The Best of Britain and Ireland: Day 1 & 2

Our trip started on Saturday, April 24th when Erin and I drove from Sierra Vista to Phoenix to catch a direct flight to the London Heathrow Airport. While we were waiting to get on the plane in Phoenix, the crowds around our terminal started to grow. Eventually about 6-8 security guards showed up to make sure there wasn't going to be any problems. Apparently, people affected by the Iceland volcano were flying to Phoenix from bigger cities in the hope of getting on the plane. I was amazed at just how many people were in the area so I stealthily tried to take a photo. Can you find Erin in the crowd?

Unfortunately the photo doesn't do justice to how many people were there. For some reason no one listened to me when I tried to tell them to stand all together and say "Cheese!" Suprisingly, most if not all of the people were able to get a seat on the plane. We were definitely packed in there like sardines.

Our flight was just under 10 hours long and we arrived in London in the afternoon on Sunday, April 25th. Because we booked our trip with a touring company, we had a driver waiting to pick us up. Erin and I were excited to see that he even had a sign with our names on it. I guess I was too excited about it to actually take a picture so you'll just have to imagine the scene. Our driver drove us from the airport to our hotel, The Kensington Close. (Just a note...if you ever travel to London, make sure that you exchange at least a few dollars to pounds at the airport or you will have nothing to tip the driver with and you will end up looking like a miserly scrooge...poor driver!) We checked into the hotel and went up to our room. To say that our room was TINY would be simplifying things a little bit. Our room could have fit in my garage (with room left over for my car). Okay, now that might be a little bit of an exaggeration but the room was very small.

There was no rest for the weary on this day because we only had a few hours to freshen up and wander around the shops located near the hotel and then it was time for our first London experience. We boarded a bus with other travelers and went to dinner at a historic pub, called The Prospect of Witby, right on the river Thames. Both Erin and I decided to have a real London experience and order Fish and Chips. I've only recently started eating fish so I was a little skeptical but it was actually really good.

After dinner we went on an evening river tour of the Thames. The night was cold and threatening to rain but Erin and I decided to sit outside on the upper deck of the boat. Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to take night shots with my camera so here are some of the pictures that Erin took.

I took this photo of the upper deck of the boat with the London Bridge behind it.

I don't remember what building this is but I thought the picture looked really nice.

The London Eye. As a big Doctor Who fan, I was excited to see this.

Big Ben

The Parliament Building

The London Bridge

After our dinner and tour, we got back to the hotel around 10pm. We were really tired so we got ready for the next day and promptly fell asleep. Uncomfortable beds couldn't even keep the sleep away, thank goodness.

Next up...Day 2 (more London and Wicked)