Day 1-London

Here are some pics from our first day in London.
After we finally got off the airplane after our 9 hour flight at 11:00 am London time (5:00 am Texas time), we were all exhausted to say the least. But there was not time to rest! Brice and dad took off to Wimbledon and mom, Meme, and I began our exploration around London. After today's adventure I definitely know why I don't ever want to live in a huge city. Just imagine the 3 of us girls having no idea where we were, what we were doing, or how to get there...but off we went! After a few tries on the Metro system we finally got to Harrod's, where I think we explored every nook and cranny of the gigantic store. There were people and things to buy everywhere you looked!! After a few hours of wondering around and a few pounds less in our pockets, we decided to go sight seeing on a double decker bus. This was a whole new adventure.....well after look at and discussing about 5 different maps for about 45 min, crossing the same street about 4 times, and debating how to get somewhere (anywhere new for that matter), we totally abandoned the bus idea and went back to the Metro. We finally got to Parliament and Big Ben. It was like a dream come true to finally arrive at a place and know where we were! So the three of us again attempted to navagate around the streets of London, trying not to get run over by all the people while stopping to take a picture every few moments, and not loose each other in the process. Well ok, that was just me...
We finally made it back to the hotel only after a few more tries on the Metro and a couple of bus rides later. Little did we know Brice and dad experienced some of the same adventure on the Metro. They were a little bitter about their senic tour, so I won't discuss it any more.
But to cap off the day, I got to eat my traditional fish and chips!! And it was delicious!!!



The sleepy eyed taxi ride to the hotel.









The hotel room.









Westminster Abby (side view)

Famous London Taxi.

Backside of Parliament.

Queen's Entrance to Parliament.

Parliament with Police man.

Big Ben

Big Ben and scaffolding.

View of Big Ben and Parliament from across the river.

Front side of Parliament (side that faces the river).

London Eye

Herrod's (What felt like the biggest store in the world! 5 floors and countless rooms filled with ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you could ever want or desire at INSANELY EXPENSIVE prices.)

Chicken and Bacon Pasty from Harrod's. Very different....

Guy playing the bagpipes in front of Harrod's.

Entrance to the Metro System (The Tube). Also where we spent a good majority of our time being lost on....

The Adventure Begins!!

Somebody from up above was smiling down on Brice. He got the Wimbeldon tickets!!!!! There were some nerve racking moments there around 2:30! We really got lucky!! With both Brice and I on two different computers, refreshing the page every second, Brice got the option to buy and I didn't. which means that he got some of the only available tickets! Then it was timed to get the order placed. If you don't place the order before time runs out, no tickets. Crazy!!!
I don't know who is more excited...Brice or dad!! Talk about dreams coming true for the two of them! I guess we can cheer Murray on to victory now...
You should see all six of us packed into the truck on the way to the airport, plus all our stuff! We are definitely sardines, as we race to beat the rain! I knew this would be an adventure. :)
On to the airport!

Under the 12 Hour Mark!!

Well it was a no go on Wimbledon tickets yesterday. Andy Murray (the Scottish guy) won, so all the locals (including the Queen) are attempting to go to the matches tomorrow. This makes our chances of getting tickets much lower. Brice is still hopeful and keeping all fingers (and toes) crossed. We have one more chance to buy tickets ahead of time today at 2:30. So one more time we will be on the computer, credit card in hand, praying that somebody decided not to go. Otherwise, the second we get to London, we'll grab our luggage, drop it off at the hotel, hop a cab (or double-decker bus!), and race off to the Wimbledon grounds. Brice decided that even if he can't get in, he's going to wear a Texas A&M shirt, find the TV casters and be the obnoxious American jumping and waving behind them. So, if you have nothing to do tomorrow afternoon, you may want to turn on the match for the chance to see Brice being silly on National Television!

Itinerary & Ship

Ruby Princess
The ship we will be on.







This the Itinerary Map of the cruise.










Full Itinerary
June 29: Fly from Houston to London, England
June 30-July 1: London, England
July 2: Fly to Venice, Italy
July 2-5: Venice, Italy
July 6: At Sea
July 7: Athens (Piraeus), Greece
July 8: Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey
July 9: Istanbul, Turkey
July 10: Mykonos, Greece
July 11: At Sea
July 12: Naples/Capri, Italy
July 13: Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy
July 14: Florence/Pisa (Livorno), Italy
July 15: Monte Carlo, Monaco
July 16-19: Barcelona, Spain
July 19: Fly Home

48 Hours and Counting...

So, we've reached just under the 48 hour mark and Brice is making me get up at 5:30 AM to be ready to attempt to buy Wimbledon tickets. This would be the highlight of Brice's trip! Wednesday will be the semi-final round. So one way or another some big names will be playing and if this one certain player makes it that far, the Queen of England should be there!!!
We have two chances to get tickets, tomorrow at 6:00 AM and again Tuesday at 2:30 PM. So bright and early tomorrow, we will be up and on the computers, credit cards in hand. So the very second it turns 6:00:00 AM, we will be ready! All fingers are crossed...

The Count Down Begins!

As we near the 72 hour count down mark, excitement is really starting to grow. We have to start thinking about all the little details. Do I have enough toothpaste? What about shampoo?? What if I run out of deodorant?!? How in the world will I find more?? Do they even have this stuff in Europe?? Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating just a bit. I have to remind myself that we're not trekking off into the wilderness with no modern conveniences whatsoever. I'm sure if we run out, we can find more. Now we may not be able to read the label...but people have survived over there without Wal-Mart for centuries. I'm thinking we should be ok, too!