London

We started our morning nice and early. We turned lights on at 7, which was 8:00 German time, so really plenty of sleep. I have, gratefully slept easily and deeply every night. I  thought I had rented us a little apartment room in someone’s home, but it turned out to be a home they’d converted to a little hotel. We had a bathroom, but I checked upstairs this morning and the 3 rooms up there share a bathroom. It was interesting. All of our sleep spots have been clean, safe, and quiet, so I can’t complain. Although our 3 hotels at the beginning of the trip were the best. 

There was a busy stop right in front of the house and we knew the ticket type we wanted and the bus #, so we asked the driver if we could buy tickets on the bus. We couldn’t, but he told us to get on anyway and he’d take us to a station where we could buy tickets. Everyone was SO nice in London!

We bought our tickets from a kiosk, but knew we’d been charged too much. Delaney was free and they charged for her, even though we put in the correct ages. I asked the attendant and he said he’d be happy to refund our money if we could give him 5 minutes. I apologized for the mixup and he said my favorite line of the day - “Don’t be daft!” And away he went. We still ended up paying too much because they charged Adi and Frankie as adults, but I’m pretty sure we messed up our tickets in Berlin so I guess it all comes out in the wash.  

We used our phone navigations to tell us which route and train to take, but sometimes they go wonky. That resulted in us getting off our train, regrouping, running to get back on our train, but in a different and much more busy car, then running to find a new car with seats, only to end up right back where we started. We were cracking up and the nice man who we’d spoken to earlier asked if we were enjoying ourselves, but in that snotty British way. 😂 He was very kind too and gave us pointers on which train to take and what things were out the window. 

We were stoked to leave Westminster station to find Big Ben! 

And British phone booths! We’re slightly Beverly Hillbillies, but we’re nice and we have fun, so what are you gonna do. 

Westminster Abby!

I spread some of my momma’s ashes right here. A prayer and a few tears. I think this is a beautiful spot. 

We were all starving so we found some Great British Fish and Chips. F and I got the classic, D got a sausage (and regretted it), Matt got a meat pie, and Adi got chicken, which she also regretted because it was on bones. Our fancy girls don’t like bones. 

Famous Brit’s. I still need to figure out several of them. 

Ray is a fun name. So many plays on words. 

The one thing Adi wanted to do when she found out we were going to London was to go on the London Eye. She read a book where it featured prominently and she also reasoned that we could see the sights of the city. Adi is the sweetest, she doesn’t ask for much and I really wanted to make it happen. Matt has had a little sticker shock from how expensive the trip has been, but I promised him we’ll be frugal as the day is long when we get home and that we should just enjoy our trip. So away we went!

Several of us were nervous, but it was so neat!

The trip took 30 minutes and we were able to walk right on after our brunch. 

Delaney really wanted to play at the playground she’s pointing to, but we only had 20 hours in London, so no such luck. 

Adi loves portrait mode. 



We did have quite a lovely view of the city. 

The outside looks almost fake.

Just a little nervous. 



This has been such an amazing experience. Frankie is the only one of us that’s ready to go home. I’d keep adventuring in a heartbeat. 

We didn’t really have any expectations, just a list of things we’d like to see. So after The Eye, we headed towards the Tower Bridge and came upon a skatepark. 

Matt caught the girls lounging while I used the lou. 

It rained off an on, but mostly off. It was a really pretty day and not too cold.  

The Globe!

This cute ally looked straight out of Harry Potter. 

We bought the last of our souvenirs at the Res Bus Shop. 

We walked across London Bridge to get a good shot of the Tower Bridge. 

I asked 2 people  for a picture of us with the Tower Bridge behind us. This was the first try, and I wanted to try one more time because we’re covering the bridge. 

And this was the second photographer. 😂 Oh well. 

Our flight left at 4:45, so we gave ourselves till 1:45 to be in transit back to Heathrow. We didn’t have to check anything so we knew we’d be quick at the airport, and they haven’t been busy. This water was near the sight where the great London fire originated. 

This was on the back. 

I loooooved being in London. If I could leave anywhere, I’d live in England. Not forever, but for a few years.

We decided we had enough time to squeeze in Buckingham Palace. We caught a train and then walked and came across Addison Lee Courier’s. So we grabbed our Addison Marie. 

I know the monarchy is outdated and wasteful, but the heart wants what the heart wants. And I want to know about the monarchy. 

We miss this icon. 

You can see one of the guards there guarding. 

Matt and I geeked out a little recognizing places from The Crown. 

This shot was courtesy of a nice young Brazilian girl. She zoomed all the way out and all the way in. Maybe I’ll stick to asking only teen girls from now on. 🤔 

Delaney needed the potty so we hustled to Hard Rock (they were so nice!) and then hustled to catch our bus. Everything was going swimmingly and we were doing great on time. 

Duh, duh, duhn!

We got to Paddington Station but felt a little uneasy because there were several travel notices because of the planned transit worker strike. 

So we asked someone and she sent us across the street to the giant Paddington Station. Then we found out our tickets were not valid for the express train we wanted, even though it was the correct zone. 🤷‍♀️ so then we hustled over to the Elizabeth Line where there were even more travel notices, and found we needed to go back to the giant Paddington Station. So then we hustled back over there and waited and sweat and debated buying the express tickets. We finally got on our way and we were poised and ready to run as soon as the train doors opened at terminal 3. 

We hit 5 snafu’s when we got to security. Apparently snow globes have to be inspected and put in separate plastic baggies at Heathrow. We had no problem with this in Amsterdam, so this caught us off guard, and we had Delaney’s snow globe collection in 2 separate bags, so that meant 2 needed searching. Then Matt’s plastic water bottle was full of water, which had been fine in Amsterdam, but wasn’t fine at Heathrow. Matt told them no problem, we needed to go. But we weren’t done yet. Our toothpaste and my hair gel also caused a search. All of this after Delaney required a pat down for who knows why. After our security ordeal, we really had to book. We ran up escalators and hustled through people. We power walked moving sidewalks and around crowds. We cut down what was listed as a 20 minute walk to about 5 minutes. Our plane did not board in zones, like we have every other time I’ve flown, but as soon as we had our passports checked and our contact tracing, she told us we could walk right on. This was a little bit of a bummer because we wanted to fill water bottles and go potty but there was neither of either of those amenities and if we left we’d have to do the passport thing all over again. So we sat on the place for an hour instead. 

We were just glad we made it! Matt likes to get to the airport super early and I like to push it, but not that close. 

We’d never flown Virgin Atlantic, but we really enjoyed it. Seats were semi comfortable, went back a decent amount, dinner was tasty, and all the red accents were pretty. Our seat mate only got up once on an 8 hour flight so that made for a sore booty, but it went faster than I expected. I watched the newish Downton Abby and The Time Travelers Wife and tried to sleep. The girls sat in their own row and were perfect. 

We landed just before 8:30, went through customs, baggage, rental shuttle, and car pickup, and now at 10:30 we’re on our way home. This is 4:30am in the time zone we came from, but so far, so good. We’re all looking forward to being home!