We arrive at Newark airport in the later afternoon, anxious for our plane that is scheduled to leave around 9 p.m. It is my second time traveling across the Atlantic, SJ’s too, but for SB it is a first. Waiting is my least favorite of activities. I always just want to get it over with, unfortunately a plane ride is nothing but waiting – waiting to get on the plane, waiting to take off, waiting to land. The trip was not the best – I was unable to sleep and when we had a turbulent landing after a less than appetizing in-flight dinner I almost spewed.
Nevertheless, the three of us emerged into London alive and exhausted at about 9:30 a.m. local time. We were determined to get on local time despite it being the wee hours of the morn at home so we tubed up to the hostel, dropped our bags, and were off to lunch at Wetherspoon. Now, in London instead of finding a nice sign that tells you to either seat yourself or wait, like at most places at home, the restaurants we ate at in Europe left this particular piece of information a guessing game. It turned out here that you seated yourself and ordered at the bar. So, to start things off right I had a strongbow cider, burger, and “chips” aka “fries” if you live in America.
A tangent on money for a moment – what’s with all the coins England? Pounds, two pounds, 50 pence, 20 pence, the list goes on and on. I still have pounds of pounds in coinage left kicking around because no one will change them back! It was certainly different to be somewhere where coinage is still a big part of money transactions, not at all like here where the most common thing is to use plastic or throw a 20 at the cashier.
After lunch, we headed back to the tube to travel off to Westminster. We managed to make it off the tube despite all falling asleep at different moments because of the soothing motion. Our first stop was Buckingham palace which I wasn’t all that impressed by. It was no medieval castle – more businessey, modern, and stiff looking to me. But we did see some guards in funny hats. Completing our photo ops there, we moved off in the direction of Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Parliament. We also took a trip on the London Eye – a massive ferris wheel giving great views of Westminster and the city. It was a bit of an adventure to get on and off – the wheel doesn’t stop so you just have to leap on while its going around…don’t trip! After the eye it was back to the Globetrotter hostel for dinner and sleep because of exhaustion and a very early 5 a.m. wakeup in order to meet up with the tour group.
Day Two - Hellllo Ladies!
Up early to meet the tour group and get on the road - first stop, Paris! The three of us drag our bags down to reception, check out, and discover that our tour group is made up of 40 girls and 6 boys, two of whom proceed to seemingly not speak for the rest of the tour (they were Korean and I don't think their English was all that great). Anyway, I hadn't realized that I'd signed up for the sorority tour. So much for vacation romance :-P
The tour participants are Americans, Aussies, Kiwis, Koreans, Vietnamese, English, Canadian, and more. Our trip leader, Candace turns out to be a delight, fun and infinitely patient with the a group of sometimes rowdy 17-30 somethings.
The bus takes us from London to Dover where we board a ferry for Calais. The cliffs are pure white, amazing. During one of the world wars the people burrowed caves into the cliffs to hide people and even a hospital. We land in Calais, France an hour and half later where we all pile onto the coach that will be our second home for the next two weeks. We choose the back of the bus for our slot. After a full day of travel, we arrive in Paris around 6 p.m. We "enjoy" a rather poor dinner - the vegetarian option turned out to be just Green beans and fries - then take a bus tour of the city. Our first stop is Monmartre where we ascend the steps to the Sacre Couer. Magnificent views. We also see the Opera House, Place de la Concorde, Champs D'elysees, Eiffel Tower, Moulin Rouge etc.
Full on pics soon to be available via flickr once I figure everything out! Stay tuned.
1 comment:
that picture of the Moulin Rouge is fabulous. You should really get that printed and framed. Was that from inside the coach? It's really lovely. I just love Paris. I think that might have been the time I was the happiest. It was a moment in life where everything came together in perfect harmony. I loved, loved, loved it!
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