The Last Two Weeks - Part 2 (Lodon)

Well, here it is folks - the second part of my series on my dad and step-mom's visit here in Germany...

Where was I... oh yes, we just arrived in Lodon, at Victoria Coach Station.

Since we had all (more or less) been awake since 2 am we were starving, so we grabbed food at the first cafe we found. I marveled the entire time at all the English everyone was speaking (I also was marveling at the airport and on the plane)... I mean, who would've thought that people speak english! The craziest thing was that I even ordered my breakfast (baked beans and scrambled eggs on toast. yep, that's right... baked beans on toast) in English!!!! Unbelieveable! No really... I haven't been in an engilsh speaking country since July.

After a yummy breakfast, we decided to buy tickets on The Big Blue Bus tour buses, in order to see all of london. The tickets were 20 Pounds each (20 Pounds = expensive) but well worth it, as we were taken all over London and could hop on or off at any of their many bus stops, in oder to see things closer. Since the tickets last for 24 hours we were able to buypass taking the subway, and merely enjoyed the ride (with a recorded or live tour guide all along the way). From the comfort of the bus we saw everything from the Tower of London (we went in) to the Globe Theater to Buckingham Palace (where we tried to see changing of the guards but didn't see too much) to Kennsington Palace to SoHo to Big Ben, and also got a free 20 minute Boat Tour to boot. Tuesday evening we ate a dinner at a typical London Pub, which was very nice looking (looks like a home but with a bar in it) and had pretty good food. I ate a typical "pie" (aka pot pie like thing), and tried Bev's Fish and Chips and Dad's sausage with mashed potatoes he ordered (delicious). It was weird though, cause we waited for a waitress to come only to learn you had to order and pay immediately at the bar.... odd.

Tuesday night we slept at an okay hotel in Bayswater. It was not too expensive, and although not great, it was okay for sleeping there one night. On Wednesday it was down to the continental breakfast (bad croissants and some cereal. Typical english breakfast cost 10 Pounds extra per person so we stayed away from that). Afterwards it was off to the Tower of London with the bus... at the Tower we paid to get in (15 pounds per person) plus paid a few pounds more to get the guided audio tour - well worth the money because you learn so many other things with it! In here we saw the crown jewels, and lots of other things. The Tower of London refers to one of the old castles, which was occupied by Henry the 8th for a short time (I think) and where many people were imprisoned and beheaded...

Afterwards we hopped the Subway quick back to Victoria Coach Station and then our shuttle bus to Stansted, where we took a plane to Germany (once again with lots of commercials over the speakers) and from there caught a midnight shuttle to Saarbruecken. We got home at 3 am and were exhausted...and slept until Thursday, when my parents explored a bit on their own while I did some errands all day. Friday we wandered around town a bit, picked up our rental car and made our way to mine and Fabian's favorite Chinese Restaurant in Saarbrücken. Then it was early to bed, as we awoke and left for Paris at about 7 on the eighth of April...

Paris section to come soon! :)