First Trip...Overseas???

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So for our first trip 'overseas' (a term which for obvious reasons they never use here) we went to London. Anthony had a conference for two days followed by a meeting so I tagged along for the price of an airfare. We got all but strip-searched on our way through passport control which was pretty strange considering it is our mother country after all.

It was my first time there - well let's face it, it's my first time everywhere - and it was pretty cool, but sooo expensive! I think we have certainly gotten used to the cost of living in Prague so even Sydney will be a bit of a shock I expect. But it was very surreal seeing all the well known sights "in the flesh"! We did the predictable Big Red Bus Tour, which although sounding embarrassing it was actually a good way to orientate ourselves and was very informative as we got to see a lot of things in the short time we had. Saturday was spent generally running around between various sights and we went into the Tower of London which was interesting. But after a little while we had information overload and had to escape for some Ben & Jerrys (best ice cream ever!!). Then we cruised up the Thames on a packed tourist boat and behaved like the snap-happy tourists we are We walked through Covent Garden (but couldn't find Saddlers Wells Ballet School!) and had dinner in Leicester Square.

One of the main attractions of heading to London was to see a musical - so after protracted negotiations (just kidding!) we saw "Wicked" which is the prequel to the Wizard of Oz. I had only watched the Wizard of Oz for the first time the night before so it was well and truly fresh in my mind. The musical was really good but the songs way too catchy! Even now we keep getting them stuck in our heads and sing the same thing over and over and over for days...
Sunday we spent most of the day at the British Museum which was great, but way too huge for one day.

After our busy weekend in London we headed to Cobham, Surrey, where Anthony had a conference and I spent 2 days in a hotel room calling everyone on Skype. The place where we stayed was beautiful but frankly it was in the middle of nowhere! The second day after we checked out I basically loitered around the grounds looking like a stalker or something waiting for Anthony's meetings to finish.

For our last day in London, Anthony went to the office and I walked all the way off my map (ok so it was only a map of Central London but still) and also went and stood with thousands of other people trying to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. I liked the marching bands and the horses, but soldiers with fluffy hats standing around yelling at each other really don't do it for me. While I was there I saw Jules Lund who appeared to be filming a segment for whatever travel show he is on. I also went to the toy museum which was a little odd and so spent my time trying to take pictures of the toys with me in them. The coolest thing there was some original Sooty, Sweep and Sue puppets and the strangest thing was an alleged "Egyptian Clay Mouse" which for all I could see was probably a piece of fossilized dog poo.

Then it was time to head back to sunny Prague and again walk through customs without so much as a second glance!

Steph xoxo

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Photos

Anthony "doing the slouch" like Chloe
Tower of London

Steph with her Ruby Slippers
Not ready to click them together just yet...

The Rosetta Stone
Also at the British Museum

Comments

[Chloe]

Now i'm 2!
Hi Aunty Stes and Unca Anthy, Miss you lots and lots. Also, i slouch much better than that! Mummy and Daddy love the photos and reading about your adventures. Can't wait til we come and visit some places with you! Love Chloe

[Gabby]

what's your skype name? can't find you! we're on skype too, gab-dave. chat soon, xx

[Anth Steph]

Skype
Hey Gabs, my Skype name is stephana80 and just my tpg email address. Steph

[Anth Steph]

Hi Chloe! We can't wait to have our favourite little niece and her Mummy and Daddy over to visit also!! We've been checking out lots of things for you to do when you're here. Love Auntie Steph

[Corinne Wright-Smith]

Thank you!
Hi guys, just showing my mum who's down what your travel blog looks like - she's very impressed! Thank you so much for the pic of Anth on the chair at the Tower of London - my dad has just come back from a trip to the FA Cup final and showed us his photos tonight, and of course my dad being my dad, he couldn't remember what the big red chair was in the photo! Imagine my humour and our giggles when we saw the same chair under Anth's backside, clearly labelled (the chair, not his bot!!), so that I could tell my very own father where THE chair was!! Thanks guys! God bless!