Jolly Ol' England

Well, we made it here! Our flight over was, at the most... Uncomfortable, and at the very least crowded! But it got us here safely so I can't complain too much. But when I return and I'm still sleep deprived I will say it started there. We arrived at London Heathrow at about 12:30 London time. From there our first two days were pretty non-stop. We found our way to the tube as the Brits call the subway. As I've never been on a subway before I can say that the tube system in London is very easy to get around on, which was a pleasant surprise. We'll see if the same can be said of the Paris metro. In a whirlwind of walking and sightseeing our first one and 1/2 days took us to Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, The Houses of Parliament/Big Ben, the outside of Westminster Abbey, The Tower of London with a viewing of the Crown Jewels, all amidst the madness of the London Marathon! It has felt like we were running our own marathon. and that would explain my sore calves, hip muscles and back (from carrying our backpack)! That and the horrible plank like English beds! I thought the bed at the first place was just a fluke but we come to Crewe Hall and its just as stiff! Crewe Hall is an historic beauty in itself. The past two days we've been in Crewe for Marc's training and it has been very laid back, although haven't really gotten to make up for lost sleep unfortunately! So tomorrow we leave early for two train rides to Paris. We should arrive there about 12:30 and our first stop after our hotel will be the Louvre! So excited! For now, I'll try to get comfortable on this dastardly bed!

I wish life was like a spy movie

Well we're getting ready for our trip across the Atlantic to Jolly Old England and the City of Lights. Me being me and always wanting to be prepared, I decided we have to have our British Pounds Sterling and Euros on hand. So I go to the bank like a good little lamb and well I'm pretty much fleeced due to conversion rates. After the fleecing they tell me to "have a nice day" Yeah thanks... me now $600 poorer with only about 400 in euros and GBS to show for it... 'preciate it! As I meander from the bank missing the $200ish dollars that somehow disappeared into the conversion void I think to myself, as I'm sure many others in the same situation have before me, if only life were like a spy movie! You know what I'm talking about. You land at an airport in a foreign country, walk stealthily to the rows of lockers. Next you take out the key that you had retrieved from the 'out of order' bathroom sink's hot water knob in the gate 26B arrivals restroom. Opening the locker you pull out a nondescript backpack. Inside the backpack are several different passports with numerous aliases as well as great big wads of currency of different countries. You grab what you need, shove the bag back into the locker, and you're off. Viola! No fuss... No muss. Well, you'll probably have to run for you life at some point, might have to knock someone off (in self defense and in the name of national security of course) but really, I think it might just be worth avoiding those blasted conversion fees!