), taking the ferry from Dover to Calais. This travel day was not one of my favourites as I was extremely motion sick, not giving me hope for the other 31 days, but luckily it wasn't really a problem again.

Paris, what a great city! I was so surprised at how much I liked it and France. It could be that it was just the first stop or that I actually could understand the language somewhat, but I am definitely going to Paris again one day. We went up the Eiffel Tower at night. On the way we went around the Arc de Triomphe - a must do experience, if you aren't driving! Traffic is crazy, with cars everywhere. It was pretty funny. The views from the tower were great, but it was freezing at the top! The next morning we got a quick guided bus tour of the main sights - Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe (by day), Hotel de Invalide (houses Napolean's Tomb), Place du Concorde, Champs Elyses, Louvre, Opera House and the Latin Quarter (Uni neighbourhood). Once on our own, we checked out the Louvre. Of course, we headed straight for the Mona Lisa. Sorry - no photos! But we did also get a look at the statue of Venice de Milo, which I was allowed to photograph. Otherwise, we breezed through the one wing and left. I unfortunately do not appreciate the arts as my mother does. We also took in the Notre Dame and a cruise of the shops on Champs Elyses. Our meeting place at the Concorde was in front of a very posh hotel in Paris. There was a huge crowd and we found out Madonna was staying there as she had a concert in Paris that evening. I couldn't be bothered to hang around, but a friend caught sight of her and a few pics as she left the hotel. That evening I opted out of going to the Moulin Rouge (I was one of 8 from the tour that did not go) - I've seen the movie, that was good enough! Instead spent the evening on the Champs Elyses getting our own entertainment from the locals as someone got arrested in front of us. Fun town!
Now onto see what Spain has in store for us...

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Photos

Hotel des Invalides
This is where Napolean's Tomb is housed.