We have officially made it to London safely!!! Before we get to the fun stuff I have to back track to the time we left the house. When I got home from school I was sadly not greeted by a wagging tail at the door. My mom dropped Milo off that morning to the kennel. We are going to miss him but he will have a good time playing in the kitty pools the owner said they were going to get out that day. I finished packing up the last things into my suitcase and backpack. All of us were done and kinda just waiting around until we had to leave at 6:00. And even though we were ready to go there always has to be those last minute things that pop up and still make you end up being late. We figured out our AC stopped working, so that was a great way to start the trip but we didn’t let it deter our spirits.
We got to the airport pretty early…like more than 3 hours before our flight. We all decided that’s okay though because we like the airport:) Then right after we go through security Daniela goes “I hate security”. We found our gate and D and I went and explored to see what food was around. We came back with some good info and we decided to go get food together. My mom and I had Salaritas, while my dad had Quiznos, and my sister a caesar salad. This was before we knew that the plane served both a free dinner and breakfast. Let’s just say we were never hungry. Not to mention the Starbucks we got before we got on the plane.
We were lucky enough to have screens on the back of our seats and I was able to watch the Notebook for the very first time. I liked it a lot! After that I put my eye cover on and tried to get as much sleep as possible. Seven long hours later we land. The first thing we see after getting off the plane is a huge mural of Big Ben on the wall which puts a big smile on my face. As always, I have to stop and take a picture. After customs and collecting our luggage we made our way to the Tube(also called the Underground). We rode it to Paddington Station to eat some lunch and kill time before we could get into our apartment.
My favorite part is just being able to walk around the streets. All the architecture is so detailed and so cool I could stare at it forever. The streets sometimes hold the greatest pictures.
We are in a very very cozy apartment. We have a really cute red front door to the building and then we walk up like four flights of really small windy stairs to our apartment. I’m not complaining though because I still can’t believe I’m actually in Europe plus I get a thigh workout in.
After getting settled and refreshed we decided to hop on a double decker bus tour of London so we could get a feel for where everything is and places we want to revisit. Alphie was a great tour guide and we learned a lot and also got to pass by some well known attractions such as, Parliment, Big Ben, London Eye, Trafalgar Square, St. Peter’s Cathedral, and more. We then hopped off and walked what felt like in circles, trying to find our way around. To wrap up the day we went to Dickens Tavern near our apartment and had a nice dinner. And finally to quote my mom, “I cannot wait to go to sleep tonight” It’s been a long two days and after some good rest we will be ready to explore some more!
Funniest Moment of the Day:
There is no doubt in my mind that the funniest thing that happened today had to do with Daniela. We all got Oyster cards which are needed to ride the Tube and you have to swipe your card every time you enter or exit. Once you swipe your cards there are little doors that open that you have to walk through.
So we were exiting on of the Underground’s and my mom, dad, and I had all gotten through and then we realized D was not with us. We looked around and turns out the doors closed on her backpack and she was stuck. The worker lady was trying to unlock it so she could get through but it was the funniest thing ever! She is perfectly fine by the way!
New Vocabulary:
Dinky: meaning small or young
We were talking to the customs guy and he asked us if we liked any fútbol teams around here. We told him Chelsea. He kinda gave us an ugly look as a joke because he obviously supported a different team. He said, “I have grown up watching (I forget what team he said) since I was a dinky”
Things you learn very quickly in London:
There are pigeons EVERYWHERE!!!
You HAVE to walk on the left side of the sidewalk!!!
All cars and busses do not care about pedestrians and they definitely don’t have the right of way!!!
PS. It is really difficult to post with terrible wifi so sorry if it takes longer I will try my best!
