Day 24 Back to the States

My final adventure was getting back home.  I got up early so I could say goodbye to the boys.  They seemed a bit tired that morning because they probably had too much fun over the weekend.  Plus going to bed immediately after eating dinner so late and going immediately after has gotta be a little strange on the system.  The three of us sat at the table eating breakfast before they left for school with their dad.  I got some kisses and hugs goodbye from the three of them and off they went to start their day.  

We said goodbye and off I went out of the apartment, said goodbye to the Seine and headed up to the T2 line.  I hopped off at La Defense, bought my ticket from the same girl who couldn't help me before (she was the only truly curt French person I encountered) and off I went to the center of Paris via the RER A line.  Once in the middle of downtown, not that I would know it because I never left the station I transferred over to the B line to the airport.  For the second time I needed to go to the end of the line.  All and all it took me a little over an hour to get to the end of the line.  The nice thing was I didn't have anyone else touching me while traveling in the middle of the day.  It was a nice way to conclude my metro experience. 

When I finally got into the airport it took a bit of time to get checked in.  They have 3 large terminals with the number 2 terminal having probably 8 arms on it.  I found 2G and walked almost the entire length of the check in desks.  I checked in in one area and was sent to another location further down to check my bag.  That might have been a mistake because I have to pick it up in New York after customs.  Finally I made it through the passport check and into the terminal.  They were very efficient getting everyone though bag checks and through the metal detectors and I didn't even have to take my shoes off!

Once I got in there were all the fancy shops and a couple Paris souvenir shops.  I stopped in the souvenir shop and bought a small travel wallet with the money that Alice would not take.  After I found the macroon shop that I was hoping was there.  I bought some of them to take home with me to share with the family since I knew they were good from the day before, in fact too good.  I swore to the money gods for buying the wallet and not finding the macroons first.  So I had a bit left to spent in Euros buying a soda and some Kinder bars.  

Finally it was time to board the biggest plane to date, the A380.  Two complete floors full of passengers.   The plane is huge!  We got off late due to baggage getting on board and then sat on the runway for a while.  Finally almost an hour late we were off for the States. Since I was an Air France flight it came with an aperitif of champagne before the meal.  The meal was actually pretty good and of course had a bit of cheese on the side.  I watched a couple movies and never got up from my seat for the entire 8 hour flight.  Wow!
I got into New York city around 2 in the afternoon.  I went through customs again very quickly.  The US residents line was practically nothing while the visiting passports and visas had at least an hour.  Good thing because I only had about an hour between my flights.
Per security requirements I had to claim my bag, only immediately to recheck it about 30 steps away so it could be checked by American security.  Right...
The next step was finding my terminal.  I had come into the international terminal and needed to find the domestic.  I looked on the map and it looked like it was next door.  So a wandering I went.  No there, not there.  Oh the terminals are not connected.  Go outside and walk to the terminal.  Ok...  We I finally made it there with about 30 minutes to spare.  I got on my flight to Kansas City which was a little commuter jet.  3 seats across with about half of the plane open.  My last flight had 11 across with no open seats.  A bit of a difference. 
I made it home by 7pm which was 3am in Paris.  I stayed up for a couple hours to try to get back to central time.  I had such a fantastic time on my entire trip.
London, Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon, York, Hardrian's Wall

Scottish Border, Edinburgh

Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Edinburgh

Glasgow, Loch Lommond, Belfast, Giant's Causeway, Aran Islands, Galway, Cliffs of Moher, Killarney, Blarney Castle, Rock at Cashel

Dublin, Llangollen, Cardiff, Bath

Bath, Stonehenge, London

London

London

Versailles

Disneyland Paris

Paris

Paris

I hope that I get to have an experience like this again in my lifetime.

Day 19 A Day of Walking and Travel

My last day in London was a half day with no pass to get me in to any place with an admission.  So monuments, free museums and walking new places were the keys for the day. 

 I started my day back at the Tower of London.  I walked up the hill a bit from the tower looking for the spot the Yeoman had gestured to the day before.  I didn't find anything that specifically noted it being the site where the sentences of convicts were completed.  Around that area were nice gardens, memorials to those who gave their lives during the first and second world wars and ruins from the Tower of London. 
 

Next to the Tower of London is a church called All Hallows.  It is the oldest church in England I'm pretty sure.  This church had a more simplistic look inside than others I had visited but it also had chandeliers. If I had to go to a service these days I would request a church with chandeliers. I didn't stay long because the volunteer and a guest were in a religious argument about something in the news, you're in a church for God's sake, keep it down!

Northward I trekked up to "The Monument."  This monument is dedicated to everything that was lost in London during the great fire in the mid 1600s.  It is shaped like a candle with a golden flame at the top signifying the fire.  All around that area there a plaques on the building telling you what building was lost during the great fire.  

On any other day I would have climes the stairs to the top and paid £3 to do so but my legs were felling a bit too much like jelly for me to justify climbing more stairs.  The tube station here is called Monument for obvious reasons.

