After that business was finished, we made our way to the US Boarder to be inspected. The wait was awful! I think it probably took us about an hour to make our way to the front of the line. There were so many people coming into London. I was beyond nervous about being asked hard questions, but the older "grandpa" whose line we got into was quite chatty. He teased me about being a "homemaker". He told me I should go and get a job so we could afford to come to England 3-4 times a year. Brandon was laughing right along with him, yet I was standing there ringing my hands due to nerves.
Once we got through that line we made our way to the baggage carriage which had our bags waiting. None of them got scuffed up too much - which was surprising. After finishing a trip to the "loo" we headed out to arrange transportation to our hotel.
We decided it was worth the expense to just take a taxi to our hotel. We left the airport at 1:45pm and got to our hotel about 45 minutes later. The drive to it was quite nice, but I was surprised at how many cars were on the road, and how many houses/industrial areas there are. Not a whole lot of green space.
Our hotel is situated in a fantastic area. In order to drop us off though, the taxi had to dart into two lanes of incoming traffic and then park in a lane. I felt so badly for the car we parked in front of. But, the people are so nice and friendly and don't get miffed at being cut off and such. When we opened the door to our room there was a delightful treat waiting for us with a nice card. I had mentioned this was our 10th anniversary trip, and they had made this yummy dessert for us. It was a delicious way to start our culinary English adventure.
We spent about an hour in the hotel unpacking things and getting settled. Then, we wandered out into the world. Our first stop was Buckingham palace since it is literally right across the road from us. The building is so much bigger then I thought it would be. I seriously had tears in my eyes - I couldn't believe that we were finally seeing the building that I have seen so many times on the telly.
Then we decided to just take off down the road and see where it led us. We walked quite a while on the outskirts of a park called Green Park. The Londeners were all out in force sprawling all over the green grass. Apparently, this was the first sunny day they have had in 5-6 months. I was so glad about that.
We managed to find the underground station and we bought our oyster cards. Then, I was beyond famished. We found a darling little pub called Clarence on 4 Dover Street. They had wonderful "loos" and there was no one else in the upstairs dining area. I had the ultimate burger with 2 chicken breasts. I also made myself some fry sauce for my sweet potato fries.
When we were done with dinner we walked back to our hotel, and then continued onward to Victoria Station underground and train station. Oh my goodness, so huge! There were so many people and they were coming in from all directions. We were trying to find the place were we will pick up our rental car on Sunday, but we didn't have any luck. We did manage to find some yummy places to eat just down the road from our hotel. I'm sure we will be over that way at least once more before we are done.
We finally were completely worn out after that so we came back to the hotel and got ready for bed. We both ended up taking a shower in our very tiny bathroom. We are hoping to be able to video chat with our boys soon. I am anxious to hear how their time has been spent.
No comments:
Post a Comment