london/amsterdam
June 29, 2006
London was amazing. Our first day in London was a combination of trying to get to our hotel, get checked in, and shower and change clothes from our ten hour flight. Once we all were a little refreshed, we made our way our to a pub near our hotel called The Mitre. We stayed in Kensington, which is more of the upper-class area, so we had to take public transport to get into the city. Laura (older sister) used to live in London, so she knew how to navigate the Tube, or the Underground, very well. We rode into the city via the Tube and we made quite a hike to see the Eye - the London Ferris Wheel. It’s something like 450 feet high. It moves really slowly, which is nice so that you can take in the views, and each cubicle is air-conditioned and can hold up to 25 people. Right next to the Eye is Big Ben and the Parliament building, so we took pictures of us with Benny in the background. While we were goofing around and taking pictures, we saw this guy looking at us and noticed that he had a “UCLA” sweatshirt on; so of course we motioned him over and began to talk with him for a bit. We eventually made our way home around 9:30. (It doesn’t get dark here until like 10 pm!)
Our second day, we got up early and had breakfast and met our tour. The tour took us by Harrod’s and the nice shopping district of London, the Eye and Big Ben again, Westminster Abbey (where Diana’s funeral took place - it’s so gorgeous!), St. James’ Palace, Kensington Palace (where Diana, Harry, and William lived), and Buckingham Palace (where the Queen lives). After that, we had lunch at another pub and then went back to the hotel to nap for a bit. After our nap, we all went to Liverpool (where the Beatles are from) and met Laura’s old boyfriend, who came in on the train from Ipswich, for beer and dinner. I love the beer here, by the way. Stella Artois is a great beer.
I’m currently on the Coach headed to Dover so that we can ferry over to the mainland Europe. J
- Later -
It’s 10 pm and it’s still bright as day outside. We’ve arrived at our hotel in Amsterdam, right on the Amstel River (think Amstel Light Beer). We drove for two hours from London to Dover, then ferried for an hour and a half from Dover to Calais, France. Once in France, we boarded our Motor Coach that will basically be our second home for the next 30 days. We also met our driver, whose name is so hard to pronounce because it is Flemish (he is Belgian) that we just call him Herbie. Our tour director’s name is Vince. Once we boarded our motor coach, we drove four hours north from Calais to Amsterdam. I had no idea that Amsterdam is a city of canals, but the guides told us that there are more canals in Amsterdam than in Venice! We took a boating tour through the canals and then had dinner on an Indonesian Restaurant Boat. After dinner, Vince led us through the “Red Light District” (Prostitute Area) which was completely unreal to see: Women standing in windows trying to sell themselves to the men walking by. And if one of them has a customer, they just draw the curtain on the window. Also in the Red Light District, you could smell weed everywhere - so weird. Laura and I got a couple souvenirs in that area… (Haha she’s not as stuffy as you thought, huh, Ken?) Anyways, I have to wake up at six, so I’m off to sleep for the night! xoxo
London was amazing. Our first day in London was a combination of trying to get to our hotel, get checked in, and shower and change clothes from our ten hour flight. Once we all were a little refreshed, we made our way our to a pub near our hotel called The Mitre. We stayed in Kensington, which is more of the upper-class area, so we had to take public transport to get into the city. Laura (older sister) used to live in London, so she knew how to navigate the Tube, or the Underground, very well. We rode into the city via the Tube and we made quite a hike to see the Eye - the London Ferris Wheel. It’s something like 450 feet high. It moves really slowly, which is nice so that you can take in the views, and each cubicle is air-conditioned and can hold up to 25 people. Right next to the Eye is Big Ben and the Parliament building, so we took pictures of us with Benny in the background. While we were goofing around and taking pictures, we saw this guy looking at us and noticed that he had a “UCLA” sweatshirt on; so of course we motioned him over and began to talk with him for a bit. We eventually made our way home around 9:30. (It doesn’t get dark here until like 10 pm!)
Our second day, we got up early and had breakfast and met our tour. The tour took us by Harrod’s and the nice shopping district of London, the Eye and Big Ben again, Westminster Abbey (where Diana’s funeral took place - it’s so gorgeous!), St. James’ Palace, Kensington Palace (where Diana, Harry, and William lived), and Buckingham Palace (where the Queen lives). After that, we had lunch at another pub and then went back to the hotel to nap for a bit. After our nap, we all went to Liverpool (where the Beatles are from) and met Laura’s old boyfriend, who came in on the train from Ipswich, for beer and dinner. I love the beer here, by the way. Stella Artois is a great beer.
I’m currently on the Coach headed to Dover so that we can ferry over to the mainland Europe. J
- Later -
It’s 10 pm and it’s still bright as day outside. We’ve arrived at our hotel in Amsterdam, right on the Amstel River (think Amstel Light Beer). We drove for two hours from London to Dover, then ferried for an hour and a half from Dover to Calais, France. Once in France, we boarded our Motor Coach that will basically be our second home for the next 30 days. We also met our driver, whose name is so hard to pronounce because it is Flemish (he is Belgian) that we just call him Herbie. Our tour director’s name is Vince. Once we boarded our motor coach, we drove four hours north from Calais to Amsterdam. I had no idea that Amsterdam is a city of canals, but the guides told us that there are more canals in Amsterdam than in Venice! We took a boating tour through the canals and then had dinner on an Indonesian Restaurant Boat. After dinner, Vince led us through the “Red Light District” (Prostitute Area) which was completely unreal to see: Women standing in windows trying to sell themselves to the men walking by. And if one of them has a customer, they just draw the curtain on the window. Also in the Red Light District, you could smell weed everywhere - so weird. Laura and I got a couple souvenirs in that area… (Haha she’s not as stuffy as you thought, huh, Ken?) Anyways, I have to wake up at six, so I’m off to sleep for the night! xoxo