London, England

Jensen and the weird, funny guy in London

Jensen and Laurie at the IMAX in London

Bill and Dustin in front of Big Ben

Hello everyone,

Here is part 3 of our trip!

We arrived in London on the evening of 12/26. We went straight to our hotel and stayed in for the night. Our hotel was great--the best one so far the whole trip. It was set up like a small apartment, so we had 2 small rooms (plus the bathroom), and a fully equipped kitchen with everything except an oven. We even had a dishwasher and washer/dryer! We were so excited about the washer/dryer, as we really needed some clean clothes by this time. Unfortunately, it was one of those little tiny ones (like I had in Congo), and it was a washer/dryer all in one, and we couldn't totally figure out the dryer part of it. So I would put things in to dry for 140 minutes, and they'd come out half wet and half dry. We just ended up putting things on hangers and turning the heat up in the room, and having the clothes dry that way. It wasn't the best, but it worked, and we got some clean clothes! Our room also had an amazing view of the Thames River, and that was a great thing to wake up to. We saw these funny little bus-boats on the river. They looked just like a yellow school bus in the water, and then all of the sudden, it got out of the water and started driving down the road. It was very funny to watch.

The next day (12/27), Jensen and I had theater tickets to see Wicked! We had seen it in California, but we both loved it and wanted to see it again. We got really good seats, and it was a fairly small theater. Unfortunately for me, I got sick again just before the show, so ended up going to the show feeling like I was going to throw up! I started to feel a little better during the show, but still did not feel well the rest of the day. Jensen and I both enjoyed the show, but the cast certainly did not compare to the cast in Los Angeles. While Jensen and I were watching Wicked, Bill and Dustin went shopping and exploring. Dustin ended up with a new set of golf clubs! He had outgrown his last set, and he and Bill usually play in Congo every weekend, so a new set was warranted.

We didn't do much for dinner, as I was still sick. There was a little grocery store just a couple of minutes from our hotel, so we got food from there and cooked it in our room. We did that for most of our time in London. We had been eating out so much this trip, that it felt good just to make our own food and not pay an arm and a leg for food the kids hardly touch.

The next day (12/28) we went to the London Aquarium. This was certainly not your first-rate aquarium, especially after being to places like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but we all still enjoyed it. After, we walked around and saw the London Eye (a huge ferris wheel that takes you high up in the air so you can see the whole city), and Big Ben (Dustin's favorite). We did not go up in the London eye, as the lines were horrendous, and it was just so cold (about 30 F). Unfortunately, the cold dictated a lot of what we ended up doing. We knew that Jensen does not tolerate the cold well, so anything that was outside, and required waiting in a line, we knew would be miserable for all of us (Jensen would be crying and complaining the whole time, and we'd have to listen to it!). So, that meant that we also did not go see Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard, as that would have been at least an hour and a half waiting outside. By this point of our trip, we were all a bit burned out on sightseeing. And although Bill and I wanted to see things like Westminister Abbey, the Tower of London, and Trafalgar Square, we just knew it would not be worth it to drag our complaining kids to these sights. So we settled on doing things together that were inside, and that were more family oriented.

The next day (12/29) we went to the British Science Museum. We ended up spending all day there, and everyone really enjoyed it. We saw a couple of IMAX movies while there (one about the deep sea and the other about outer space and the first landing on the moon). We took the tube (subway) there, and felt proud of ourselves for navigating the system so well.

While we were walking around after the aquarium, we came across a square that had all these weird, funny people dressed up. Some of them were putting on shows (like a juggler), but most of them just stood perfectly still, until you put money in their little cup, and then it was like they came alive. They were so funny! And if you put money in their cup, you could then get a picture with them. We've got a great picture of Jensen with one of them, and I'll try to post it. We also shopped at a bookstore, and we all stocked up on books, as we can't get any in Congo.

The thing that really threw us in England was how dark it always was. The sun did not come up until 8:00 AM (if it came up at all!), and it was down by 4:00 PM. Made for very short days! It was also so cold (France too)! I know I already mentioned the cold, but it really did impact our trip quite a bit. Coming from AZ, and then from Congo, we are definitely not cold weather people.

Our last night in London, we went to the little grocery store and stocked up on cereal to take home with us, as in the Congo, we are paying $22 for one box of cereal! We also got some brownie mix, as that is nonexistent in the Congo. We packed up everything, and got ready for our trip to Kenya. We were only supposed to stay in Kenya for one night (get in at 9:30 PM, and leave the next morning at 9:30 AM). However, our travel agent informed us that our flight back to the Congo had been cancelled, and there were no other flights going there until January 3rd! We were supposed to be back in Congo for New Year's Eve, but now we were going to spend it in Nairobi, Kenya!

Well, I'll sign off for now, and will write another post about our Kenya trip.

Laurie

P.S. As I'm finishing this post, it has now passed into the New Year for North America, so Happy New Year to everyone! We celebrated here in Kenya 11 hours before California!