Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
As luck would have it...
Hello there! (If anyone is really reading this!)
:-)
So today we decided to head out and see some art. And since we learned the whole city yesterday we decided to walk. Good move. Not only did we burn some calories but we saw things we hadn't before...very nice. So we went to the Tate Modern - nice but not really our thing. Walked around some more then decided 'what the hell, we are here, we both love theater, why not see a show on the West End'. So we made our way to Leicester Square - home of the tkts booth and also a kind of 'mini Times Square'. HOLY TOURIST TRAP! We bought half-price tickets to Avenue Q - which isn't saying much because holy god is this city expensive! We had three hours to kill before the show so we starting walking around.
**QUICK SIDE NOTE**
So my friend (Kara speaking here) Shannon moved to London about a year and a half ago. We had been keeping in touch here and there and I had told her we would be in town. I really wanted to meet up and see her but since we don't have a cell phone and its hard to make plans via email we were kind of at a loss at how to get in touch. I thought maybe we could catch her on our way home in August somehow.
**BACK TO OUR STORY**
So we are walking around the square, checking out the theaters and shops and trying to figure out a way to spend our three hours before the show when I look across the busy London street and see Shannon. Just standing there as if she were waiting for us. Fate? Kismet? Who knows but someone wanted us to find each other - we yell across the road, she sees us - hugs in the middle of the street - three hours later we'd had coffee, walked around and had a glass of wine on a terrace overlooking crowds of people and street performers at the Chez Gerard. It was the perfect afternoon. We talked and talked - she about living in London, us about our trip - just catching up and lots of laughs. We still can't quite believe that happened! One instant on either side and we may have missed each other. After saying goodbye and making plans for August we headed off to Avenue Q. LOVED IT. Such a good show. Some of the jokes were a little different, you know to tailor to the Brits, but it was still amazing. After the show we went to a burger joint and had dinner, now we are here in a little internet cafe telling you about our day :)
Oh, I almost forgot about our breakfast this morning! Yum. I have so many pictures of food its ridiculous. It was a Spanish place and they had cortados! Some of you will get that :)
London was good to us today. Tomorrow we tackle Amsterdam. Please pray for us ;)
:-)
So today we decided to head out and see some art. And since we learned the whole city yesterday we decided to walk. Good move. Not only did we burn some calories but we saw things we hadn't before...very nice. So we went to the Tate Modern - nice but not really our thing. Walked around some more then decided 'what the hell, we are here, we both love theater, why not see a show on the West End'. So we made our way to Leicester Square - home of the tkts booth and also a kind of 'mini Times Square'. HOLY TOURIST TRAP! We bought half-price tickets to Avenue Q - which isn't saying much because holy god is this city expensive! We had three hours to kill before the show so we starting walking around.
**QUICK SIDE NOTE**
So my friend (Kara speaking here) Shannon moved to London about a year and a half ago. We had been keeping in touch here and there and I had told her we would be in town. I really wanted to meet up and see her but since we don't have a cell phone and its hard to make plans via email we were kind of at a loss at how to get in touch. I thought maybe we could catch her on our way home in August somehow.
**BACK TO OUR STORY**
So we are walking around the square, checking out the theaters and shops and trying to figure out a way to spend our three hours before the show when I look across the busy London street and see Shannon. Just standing there as if she were waiting for us. Fate? Kismet? Who knows but someone wanted us to find each other - we yell across the road, she sees us - hugs in the middle of the street - three hours later we'd had coffee, walked around and had a glass of wine on a terrace overlooking crowds of people and street performers at the Chez Gerard. It was the perfect afternoon. We talked and talked - she about living in London, us about our trip - just catching up and lots of laughs. We still can't quite believe that happened! One instant on either side and we may have missed each other. After saying goodbye and making plans for August we headed off to Avenue Q. LOVED IT. Such a good show. Some of the jokes were a little different, you know to tailor to the Brits, but it was still amazing. After the show we went to a burger joint and had dinner, now we are here in a little internet cafe telling you about our day :)
Oh, I almost forgot about our breakfast this morning! Yum. I have so many pictures of food its ridiculous. It was a Spanish place and they had cortados! Some of you will get that :)
London was good to us today. Tomorrow we tackle Amsterdam. Please pray for us ;)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Big Ben x 87
So, the only thing that we for sure wanted to do when we got up this morning at a ridiculous hour (5 AM!!! I couldn't sleep) was be tourists. I know, I know, LAME! But, you know what, as it turns out, not so lame. Nothing cures culture shock like a double decker bus tour. And tour we did. As we headed out after our first hot showers of the trip, Kara reiterated, "I just want to see Big Ben." Little did she know how many time we would shuttle past this infamous London landmark, named after some guy called Ben (Londoners always tell you what people are called, even though it's kinda obvious) and in fact it is not the tower, but the bell that is named Big Ben, and it weighs 16 tons. That's a hell of a bell. Did you know that 80% of London burned to the ground in 1666? Or that the plague killed more that 100,000 people the year before that? It's true, we heard it live and digitally on one of our many roundabouts through RAINY London today. I bet those folks were ready for the 1670s. Some other fascinating bits of the day...
