the UK, kind of like the US

The first day here was spent relaxing and sleeping. We were exhausted from lugging our bags all over Europe, from train station to hostel to train station etc. Staying in one place for 6 days is a nice change. The first thing we did was visit Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. It was a beautiful and hot day (who knew London weather could get into the 80s?) People were sunbathing all over the park. We went to the Orangerie near Kensington Palace and had afternoon tea. I also had a scone with clotted cream. It was all very British. Then we walked over to the Victoria and Albert Museum. Sadly, it closed before we had gone through every square inch. I have to settle for not having seen one or two rooms. Fish and chips were the mandatory dinner.
The next day we went to the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. I've been to London twice before this, but managed to miss this huge tourist attraction. The best part about it turned out not to be the music, the marching, or even the funny hats; it was the mounted policewoman doing crowd control in front of us. She was hilarious, and her horse was massive! Its hooves were bigger than my head! She kept walking it straight into the crowd to get people to move. They were terrified. The girls and I had a great vantage point for the ceremony at the railing next to the main entrance to the palace. The guards marched out only a couple feet from us. After this we walked through St. James Park to Westminster Abbey. I love this place. So many amazing people are buried/are honored here. There is Queen Elizabeth I, Edward the Confessor, and even Charles Darwin, to name a few! The first time I saw Darwin's marker on the floor of the Abbey, I was overjoyed. The father of evolution buried in one of the greatest churches in the world. Where else could you see that? And if you're a fan of The DaVinci Code, the monument to Newton is here, too. After the Abbey, we crossed the street to see Parliament and Big Ben before jumping on the subway to get food and rehydrate for the next day.
We walked to the British Museum on the 3rd. Heather was really excited to see the Egyptian collection. They even have mummies. One of which still has some of his hair! I always lose track of time while I'm there. They have so much wonderful stuff that I'm constantly sidetracked by something amazing in the next room. the BM takes up a lot of time, and our feet were pretty sore by the time we stepped back into the open air.
Saturday was another beautiful day. There were clouds and a breeze, but it was still warm enough for only a cardigan and shorts! I never thought I'd be this warm in London. The girls and I decided to go to the Tower of London for the day. They had a lot of fun visiting all of the places where the Tudors lived and had their scandals, as well as the Crown Jewels. This was my third visit to the Tower, and I still love it. I even bought a book about it so that the next time I'm there I can answer the Yeoman Warder tourguide's questions. Later on, we went to King's Cross train station to see Platform 9 3/4. Harry Potter fans will understand this one. In between platforms 9 and 10 there is a little sign with a cart sticking half way into the wall. It's so cool! Heather and I took some pictures "pushing" the cart. (Kahea isn't much of a Potter fan). Some other people showed up to do the same, and I realized that we were all adults! Those books make people do some crazy things.
The 5th was the Wimbledon final with Federer vs Roddick. So, of course, Kahea and I had to watch it. We spent the morning walking around the area near King's Cross, and the afternoon in a pub, drinking and watching the match. They played for over 4 hours! It was incredible! But, sadly, Roddick lost and we had to go to dinner dejected. We spent the evening packing up all of our stuff and trying to organize ourselves for the day ahead.
We woke up bright and early the next day to check out and hop on an underground train to the airport. It started raining, and I was happy we chose that day to leave. Everything went smoothly in the airport. We got to our terminal and waited to board. We ended up getting on the plane about half an hour late. I was a little worried about missing my connecting flight in Dallas since I still had to go through customs, but I was optimistic. Three and a half hours later, though, I knew I wasn't going to make it home that day. We were still on the plane sitting at the terminal. We learned after about 2 hours that there was some bad weather around Scotland, and the pilot didn't know when we would get to leave. Close to 4 hours later, we finally took off. The girls ended up missing their connecting flights too. There were a couple tears of frustration. My homesickness had been repressed for quite some time, and it managed to leak out on the plane. But by the time we got to Dallas, we were all resigned and back to being weary, but happy travelers. We went through customs and back through security before finding a nice place on the floor to curl up for the night. It was freezing cold, but Heather found some blankets to use. I was too tired and cold to care that I had no idea who had used them before or for what purpose. We slept for about 3 hours and then woke up around 4:50 to get the first food and coffee from Starbucks and McDonalds. We managed to get great seats together on the plane and we napped and chatted all the way home. Once back in Seattle, we hurried to baggage claim and I got to see my mom and sister. I was SO happy! Sadly, it was not to last. None of our bags had made it on the plane. Luckily, they ended up on the next flight, so we only had to wait another hour or so. The drive to Sequim and my parent's new house was a pretty one. I was in a bit of a haze from the past few days, but managed to take it all in. The house is beautiful, and so is the view. It's completely different from the house and town I grew up in, but as long as they're happy with it, so am I.
The girls got back to Richland safe, too. I am going to visit them in a few days before heading off to see my aunt and uncle in La Grande. Then I'm going up to the cabin to see my grandparents and be joined by the rest of the family later. I'm so excited to have real meals made for me again! Being spoiled isn't a bad thing if you really and truly appreciate it, and believe me, I do.

the UK, kind of like the US

London, United Kingdom