It’s wonderful. We made it to London safely on the flight and went through customs without a problem. Brit found us right outside the gate after collecting our luggage. We found the tube and bought our tickets without a problem. Riding the tube into London was like a dream. All of the perfect little brick houses with tile roofs all in a row. We made it to the Notting Hill Gate station and after walking about an extra mile in the wrong direction we found the center. It is located on Palace Court...a name which fittingly describes the posh red brick houses that line the road. We dumped our things, went for a walk through Notting Hill and Portobello road, and took the tube to the tower bridge. In the afternoon we went for a walk in Hyde Park and did a little shopping for odds and ends that we needed in Kensington. It is all rather idyllic and pretty much exactly how I imagined it would be. Just a few random things that happened while en route:
FORTUNE COOKIES: We happened to sit next to a very nice British woman on the flight to New York. She was rather suspicious of the Chinese, however, and told us in quite a tone that she was sure the Chinese are trying to take over the world. Why, just the other day she had eaten a Chinese cookie and it had a piece of paper baked inside that said she should learn Chinese and contained her lucky numbers…can you imagine? She could have choked!
SLEEPING PILLS: Mari and I took sleeping pills right before we got on the flight to London. They kicked in right away and we were both asleep before the plane took off. Unfortunately we taxied for a very long time and my pill had nearly worn off before we even took off. Needless to say, one was sufficient for Mari, but not for me.
SLEEPING: To help get into the swing of things we have tried to stay awake all day. This does not mean we’ve always succeeded. The group of us that took the tube to the tower of London all dozed off almost immediately as soon as we sat down on the train.
STAIRS: When we got off the underground at the first station we realized we had to go up several stair cases to get to the connecting line. No escalators, no elevators, and four girls that weigh about 95 pounds each and their bags that rival that weight. What a site we were.
Nice report. I hope you enjoy Hyde Park today. Love the image of four 95 pounds girles hauling 50 pound bags up the stairs with the locals staring at the crazy Americans.
ReplyDeleteIn case you didn't get my email, Mom and have changed our flights so we arrive on June 15 instead of June 17. How long should we plan to stay in England.
Last report was that the LA race went well. Sold lots of swag and runners seemed happy after booing course changes at the start. Pleasant here in St. George. The boys pummeled me last night and again this morning for about 1/2 hour. It has left me battered and bruised.
Wow, sounds awesome! I'm so jealous. Keep us updated. I'm sure it will be fun...maybe we could have used some of those sleeping pills on the 14 passenger van!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you guys made it, sounds like you are already having tons of fun!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you guys are already having a wonderful time!! Your mom told me about the lady on the plane - so funny!!! Can't wait to hear more about your trip!
ReplyDeletei remember those stairs!!!! such a sight a bunch of BYU students hauling luggage up and down those unforgiving stairs!
ReplyDeleteoh i am so thrilled you guys started a blog. can't wait to hear all about your amazing adventures!
ReplyDeleteWhen is the first Rose ceremony?
ReplyDelete