Greetings from London, Baby!! :0)

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Helloooooooooooooooooo everybody!!!

Just a quick note to let you all know that we made it to the UK alright, with no problems... Josie and I are in London, England right now and are taking off to Bath tomorrow morning!!

Our flight over here was loooooooooooooong and we didn't get much sleep, but it was alright overall. Just a warning to those flying with Globespan, however, bring something to eat if you are on a long flight!!

We finally arrived, figured out the Gatwick Express (airport train to the tube station) and how to ride the tube, and got to our hostel around 4:00 pm. We have taken the tube so many times now that I think we are on the verge of becoming experts!! :0)

Our first day here (yesterday) we checked in and got settled, the took the tube to Westminster and followed the self-guided walking tour in our Rick Steeves guidebook. Although we didn't get to go inside anything (all of the attractions were pretty much closed) we got an overview of the main highlights, and got to see Big Ben, the Parliament Buildings, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, the London Eye Ferris Wheel, the Thames, a bunch of double decker buses, and other London-esque sights! It was pretty cool...

Afterwards we had dinner in a Sherlock Holmes-themed pub (traditional English fare - shepherd's pie for Josie and bangers & mash for me!) which was neat, although the beer was not that great. We shopped around and explored near our hostel in Kensington for awhile and then called it a night.

Today, our first full day in the city, was a busy one!! We got up early this morning and took the tube to the Tower of London. We spent the morning there, and it was certainly something to see!! There was the famous torture chamber, of course, as well as the Crown Jewels, the Armoury, and all kind of funky stuff. We had lunch at a little French booth near the Tower, then made our way to the British Museum.

We spent the afternoon there, and had quite the historical experience!!! The museum is HUGE and has more wings than we could count. We saw the Rosetta Stone, along with other relics from Egypt, Rome, Greece, and all over the world.

Exhausted from the day so far, but not ready to quit yet, we went to Piccadilly Circus, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. There is not as much shopping there as we had hoped, but more entertainment (theatre, concerts, etc.) and dining. We did try on a bunch of clothes, however, and I even bought a sparkly purple top from one shop. I'll have to wear it when we go shake it on the dance floor!!

After shopping, we went to the London Eye... Let me tell you, that was pretty awesome!!! The largest ferris wheel in the world, the Eyeball gives you a view of London that is unbeatable. Needless to say we took tons of photos up there!!! And it was not nearly as scary as I had originally thought... It moves pretty slowly, thank goodness!!! :0)

We finished our day up with dinner in a pub/restaurant called All-Bar-One, which was crazy busy but not bad overall. We had to order and serve ourselves, but the food was good and the drinks were alright too.

It is now after 1:00 am here, and we have to leave for Bath in the morning (a 1 1/2 hour train ride) so I should really be getting to bed...

Hope that all is well with everyone back home and we'll continue to keep you posted when we can!! Next time I'll try to upload some pictures of our journey...

Ciao for now and lots of love!!
Katie & Josie :0)

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Comments

[Bob Vincent]

Shopping in London
regent Street, oxford Street, harrods and environs, Bond Street and Pall Mall. Pubs are good for food. Enjoying the Blog. have a blast! Bob