Last Day of European Extravaganza 2011

Yesterday we spent the day in Westminster.  We got off the tube at Big Ben, which still amazes me every time we see it.  We walked to Westminster Abbey and went to church (since it was free to go to church, and 16 pounds to take an official tour.... and we're cheap at the end of this trip).  We walked in the same door that Prince William and Princess Catherine walked in at their wedding a couple weeks ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (we found out when Windsor Castle was trying to sell the dvd copy, and we watched it while in line...)  Pretty epic if you ask me.

We kind of wandered along London looking in more tourist shops.  I seriously don't know how I'm going to fit everything.... I hope Tony has room....  We came home and played games with the girls.  It was a great night.  We also watched Toy Story 3 which was adorable.

Here's our picture in front of Big Ben!

Today was our last full day in London on our European Extravaganza trip :(  We definitely packed it full though!  We booked a tour to go see Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford.  It was a lot of fun.

Windsor Castle was so big!  I definitely need to live in a castle like that.  Queen Mary's dollhouse was my favorite.  We also got to see the changing of the guard!  Sadly, we didn't get to spend as much time as we wanted to before we had to get back on the bus and go to Stonehenge.  It was cool, but I have to admit that after about 20 minutes, it was kind of overrated.  But here's the classic picture.  Tony was grimacing in all of them, so he didn't make the cut for the blog :)

We then went to Oxford and had a walking tour of the town.  We didn't see Oxford University, but we saw a lot of the other universities and colleges (such as Trinity College).  More tourist shopping and more opportunities to share clothes with Tony's suitcase occurred.  Then it was back on the bus and back to London.  We went to a pub for our last official dinner and had some really good food.  I think we're going to miss it.

Tomorrow, we return to Iceland and then to Minneapolis.  I know you all are sad to think that this blog is coming to a close, but fear not!!  Once I get home, I'm going to keep uploading pictures from actual cameras of cool things to keep you all entertained and happy :)

Eiffel Tower, Last day in Paris, Chunnel

Yesterday, we climbed 1,004 steps in two monuments alone.

First, we went to the Arc du Triomphe. Something that Napoleon had built for something or other. Anyways, we climbed to the top and had a great view of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower in the distance. We then walked down the Champs-Élysées which is one grand boulevard. We obviously had to go in the Louis Vuitton store (Tony wouldn't buy me anything.. It was sad). We wandered around Paris until we reached the Eiffel Tower. On the way, we got some more baguette sandwiches (in Rome we ate pasta and pizza, in Paris we ate baguette sandwiches). We waited in the ridiculously long line to climb the stairs up to the second level, and waited in another line to get to the top, and waited in yet another line to come back down. Lots of lines, but worth the wait. At the top, we were almost 1,000 feet up. Since it was such a beautiful day, we could see for miles.

Once we were back on the ground, we found a spot on the grass in front of the tower and sat there for close to six hours. True story. We had a lot to do and there were some people promoting the city of Lyon who put on some breakdancing shows. At dusk, the tower lit up. So pretty. After it lit up, a sparkling light show was put on.

I couldn't believe it. Yesterday was just awesome. We had great weather durin our time in Paris. Today we went to the sacre coeur and sat on the hill for a while until it was time to catch our train to London. We went in the Chunnel, which was cool, but a little anti climactic. It would have been cooler if they had windows. Now that would have been a cool train ride.

We're back in London and have a few things left to check off our list before we end our European extravaganza. Hopefully I'll have more pictures to show you since I can upload from a real computer!!

We get back to the cities on Thursday! Hope everyone is having a good memorial weekend!!

Last Full Day in London

Today was our last full day in London (for the first time around..) We took the double decker bus to Oxford Circus and walked to Picadilly. Lining the streets are lots and lots of stores :) Tony and I stumbled across the biggest toy story in the world.

Tony and I spent close to an hour inside. It was fantastic. It was nice just walking around looking at everything.

