Oh the places we have gone...

Today was an absolutely delightful day! I will say going to Windsor was really just an after thought because it was included the Stonehenge/Bath Day Tour. It is funny how "surprises" turn out to be more of a favorite than what was planned. We traveled by coach to Windsor. I antipaticipated that we would be able to see the castle from a distance and maybe visit a gift shop. It was so much more than that!! We actually got to tour inside the castle where Queen Elizabeth spends most of her weekends! We saw a bobbie and palace guards. We were actually inside the courtyard at exactly the right time/day to see changing of the guards! I got it on the flip camera! It will be AWESOME to show students!! We didn't have nearly enough time there but it was my favorite part of today!

Next, Stonehenge and Bath!

Our first full day without travel...

Today was a good adventure! We took a full tour of London on a double decker bus! We literally saw it all in a few hours...and we did a lot of walking too. We had lunch at a pub in central London. We are amazed at the people EVERYWHERE! I have never seen so many people in the middle of the day just out and about. The streets are crowded and the restaurants are over-flowing all the time. I loved seeing Big Ben today... it was probably my favorite thing! :) Tomorrow we are spending all day on a guided tour of Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge. It is going to be an awesome day!!

Our journey across London...

So we enjoyed a great first night at the Royal Park Hotel but I would be lying if I didn't say we were just a wee bit nervous about getting from Paddington to Tower Hill... basically across London.  We were still SORE from our journey with luggage through the Tube and decided we would try the bus this time since there were MANY less stairs involved.  We started out to find a bite to eat and scout out bus stops (which are EVERYWHERE in London). We ate a light breakfast and figured out that the bus we needed was only a few blocks from our hotel. This was a good thing and we felt good about our decision to try the bus! :) We went back to Royal Park, collected our bags and were merrily on our way to Stop E to wait for bus #15 which would take us to Tower Hill. After walking for several blocks, we figured out that Stop E was no longer there.

Most unfortunately, there was no other bus going to Tower Hill in this area so being problem solvers, we figured out that we could take bus #23 to Liverpool Street and just walk an extra quarter mile to our next hotel. We got to the stop and discovered there was no ticket machine. A nice English lady could see we were struggling and kindly told us where to buy a ticket AND that we needed to be on the other side of the street or bus #23 would take us AWAY from Liverpool. We happily marched down another 1/2 mile with luggage in toe to buy tickets. We found our way back to the correct stop and waited for our bus. We were so elated when the bus came and we hopped on board. We traveled for a long while through the BUSY streets of London on our way to Tower Hill. I honestly thought we'd be at our new hotel well before 11:30am as we had left at 10:30. Suddenly in the middle of London, on a crowded street, we hear over the loud speaker, "This is the end of the line, please exit the bus."  How could this be happening?  Apparently Liverpool Street was shut down and now we were on our own. Do you think we could find another bus going to Tower Hill? Of course not but we traveled the streets of London WITH OUR LUGGAGE looking! May I say Kelly and I have discovered why there is a luggage store on every corner. It is because you drag your luggage over cobble-stone like surfaces everywhere you go. Please pray for our wheels!! It was like a bad dream! After an hour, we decided we must take the tube... oh the dread of going up and down those stairs with all of our stuff was so overwhelming but there was no choice so off we went. I promise you, there were 3 times the amount of stairs this time as compared to the day before. A mere 4 hours after beginning our journey, we finally arrived at our hotel. It is beautiful and modern (1 year old today). I have never been so exhausted in all of my life but with every sunrise, it is a new day.

Martha Washington and Helga were here!

We arrived at Royal Park Hotel in London on Wednesday. It is a beautiful place! It is a historic-type hotel. It has been updated with an old english feel.  The bathroom room was amazing. We had a suite... special deal for that night only. We had a seating area with a "couch", table with chairs and a flat screen. Let me tell you about the couch.... it was NOT an updated piece. I am quite sure that some viking named Helga used to own this fabulous piece of furniture. It was something. 

Hum... so you are probably wondering where Martha Washington comes in.  Well, we got to sleep in Martha Washington's 4 poster bed.  We are sure it was Martha's because it was built before mattresses were invented...I promise you, we sleptt on 2X4s covered with cloth. I have never been so stiff in all of my days as I was this morning when I arose from my slumber. It was all in the name of culture! :)

The key to our room was super cool! :) No slider cards at this hotel. It was a nice beginning to our trip and made us feel immersed in the english culture!

We were a "stone's throw" from Hyde Park and we walked over there while our room was being prepared. It is a beautiful place!

The Tube AKA Underground AKA Subway

I am all about adventure, experiencing culture to the fullest... including the food and different forms of transportation. My biggest fear about traveling overseas was finding my way. I never dreamed it would take up 4 hours to commute from the airport to the hotel. Lines for customs were long, lines for "Tube" tickets were long and the maze underground is unreal.  When we boarded the tube, it was fairly empty and I was not even a little prepared for the cluster of people to come. SARDINE in a can is exactly how I felt!  It was SO tight that we could not get up to exit at our stop so we had to continue to another route. I clearly did not listen carefully enough to my genuius sister in law who told me to PACK LIGHT. How heavy can just a backpack and a carry on be? I am certain the muscles that I am building carrying my luggage up and down HUNDREDS of flights of stairs each day will result in POPEYE arms! Marla... I can't imagine carrying a regular suitcase around but I should have left my carry on HALF empty! WOWZER!

I have a rather large personal space bubble. I don't like people too close so the tube is not my favorite mode of transportation. The stress of reading the maze on the map was enough to send me over the edge! Kelly captured my stress well!

The good news is we made it to our hotel safely. I will write about our first hotel in my next entry.

Top of the day to ya!

Well... we made it!  The plane ride from Washington D.C. to London Heathrow was about 7 hours.  It was really pretty uneventful and we were able to catch a couple of zzzz after dinner before arriving in London at 12am Tulsa time and 6am London time. For those of you who know me well, you can imagine my difficulty in functioning on little sleep.  We were strongly advised to stay awake after arriving to counteract jet lag.

Although we have both traveled outside the country, we had not actually been through a "true" customs experience. Our passports had never been stamped until Wednesday. :) It was cool to be asked questions by the customs official and to acquire a stamp! It took FOREVER to go through the line though... at least 45 minutes and maybe more like an hour. I could barely hold my eyes open as we waited.

Once through customs, we meandered through the airport to find something to drink. I have never been so thirsty in all of my life! Kelly was THRILLED to find iced tea at Costa in the airport. I must say though, it was pre-sweetened and had a lemon flavor... not the best but it worked at the time!

EUROPE 2011... HERE WE GO!!!!!!

Today is the big day! I can’t believe we will board a plane in just a few hours. My stomach has been in knots for days. I am hoping I will relax once we actually board the plane to London later today. At that point, all the planning will be complete and it will be time to just enjoy the adventure!

I received the most amazing email yesterday from Annette Langen (German author of Felix books) telling me she could meet us in Cologne, Germany next week. I just booked the train tickets this morning! We will spend the day with her learning about her writing and inspiration for Felix. I have been asked many times what the highlight of our trip will be. I can answer with certainty that meeting my favorite author and visiting a school in Germany will be our favorite parts! I hope you enjoy reading about our WORLD TOUR 2011!

All the packing and planning is behind me now… it is time to set off on an adventure of a lifetime and EMBRACE THE JOURNEY!

Thanks for sharing in our excitement!

Kristine and Kelly