Europe

Life: Honeymoon Day 4 (Part 1)

Eiffel Tower, Europe, Honeymoon, London, Paris, Planning, Travels, Vacation

After a good nights sleep we decided to have breakfast in the hotel and I was excited since I was finally able to try some crumpets.  So, what did I think of the crumpets?  They are pretty much the same thing as an english muffin so I liked them.

We had to check out early because we had train tickets to Paris but before we headed out we walked around our neighborhood for a bit.  We enjoyed walking around and looking at all the beautiful buildings.  We ended up getting a tad lost since a lot of the streets don’t really go straight but stop and start at odd parts of the street.

After we were done walking around we went to catch the Underground where we transferred to St. Pancras International Station.  As it turns out the Underground is very easy to use especially with the Oyster card we purchased when we first got to London.  One thing we noticed on the underground was that its pretty quiet since most people on board are reading.  Going on and off the underground was easy with the amount of luggage we took.

I wish we would have had more time to walk around the neighborhood where the station was located at because it looked really nice outside.  If you guys didn’t know by now London is hosting the 2012 Olympics and throughout the city you can see signs of it.  The station itself is full of shops and restaurants.  There is also a place where you can check in your luggage if you don’t want to be lugging it around with you while you wait for your train.

Before leaving on our trip I booked our trip from London to Paris on the Eurostar.  The cost of the tickets were very expensive but since we booked early we saved some money on them.  The trip from London to Paris was about two hours and fifteen minutes and I used this site to help me find good seats for the train.  The trip was great except for the popping I felt in my ears every time we went into a tunnel.

Once we got to Paris things got interesting since we don’t speak French.  I read in several forums that you need to beware of pickpockets and we did just that.  We were bombarded with people trying to get us to sign things, give them money, or buy things from them.  The first thing we had to do was to find change to use the bathrooms since they are not free.  Once we used the bathrooms we purchased a day pass for the Metro and we were on our way.

As soon as we got out of the Metro we saw the Eiffel Tower and we knew we were in Paris. We walked a little and we realized that we were going the wrong way.  While we were standing around trying to figure out where we were supposed to go a charming little old lady approached us and gave us directions.  We found our way to our hotel where we quickly rushed to set our things down and go to visit the Eiffel Tower.  The hotel we stayed at while in Paris was the Hotel du Cadran. When we walked into our room it smelled like sweet strawberries.  We loved our little boutique hotel.

Our hotel was located about 10 minutes walking distance from the Eiffel Tower.  We stayed in the 7th arrondissement in Paris and it was simply lovely.

We couldn’t believe how big and amazing the Eiffel Tower is.  I lost count of how many photos I took of the Eiffel Tower but this one is the first of many to come.

…To be continued…

Day 1,  Day 2, Day 3 (Pt. 1), Day 3 (Pt. 2), Day 4 (Pt. 2), Day 5, Day 6,  Day 7,  Day 8,  Day 9, Day 10,
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Life: Honeymoon Day 3 (Part 2)

Europe, Life, London, Planning, Travels, Vacation, Wedding dress, Wicked
As I was saying here we walked around for a long time because we were wasting time until it was our turn to see the the State Rooms in Buckingham Palace.  You guys should know by now why I would be interested in visiting Buckingham Palace and if you don’t let me just say for the “dress” of course.

We wanted to go into Parliament but we ended not getting tickets so we skipped it and went into Jewel Tower instead.

