Thursday, July 15, 2010

Onward I go.....

So, I finally broke down and made all my travel arrangements for the next couple of stops of my trip. I'm going to head to London on Saturday and stay there until Tuesday. After London, I'll be heading to Brussels. I'll admit, I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do in Brussels, but I'll be there just one full day, so I'm sure I can find something to do! On the 22nd of July I'll be heading to Amsterdam where I'll meet up with DJ on the 23rd. From there we'll be heading out on the rest of our trip.

Today it was super windy here in Littleport. Mike bought Liam a kite at lunch, so we headed to the soccer fields to fly it. The winds were so strong that our GI Joe kite only lasted about 15 minutes before we started having some technical breakdowns. The poles holding the kite together started poking through the kite and it started having a really rough time flying! We got some video and I can't wait to upload them to my youtube account. Liam was so funny and laughed SO much!!

Well, Liam is trying to find his mom in a game of "Hide-n-seek", so I need to get going...

Monday, July 12, 2010

Week One

Well, I've been in the UK for almost a week now and it's been fun! It's nice that I've been before and am used to the area, how things go and know what to expect. Also, since I've been before, there are some sights that I don't have to worry about getting to.

We've visited Sandringham Estate, where the Royal Family stays from December to February. Of course, it was gorgeous! They showed us where the Queen sits and watches tv...we couldn't help but wonder what she watches....CSI? Gossip Girl? Grey's Anatomy? Who knows!

This past weekend we traveled to the Windsor area and took Liam to Legoland on Saturday and then went to Windsor Castle on Sunday. There aren't many areas inside the castle that are open to the public except the State apartments. The line to go through this area was so long and since I had bought a book about the castle, we decided to skip the inside. Perhaps I'll check this out another time when there aren't so many people there. We had gorgeous weather (for a FL girl), but it was quite warm for the Brits. I enjoyed our stay in the Holiday Inn Saturday night. (They had 1. air conditioning and 2. AWESOME WATER PRESSURE!). You all know I love my sister and I love visiting her, but the "rain shower" showerhead with no pressure drives me nuts!! I know I'm spoiled to a point, but wow!

This week is Liam's last week of school. He goes to school 2 days for 1/2 the day and then all day on Friday. We've managed to run out on short excursions between taking Mike to work, Liam to school, picking Liam up from school and picking Mike up from work. Mel definitely spends more time burning up the country roads of England than doing anything for herself!!!

I still have 10 days before I meet up with DJ. We're still trying to decide our exact itinerary, as we have tweaked it on more than one occasion, which is fine with me. I do believe we have our hotels booked for Amsterdam, Bordeaux and Rome. That leaves us with hotels in Paris and Venice to book. Also, I have tours picked out in the cities we'll be visiting, so I'm waiting to book those one we know for sure when we'll be where.

Until next time.....

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Time to Leave!!

After planning and looking forward to this vacation, it's finally here! I'll be leaving tomorrow (7/5) at 1p and head to London. I have a connection in Atlanta for a couple of hours before hopping the pond. I've impressed myself with my suitcase...it's weighing in at 55lbs (DJ guessed it would be 54lbs). Seeing that I was allowed 2 bags at 70lbs max each, I'm quite happy with myself. I guess I learned my lesson last time trying to make room for a suitcase and other bags on the trains, etc. I'm carrying on one duffel bag (Vera Bradley, of course) and my backpack.

I will try to keep this blog fairly updated (I hope someone starts reading it!) as long as I have an internet connection. I'll probably post the link to my facebook...maybe some of my "friends" will check it out. :-)

Godspeed.....