London Day 1

It has been just a few weeks since returning from London and Paris, but it feels like a lifetime ago. We had such a whirlwind trip that I get sad with every passing day as the memories are not as clear and crisp as they were a couple of weeks ago. Thank goodness my girlfriend is coming up this weekend so we can work on our travel journals. (She just returned from Norway). I need to get these memories, stories, laughs, feelings, smells all on paper before they become too fuzzy. Luckily, someone every day has asked about my trip. So much happened that I actually tell different stories to each person that asks; always remembering something else .... and then hurrying to put that memory down in my iPhone notes before I forget.

There are so many wonderful photos that I don't want to narrow them down anymore than I already have. Therefore, I am going to break up the trip into multiple posts. I hope you enjoy!

We spent the first 2 nights in London. I flew into Manchester and we took the bullet train into London. I really loved London way more than I thought I was going to. I truly love the hustle and bustle of this beautiful city!

The first day walking around, I said to Harrison, "This looks like some Harry Potter sh$t". He looked it up on his phone and said "That's because it is!". (yes, I am a Harry Potter fan). Leadenhall Market (below) was right across from our Hotel. It served as Diagon Alley in some of the HP movies! 

When we got to London, we pretty much beelined it to The Tower of London. It was mid afternoon and I had been up for 28ish hours at this point.

side note: I needed to have slept on the plane over because that would have put me waking up when we were landing in Manchester at 8am. However, with nerves, excitement... I did not sleep... at all. In fact, it was not a good flight for me. I was so fidgety, getting claustrophobic, couldn't watch a movie in its entirety. It was not good. 

However, I was energized and feeling fine (at the moment), so off to Tower of London we go! 

Wow, oh wow! The Crown Jewels... holy smokes! Amazing!! 

This is the chapel in the Tower of London. Underneath the alter is where Anne Boleyn is buried. 

Below is the place where she was beheaded. 

The Shard

We got dinner at a pub around 6:30pm. At this point, I had been up for 31 hours. And this is the point where my equilibrium reflected the lack of sleep. Everything started spinning and Harrison said I looked like I was about to pass out. So, off to our hotel we go. We were both passed out by 7:30 on a Friday night, our first night in Europe. haha

~~ to be continued...