Jewel Tower wasn’t all that it was cracked out to be but the entry fee was cheap so why not. 
From Jewel Tower we walked over to St. Margaret’s Church. 
The inside of the church was beautiful but since you’re not supposed to take photos in there I couldn’t take many photos.  However, I did manage to get a photo of where the Speaker seats at.  If you guys didn’t know by now I majored in Political Science so this was totally up my alley. 
We really wanted to go into Westminster Abbey but we ran out of time so we decided to save it for our next trip to London.  
After some more walking we realized we hadn’t eaten anything all day so we headed out to look for some fish and chips.   Eating fish and chips was one of the must things to do.
What better place to enjoy some take away fish and chips than at St. James’s Park while we did some people watching.  I love that they have lawn chairs in the park for people to rent. 
I would love to be able to post photos from what we saw inside the State Rooms but photography is prohibited inside Buckingham Palace.   Everything inside was exquisite and breathtaking.  However, the reason we went inside the State Rooms was to see the famous wedding dress.  I had to see it in person since I was one of those crazy people that watched the live broadcast on t.v.  I seriously couldn’t believe how beautiful Kate Middleton’s wedding dress was. The dress itself was worth the money we paid for the entrance.  
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We headed back to the hotel to rest for a bit before going out to our next stop.  We had always wanted to see Wicked but we hadn’t gotten around to it Los Angeles.  When I found out it was playing at the Apollo Victoria Theater in London I jumped on the chance.  I got fairly inexpensive tickets but I have to say the seats were amazing.  The theater was lovely and the locals were simply charming.  I can’t wait to see it again in the Pantages theater in Los Angeles. 
…To be continued…
Day 1,  Day 2, Day 3 (Pt. 1), Day 4 (Pt. 1), Day 4 (Pt. 2), Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10,
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Life: Honeymoon Day 3 (Part 1)

Europe, Honeymoon, Life, London, Travels, Vacation

On day 3 we woke up unbelieving we were in London.   We quickly headed out for breakfast before doing some sightseeing.

We walked around the city for a bit before heading out to Buckingham Palace. 

We wanted to see the Changing of the guards but so did everyone else.

There were many police officers doing crowd control. Can you see all the tourist in the background?

We enjoyed the the Coldsteam Guards Band march by us. 

We also enjoyed the drawings of some local children who were learning about their country. 

We ended seeing very little of the actual changing of the guards ceremony but we did enjoy the band and we saw the guards at the Guards Museum.

Across the street from the Guards Museum is St. James’s Park.  It’s a beautiful park where you can spend a day just laying out watching the clouds pass by.

We strolled hand in hand throughout the park. It was magical! 
After our stroll in the park we walked around some more.
We walked until we saw the London Eye and the Thames River.
We saw the Clock Tower and Big Ben.  We couldn’t have asked for a better day since the weather was amazing and the locals were charming. 
…To be continued…
Day 1,  Day 2,  Day 3 (Pt. 2), Day 4 (Pt. 1), Day 4 (Pt. 2), Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9, Day 10,
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Life: Honeymoon Day 2

Europe, Honeymoon, Life, London, Planning, Travels, Vacation
As I was saying yesterday we left  LAX to Heathrow without knowing what to expect.  The 10 + hour flight was brutal even with all the great entertainment on board.  The longest flight we had previously been on was going from LAX to Florida when we went to Walt Disney World.  Our trip was worth the time we spent in flight and if I had to I would do it all over again.  I think you get the point by now the flight was very long. I don’t know if it was the anxiety or the excitement but as soon as we flew over London we forgot about it. 

As soon as we got off the plane and I began to hear people speak in a British accent I was beyond excited well at least I was until we hit the U.K. border custom’s line. 
Fast forward to about an hour later…

As soon as I saw this sign I had to take out my phone and snap a photo. We couldn’t believe we were in London.  Shortly after that we had to figure out how to use the famous Underground which as it turns out is really simple to use.

The easiest way to use the Underground was to purchase an Oyster card.  We initially put about £30 in each of our cards and were told that we could receive a refund at the end of our trip. We took a quick look at the map they gave us at the counter and we went on our way to our first hotel. 

My first impression of the locals was that they were all in a hurry to get somewhere and they were not very friendly.  We ended up getting lost on our way to our hotel after getting out of Victoria Station and as we preceded to ask several individuals for directions we realized that we were not in a very friendly city or at least that’s what it seemed like at the moment.   We finally found our way to our hotel where we decided that we were not going to rest until nightfall in an attempt to avoid being jet lagged.

We stayed at the Premier Inn Victoria a very lovely hotel in a great location.  We were in walking distance from Buckingham Palace, the Victoria Station and a lot of cool shops.

The room was lovely but the bed was just not super comfy. However, we didn’t mind too much since the room was really clean and quiet.  We didn’t expect rooms in Europe to be big at least not in American standards we knew better than that but this room was a decent size.

So, where was the first place we decided to eat at?  You guessed it McDonald’s and Subway which by the way we rarely do when we’re here in the States.  After a quick bite we headed out to explore our neighborhood.

We ended up heading out to Buckingham Palace and this was about the time that I realized I had forgotten my tripod. It was a big oops especially since the only reason why I bought it was for our trip.

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