Playing Tourist - Blogabond

Hello Hello!!

I am safely in England! After a long flight, which was actually shorter than I expected I arrived in Heathrow and was greeted by my lovely relatives! The flight was an overnighter but I only slept a little. The man beside me enjoyed his complimentary red wine and gin and tonics and that kept him chatting most of the night. He was a nice man and very interested in everything I was doing and reading, so I was a nice person and chatted back.

Yesterday, Monday, I arrived around 2pm and came back to my Uncle and Aunt's home. I had a nap, which is nothing unusual for me, and that seemed to take care of most of my jet lag. Dinner later, and then some catching up with my cousins and some TV. The ads that are the same as in Canada have all been dubbed so that the actors have english accents! Bizarre I know. You try saying "febreeze, freshens your fabrics" with an english accent. Somehow it just makes me want to buy febreeze more! But I didn't.

This morning, I slept til about 9 -yay for the holiday part of this trip! Then my Aunt and I headed into London for some tourist activity! We took the tube in, "say chube". (There you go, now you're talking"). All I can say is: Those people who walk around with maps in Vancouver looking lost, and we look at them and wonder why they really need a map when we only have 2 skytrain lines. I must have been the tourist to the max. Luckily Gill knew where she was going and I just followed along on my map. I could have navigated it alone but it would have taken me much longer. Maybe I will venture to do a little of that tomorrow!

We went to Green Park,

Guards Marching

Buckingham palace but the Queen wasn't home.

Buckingham Palace

Trafalger Square,

Trafalgar Square

saw double decker buses,

Double Decker!! -not the chocolate bar

walked past the parliament buildings,

Look look- a horse!

saw Big Ben and West Minster Abbey,

walked across the Thames river

My Photographer Gill and the London Eye

and met my cousin for lunch at a pub.

Then we walked back across the wobbly bridge -it no longer wobbles- apparently that was a problem so they fixed it- no fun I tell you.

London/Tower Bridge

Apparently safety is more important.

On the wobbly bridge

We saw St. Pauls Cathedral too.

St. Pauls Cathedral -the top part

It's so big it didn't all fit in one photo!

St. Pauls Cathedral

We didn't go into any of them since I had been in them when I was last in London 7 years ago. It was a lot of walking but good fun! I think we hit up all the major landmarks -anything I'm missing? Then we took the tube back through London into Harrow where they live.

I'm off to a proper "football match" tonight with my uncle and cousin. I might call it a soccer game just to bug them! They're die-hard fans.

I just wanted to let you know that I am here safely for now. I leave London on Friday and get to Tanzania on Saturday, but I will update before then.

Hugs to you all! As the British say, Cheerio!

written by

Laura Collins on September 16, 2008 from London, United Kingdom

from the travel blog: My Adventure in Tanzania

Send a Compliment

You have very good pictures of England and Bright smiles!

written by chineseguy on September 16, 2008

Hey Laura,
I'm glad to hear that you had a good flight with a bearable seatmate. The pictures of London look great. I'm looking forward to reading about your "football" experience!

Take care,
Victoria

written by Victoria Z on September 16, 2008

glad you made it there safely!!! great pics, i'm waiting for morrrrrrrre!!!
fun fact from my end:
i went to a tatoo parlour saturday!
didn't get a tatoo though... :( i knew some ppl going to get theirs done so i tagged along to watch!

ps. your spelling of the "chube" totally made me say it out loud....hahah

written by Shannon on September 16, 2008

Hi Laura! Glad you are having fun and that Ron & Gill are taking such good care of you. Tell Gill that Dad & I will expect your royal treatment next time we're over. Hope your football match was fun. Dad checked the score on line and saw that Watford lost, so not too much post game celebrating, I guess. Say Hi to everyone. Love Mom

written by Linda Collins on September 16, 2008

Yoohoo babe, I just tried saying "Febreeze Freshens your fabrics" with my lame-o british accent and whadaya know it sounds rather cool. hahahaha

Nice pictures... is it cold over there or something??? It doesn't look overly sunny... Life is going well here - I've been busy. So busy that I don't even have time to facebook stalk anymore. haha.

Anyway you're missing Victoria's Birthday Party this weekend! Boo to you, but hey London is rather cool.

karen

written by karen on September 17, 2008

Did you and Jenny plan the matching blue shirts and jeans?

written by Amy on September 17, 2008

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