Back in the states!

We got back from our trip to London yesterday! It was fun, fun, fun!

We got to do so much, I don't even know where to start. Ms. Corene, being a photographer, took a lot of pictures. I will post them when she sends me the cd. But for the time being, I will post the few I took.

The first day we got there was pretty intense. We left NY at around 8:00 PM Thursday night and landed at 8 AM in London the next day. It would have worked out perfectly if we slept on the plane. But we did not. So we were going on a few hours of sleep combined with the crazy time change. We did a bus tour the first day to try and keep us awake. We got to see a lot, but towards the end we were falling asleep!

That night Justin and Meghan took us out to some English pubs, which was fun! Apparently Justin thought so too- ha!



Saturday we went with Justin and Meghan to Tickanham Stadium to see an international rugby match. It was really cool hanging out with local London people. I paid I think 12 or 14 US dollars for a hot dog and coke. Ouch!




London is so expensive. I thought New York was bad, but London made NY look cheap! First of all, the US dollar is worth half a pound. So a cup of coffee will cost around 4 or 5 pounds in London, which then comes out to 8 or 9 US dollars. Quite shocking...

On my top 3 list was the Tower of London!


We were looking at stuff that was over a thousand years old. It makes you feel small. I'll post more pictures of it later!





Oh, and darling- we went for an afternoon tea! (with bristish accent)


Westminster Abbey-where all of the historic crownings took place!
(Also on my top 3 list) It's enormous!

We got to see the coronation chair along with tombs of people you read about in history books.

This is for all you Harry Potter fans! (Alli, Christina, and Jen)


A few funny things I noticed about the city:


They sure do spell it out for us Americans on how to cross a street! Actually, I learned that England is the only country in Europe where people drive on the left hand side of the road. They are also the only place that uses pounds instead of Euros in Europe.

Instead of 'takeout' it's called 'takeaway'. They say "cheers mate!" a lot. The accents made Joey feel like he was on a movie set the first day we got there. They are so funny, and it seems impossible for them to come across as rude. I saw an angry mother walking down the street with her kids and she screamed, "would you just shut up before I make you!" It still sound so polite with her little accent!

All of the police cars are fine! They are either BMW, mercedes, or lexus. Also, everyone drives either a teeny tiny swatch cars or luxury cars.

They call the bathrooms toilets in London and waterclosets in Paris.

Speaking of Paris!

I loved the architecture and the outside cafes there. Also, there is no such thing as Monday blues, because no one works on Mondays! :) We tour a tour bus around the city and got out to see the Eiffel tower. The we hopped on a boat down the Thames River and then went to the Louvre. The Louvre is HUGE! We only had enough time to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus statue.



The traffic near the Arc de Triomphe has no traffic lanes or lights, but somehow it all works. I heard if there are any accidents it is no ones fault! Drive at your own risk I suppose.


Notre Dame

They had these swatch cars all over London and Paris. I want one!


The view from the top of the Eiffel tower:


Next time I go to Paris I will learn how to say a few key phrases. We stopped in Lafayette Gallerie and I had to use the bathroom so bad! However, I didn't know how to ask for directions. So I pretended to be Italian. I walked up to a sales clerk and asked in a really confused way, "Uh, eh, scusi?? Eh uh toilet???" So luckily I avoided the "stupido americano" label, but still got directions in French.


Well, I could write about this trip for a while. I will keep posting pictures when I get them.

Until next time- cheers mate!!

:)