12.04.2009 - Sunday

Beautiful tree in the park near our hotel :)

Ha, lovely reminders on the streets (cars drive on the opposite side of the streets than in the States!!)
Flowers at the Buckinham Palace
Cass and I at the Buckingham Palace
Tower Bridge
Big Ben

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTEE SANDEE!!! :) I love you, can’t wait to see you over the summer!! O, and HOPPY EASTER EVERYONE!! I miss my family BIG TIME!! Especially when the holidays roll around, makes me miss you all that much more, can’t wait to spend time with each of you when I get back to the States!! :) This morning, Cass and I got up and had an English Bfast which included scrambled eggies, piece of toast, and a small bowl of cereal with a glass of AJ on the side. We were out of the hotel by 8am and since the girls didn’t wake us up last night when they got in (flight got pushed back and got to the hotel by 3am), Cass and I wanted to go see all the sites, so we left without them. First stop…Buckingham Palace to see “Changing of the Guards.” Hmm…I would say don’t worry about seeing that. Ha, Cass and I took the “Tube” (Metro) to Hyde Park where the Palace was at. We got there really early and the Changing wasn’t until 11:30am. We ended up walking around and admiring the beautiful flowers and then it was starting to get crowded, so we went over to the fence to get a spot. MAN, did it ever get packed quickly!! We stood over to the right of the Palace and the main changing of the guard happened over to the left I believe. It was funny to see all the men with their tall hats marching around. And the man who yelled out the commands was really YELLING!! Made me laugh because each time he would yell, his hat would shake!! After the Changing happened, Cass and I made our way through the crowd and went over to the Mews where we were able to see the carriages and limos which the Queen rides in. Her ‘limo’ is a Rolls-Royce. Ha, we also saw the horse stables which had no horses in because they were still out front (where the changing was still occurring). After, it was about 1pm and Cass and I were getting hungry, so we went to a restaurant called Garfunkels where I ordered a burger, it was yummy. Then we got back on the Tube and went to go see the London Eye and Big Ben. Big Ben…not so big. Ha, the building that surrounded him were gorgeous, I still wonder how long it took to build them? The London Eye was like 17lbs to ride and it takes about an hour to ride, so it wasn’t worth it to us, so we didn’t do it. After, we went back to the Tube and we took it to go see the Tower Bridge. We ended up climbing the steps to walk across the water on the Tower Bridge and once we got to the other side, we saw a castle, I forget the name but it’s probably like ‘Tower Castle’ or something like that. We grabbed a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and then sat on the steps looking out to the castle. There were a TON of people everywhere, I was surprised too because it’s Easter, does no one have family?? What the heck yo (ha, Jimmy)?? After we were done eating, we went back over the bridge and then walked over to the London Bridge…not too exciting, very plain bridge, I enjoyed the Tower Bridge more. Then the girls texted us telling us they were at Hard Rock, so we got back on the Tube. Hard Rock London was the first one btw. Eric Clapton liked it so much, he gave them a signed guitar which started everything because then other bands caught wind of that and the competition began to give HR band mementos. The texts must have been behind time, because once we got there, they were no longer there. Ha, we didn’t end up staying, but at least I can say I have been inside. So we got back on the Tube and went to our hotel where they were at. I met Amy’s mum and sister. Ha, they say ‘mum’ out here, same as in Scotland. 8pm rolled around so us girls went to go grab some drinks and hang out and talk about our days. We ended up doing the same things, just at different times because we never once saw them, but London is not like VT, it’s a bit bigger. Ha. We stayed out until 12:30am or so and were in bed before 1am, another big day tomorrow. I love traveling!! Wow, May is almost here and I still have lots of traveling to do!! Ha!!

I love and miss you all!!

CHEERS!! :)