Today we got up early to finish packing and catch our train to London. As we were walking to our subway station and saying goodbye and good riddance to Paris, we were greeted by a scene of two men fighting fairly violently right in front of our subway station. It was pretty scary. One of them was whacking the other one with who knows what … Continue reading London: Westminster Abbey & Piccadilly Circus
I dislike Paris again. I think I must have a sort of love-hate, off-again on-again relationship with this city. Or maybe it gives a bad first impression, then you warm up to it, but then when you delve deeper you realize it really is a dirty, unfriendly city. But let’s start with something more pleasant. On our way to The Louvre this morning there were … Continue reading Paris: The Louvre & Montmartre
Well I have to say, after today my opinion of Paris has improved quite a bit, though I still think people tend to overrate it and overlook other fascinating destinations. Breakfast this morning was orange juice and two croissants. It was pretty good, though it turns out it cost about $10 from the hotel, so for tomorrow’s breakfast we just bought something from the grocery … Continue reading Paris: Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe & Notre Dame
Today we said goodbye to Edinburgh, and it was quite sad–I’d enjoyed Scotland even more than I’d expected to. We took a train back to what feels like our “home” base here in Europe, London. The countryside was just as beautiful as it was on the way there, and I’ve included a few pictures. We stayed in London for a few hours, waiting to get … Continue reading Paris: Chunnel & Eiffel Tower at Night
Today was our free day in Edinburgh, and we packed in a lot! We started out with a quest to find a tin whistle, something Mickey wanted to buy while she was here. We hadn’t found any in the last two days, but she’d found a place online last night which opened at 10am, so at 9:00 we set off and got off the bus … Continue reading Edinburgh: Calton Hill, Firth of Forth & Greyfriars Bobby
We ate breakfast at our hotel today (it was just yogurt, toast, and jam, and we missed our English breakfasts from London a little) and then set off for Edinburgh Castle. We took a bus ride up most of the hill to it, and then walked up part of the Royal Mile before arriving at the castle. Mickey and I started our Edinburgh Castle experience … Continue reading Edinburgh: Edinburgh Castle & the Royal Mile
Today we traveled to Edinburgh! This involved a four-hour train ride from London to Edinburgh, which wasn’t bad at all, because we purchased things from the snack trolley going through (mainly to further emulate Harry Potter’s first trip to Hogwarts even more–we left from Kings Cross station and everything!) and looked at the beautiful scenery out the window. The English countryside is mainly very, very … Continue reading Edinburgh: Train from London & Princes Street Gardens
The highlight of today was the Tower of London! We started with a tour by one of the Yeoman Warders, or ‘Beefeaters’, who actually live at the Tower and know all about it. The tour was very entertaining and he pointed out the many uses this place has served–from the royal mint to a zoo to a palace for the royalty to its most infamous … Continue reading London: Tower of London
Today was another busy day in London! We set off a bit later than usual because of our late night at the performance of Wicked last night, and our first stop was the Hard Rock Cafe shop, because a few of the group wanted to purchase souvenirs there. We then headed past several war memorials and arrived at Wellington Arch. We went to the top, … Continue reading London: Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral & Camden Market
Today was a great day–we took a 1.5 hour train ride to Warwick Castle and got to see part of the English countryside, which was very pretty–lots of sheep, dairy cows, and a few horses, with pretty rolling hills and everything is very green! (Our guess was that it’s because it rains so much here). The castle was very big, and the most fun I … Continue reading London: Warwick Castle & Wicked in the West End