1. Westminster Abbey - final resting place of the upper crust of London
2. Buckingham Palace - but no changing of the guard today
3. Speakers corner in Hyde Park - It was raining, so no speakers, but thanks for the recommendation, mom.
4. Tower of London
5. Tower Bridge ( And about a zillion other bridges that crisscross the Thames)
6. Full on afternoon tea - with clotted cream, tasty, but needs a new name
7. Awesomely funny street names like "Great Peter Street" and "Black Rod Row" (no joke)
8. Houses of Parliament
9. St. Paul's Cathedral
10. Trafalgar Square
You get the picture - we did it all!!! So we're pretty sure we can give that tour now, if necessary. We even had a beer in the Candy Bar - a local ladies' hangout. Oh yeah, and we got pictures with a real English phone booth - you can guess whose idea that was. We hope to post some pictures soon, but it's tough to find a place that will let you upload. Keep checking though, we got some good ones.
Peace out folks - time for some much needed rest. Cheers, we'll have a pint for ya. Yes, all of you.
1. Westminster Abbey - final resting place of the upper crust of London
2. Buckingham Palace - but no changing of the guard today
3. Speakers corner in Hyde Park - It was raining, so no speakers, but thanks for the recommendation, mom.
4. Tower of London
5. Tower Bridge ( And about a zillion other bridges that crisscross the Thames)
6. Full on afternoon tea - with clotted cream, tasty, but needs a new name
7. Awesomely funny street names like "Great Peter Street" and "Black Rod Row" (no joke)
8. Houses of Parliament
9. St. Paul's Cathedral
10. Trafalgar Square
You get the picture - we did it all!!! So we're pretty sure we can give that tour now, if necessary. We even had a beer in the Candy Bar - a local ladies' hangout. Oh yeah, and we got pictures with a real English phone booth - you can guess whose idea that was. We hope to post some pictures soon, but it's tough to find a place that will let you upload. Keep checking though, we got some good ones.
Peace out folks - time for some much needed rest. Cheers, we'll have a pint for ya. Yes, all of you.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
We made it!
After 16 hours of travel we finally made it to our hostel in London! The flight was pretty uneventful - we got to watch tv and movies on the seat back of the person in front of us. Awesome. Needless to say there was no sleeping involved. Oops. So we arrived tired and hungry. But we fixed both of those things with a classic english breakfast (picture to come) and a much needed nap. The hostel beds are very comfy! This doesn't quite make up for the fact that we had to take cold showers :-/ Ah, well. We just keep telling ourselves "its part of the experience". Even though we are still pretty tired we are going to try and stay awake to get on the right schedule. But we are here!!! Yay!
And people talk funny. And drive on the wrong side of the road. Huh.
Oh, and here is a little tip: don't try and cross London streets when you haven't slept in 24 hours. Its scary.
Much Love!
K & N
And people talk funny. And drive on the wrong side of the road. Huh.
Oh, and here is a little tip: don't try and cross London streets when you haven't slept in 24 hours. Its scary.
Much Love!
K & N
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Lola
Today we had to say goodbye to our baby, Lola. It sucked. We know she is going to have a wonderful summer with Grandma and Grandpa Pearce...camping, sailing, daily walks and lots of love. But we are still going to miss her dearly. Nicki's parents just left after a really nice weekend and we are gearing up for our Bon Voyage party tomorrow night. Only 2 more sleeps!!!
Bye Lola, we love you.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Only 4 more sleeps...
Our bags are (almost) packed and we're ready to go...Today was my (Kara) last day at work and Nicki is currently at Hambuger Mary's slingin' burgers for the last time as well. On Sunday we say goodbye to Lola :( Monday, we say goodbye to our friends (come to Sidetrack, 9pm-?) and on Tuesday we say hello to London! Its been a long road...planning, saving...but we are looking forward to the "trip of a lifetime".
Stay tuned...
Stay tuned...
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