We went to Covent Garden which is like one big square that has a ton of shops. We went to the gift store of the London Transport Museum. Feeling like we should go somewhere and see something, we went to the Natural History

Museum. It was pretty boring at first, but we

found a human exhibit that had some cool interactive things to do, like optical illusions, memory tests and so on. Pretty cool :)

We doing some laundry and getting ready to head to Rome tomorrow afternoon. I think there will be a Harrods trip in the morning though :)

Tomorrow night we will be in Rome. Not sure how well the internet access will be, but we'll try to keep connected.

I've finally been able to get some pictures up, and I think I've got the system down, so those of you who have been pestering me can stop :)

Slacker Day in London

Well hello there!

Today was a needed slacker day. We finally made it out of the house around 10 and headed to Hyde Park. Out of the tube station, we saw Harrods :) what a wonderful (and definitely planned) surprise!! We walked around Harrods for a while but it was evident that Tony was not nearly as impressed and excited as I was. So we went to their version of a food court (basically a supermarket in the store) and got some lunch. We took our picnic fixings to Hyde Park just two blocks away. We literally sat there in the sun for a couple hours since it was such a beautiful day!!! Later, we walked in Kensington Gardens and saw both the Peter Pan statue and the Princess Di memorial fountain.

We made our way back home and have been playing with the girls until they went to bed. This included playing in the backyard, barbies, and Mulan. What a great day :)

Tomorrow we continue our adventures with a trip to Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square, a trip to see Kensington Palace (but not go inside since it's being renovated) and some more shopping :)

AND HARRY POTTER IS ON SO OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE TO WATCH IT :)

Last full day in London tomorrow. Flying to Rome on saturday. Getting excited for part two of European Extravaganza 2011!!

London: Day 1

'ello.

The first complete day in London is complete! Today, we did the epitome of tourism: a hop-on hop-off bus tour. It was a blast. Our first stop to get off was at Buckingham Palace, where we ate lunch with the queen :) except she wasn't there :( oh well. Back on the bus (after missing two busses..) we stopped again at the Tower of London where we took a boat cruise to Greenwich. Greenwich is where the eastern hemisphere meets the western. We could have seen the bronze statue symbolizing this, but were too cheap to pay 10 pounds.... each. Back on the boat, we went back to the Tower of London and continued on through London. Got off again at Trafalger Square, walked around and got the generic red phone booth picture. We tromped around London a little more until we found a pub we wanted to eat at. And here we are! We took more than enough pictures and lots of facts thrown at us. We're currently trying to plan our day out tomorrow, which should be a little more focused sight seeing at the Tower of London and a couple churches.

So far, we've adjusted to the jet lag alright. Tony fell asleep during tv last night, so we went to bed around 8.

Good day. We're having lots of fun, and the family here is more than helpful. Can't wait for later this week!!!!

Officially in London!!

Hey All:

Here's the real post from London, instead of a post written on an ipod at 5 in the morning. We flew into London and were greeted by Sarah and Abby. After maneuvering around the airport, we finally made it out alive. Only to be stuck still in traffic for over and hour and half. It was entertaining at least. We got settled into the house and went for a little walk around Chiswick to get our bearings. Our first gelato of the trip was eaten!! Delicious!!! We then met the whole family at a pub down the street and played on iphones and ipods. It was pretty fun keeping Abby entertained. Now we're just hanging out and going to get some chinese food take out. Yes. We're in London and eating chinese takeout. Don't judge :) Hope all is well in MN. We haven't had a good nights rest since Friday night.... we're a little tired. Tomorrow begins the sight-seeing!!

To Study or Not to Study.....

We leave in just over 24 hours for our European Extravaganza trip 2011. In three weeks, we'll hit London, Rome and Paris. Standing between such a trip is the last final of our college career. I have yet to pack and Tony is pretty much packed. I can't seem to decide between packing or continuing studying for this final.......

So I found this blog will be a good procrastination tool (last one of college!!). We'll try to keep it updated with pictures and fun stuff like that, so everyone reading won't be bored out of your minds :)

London is up first! Well, I guess this final is before that.... So studying it is!!

Any tips for places to see or places to avoid are greatly appreciated :)