England/Scotland - Part 1

It has taken me a week to recover from the jet lag and whirlwind of activities after I came home. I didn't expect the jet lag to hit me like it did, but it knocked me down big time. It could also be that this week every year does this to me. I try to make a big deal out of my kids birthdays and with Justin and Janelle's being the week of July 4th, it gets a little overwhelming. Those two LOVE their birthdays and have always thought the fireworks were to celebrate their birthday week. Those two are my little firecrackers.

We got home on Tuesday night, and Justin was at our house early Wednesday to get his presents. The week long festivities ended on Monday afternoon when Janelle went back to Abilene and we cooked the fish. On Tuesday morning, I finally felt recovered.

We first went to London. Our flight left at 5:00 at night, so we flew all night. I took some Xanax (my special little flying pills) and Ambien to sleep the night away. I slept off and on but I paid for it the next day. I was dragging. I shared some of my drugs with Pops, so he was dragging too.

We checked into our hotel in Hyde Park about 10:30, but our room was not ready, so we decided to start touring. Our favorite thing to do when we go to a new city is to take the trolly/double decker city tour. They take you around to all of the highlights of the city and you can get on and off. You get to see everything important and you don't have to worry about parking. Don't worry, I would never dream of driving in London. That was CRAZY.

On a side note, walking in London is dangerous! Pops saved me from getting run over several times by yelling and grabbing my arm. They drive on the opposite side of the street and when you are crossing and they are turning left, you are a big target. They do not slow down as they turn and they will not stop for you. I was not accustomed to looking to my right.

We got on the tour bus and headed around town. The weather was perfect. We were on the top deck and quickly got comfortable. So comfortable, that we both started sleeping. Not deep sleeping, but little naps every few minutes. At one point, we got off the bus to take a river tour. Very nice, but we were a little too comfortable again. Off to sleep we went. I think I took about 5 little naps on that segment of the trip.

We grabbed some fish and chips around 3 and got back on the bus. More little naps. We finally got off the bus around 6 to get ready for dinner. It was pretty funny because I started talking about places I didn't see and Pops and I saw different things.

Pops used to work with an really sweet girl who has moved to London. When she found out we were coming, she wanted to be sure and meet up with us. She is now teaching at the University of Brighton. She and her boyfriend Paul took an hour train ride and taxi to meet us for dinner. We walked to a restaurant close to the hotel. It was great to catch up with Maura and meet Paul. Pops has tried very hard to get her to move back to Texas, but since she has met Paul, I think she will stay in England. She is originally from Ireland.

We went back to our room and were knocked out at 9:00. We got up the next morning and had breakfast at the hotel and decided to take the tour again since we missed most of it on Tuesday. English breakfasts are very different. They usually consist of eggs, sausage, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms and black pudding. Pops just had a omelet and I had a croissant and 2 coffees, $50.

We toured most of the day and saw places we had never seen before, or at least didn't remember seeing. Pops wanted to go to the Churchill War Museum. I decided to sit outside and people watch since I am not into history.

We went to Harrod's. It was interesting to see, but I expected it to be much more than it was. We got hungry and decided to split a corned beef sandwich at a bar area. I got a side of potato salad, iced tea and lemonade. $60. Jason's deli is way better. I was really shocked at the prices.

We walked to Picadilly Circus for dinner. It was supposed to be like Time Square in New York. Not quite the same.

A few weeks ago, I bought a clock for the kitchen. It has an address on it of "49 Bond Street, London". As we walked to the restaurant, we found Bond Street. It is the Rodeo Drive of London. It was fun to see and when I look at my clock it reminds me of our trip.


We got up Wednesday and went to a bookstore for Pops. Not too exciting. Then we took a cab ride to the airport to head to Scotland. We had been told that Great Brittan was expensive, but I was pretty shocked. The cab ride was $130. The airport was very different from DFW, but we found our way around and were ready for the second part of our trip.