I chose my walking journey today from on of the Olympic maps that you can find everywhere in London.  The map took me into the banking district.  And the tube station in this area, Bank.  This area holds all the major banking industry in London including some international banks.  Here is where I almost got hit by a car.  Everyone crosses against when they are not supposed to all around the UK and I'd been doing the same.  Well this was a very complicated intersection with 6 inter crossing streets.  I went across when a car was doing a U-turn.  He stopped once I was across for about 5 more seconds to give me a nasty stare.  He could have used those 5 seconds to give me the right of way, but nasty stares might be more fun.  

From bank I went over to another museum   Mostly they had stately looking paintings which I've seen enough of those for at least the next 5 years.  I took it as an opportunity to sit down for a moment to figure out what the continuing plan was since I was making excellent time.  I left after spending no more than 15 minutes to another little museum   But this one was dedicated only to watches.  Many of the clocks and pocket watches still work to this day with some as old as from the 1700s.  My favorite collection were all the decorative winders for pocket watches.   They must have had about 200 in one display. 

 Back to walking I went and back to St. Paul's cathedral. I walked around the opposite side from my other visit for even more photos.  

From St Paul's it was time to cross to the other side of the Thames via the Millennium bridge.  This bridge only opened for about an hour in 2000 before it was shut down for 2 years because of the extreme wobble of the bridge.  So to this day it kept the nickname of the wobbly bridge. 

 And in the 6th Harry Potter movie I learned during my tour that this is the bridge that the death eaters destroyed this bridge and the viewers see it wobble into the water.  It's supposed to be funny.  Maybe it's a big British inside joke.  It was strange crossing it because they pipe music along it which I was not expecting.

Off the other side of the bridge is the reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe theater.  If I had one more day of the London pass I would have totally gone in but alas it had expired.  I went into the gift shop to look for postcards since they usually have photos from the inside.  The next time I visit during the summertime it will be a must do to see a show.   Every year they present at least four Shakespeare plays inside in evening.  Standing section included.

My next stop was back where I started the Harry Potter tour.  I looked around the market area as it was open on a Wednesday because of the Olympics.  

So many things looked good but I had used the last bit of my cash and would not get anymore out.  The fruits and veggies looked fresh, the meat stalls had amazing looking sandwiches, the desserts too good so it was probably good I had no money to spend.  While I was in the Bottoms area, home to Jack the Ripper, I visited the Southwark church.  

I've been in so many churches over the last two weeks and everyone had been truly different. This one, like the one on Tower of London, had tall crypts between the pews.  It had a similar set up to St. Paul's with the two side galleys flanking the sides of the choir and two main stages for service   Between two of the buildings they had a little excavation site where they had dated back some of the buildings history back to the year 100 around Roman times.

Again still making good time I consulted my underground map to figure out where to go next.  I decided to go look for some souvenirs to buy and thought Trafalgar square and Piccadilly Circus would be a good place.  Nothing spoke to me as in stores in Trafalgar but I did head into the National Gallery to see if anything peaked my interest.  More portraits!  I seem to spend more time around landscapes rather than portraits so I didn't spend a lot of time there plus I need to find lunch since I had forgone it the day before and goofed myself up. 

I walked up a side street and found myself a British pub to have my last meal in Britain be fish and chips with mushy peas.  The food came out quickly, was hot and tasted much better than my previous order of them in Belfast.  

That is what I get for ordering them in Ireland.  The fish was huge but I managed to eat the whole thing.  Also in England you get one large fillet of fish rather than multiple small ones.

Once I was done with lunch off to the tourist stores I went.  I could not make myself buy anything.  Everything was expensive or just plain crappy.  I wanted to get a tin of tea but all of the tea in those tins sounded like dust rather then leaves.  So I passed on buying anything and whet back to my hotel to pick up my suitcase.

After being away from the tube for about 30 minutes away from the underground I was back to head to the train station.  My station happens to be sitting next to Kings Cross station where platform 9 3/4 is.  
They don't allow you to go onto the platform without a ticket but they have a little setup for people to take a photo with.  No one was around to take my onto but I took many pictures of the cart stuck in the wall.  

I got to my train way to early.  I thought it would take longer to get through security but it does not seem to be a big deal traveling between countries.  I suppose when the countries are so close together it is not a big deal.  So I found a book shop that had all their Olympic merchandise on sale so I went crazy buying stuff.  Who can resist half price Olympic merchandise, not me apparently.

The train journey was a pleasant one.  I was sitting unfortunately in a seat that was backwards but the speed of the train makes it not feel too terrible.  The train goes under the English channel for only 20 minutes.  Amazing.  Most of the journey is above ground which lead to some nice views.  We arrived in the French country side.  Trees adorning people's property, plowed farmland and streams prevailed along our ride in.  It makes me wonder I why people think that this area is so beautiful, different and superior to Midwest farmland.  Probably the shapes of the buildings and he old churches.  Only 2+ hours from one country to another.  I haven't even been able to accomplish one state to state in that short of time.  All and all I probably needed to force myself to sit down for a period of time longer than 20 minutes.  My legs would thank me tomorrow.  My little take away was the announcements.   When you were in England hey started with the English before the French announcement but when you went into France it switched.  I just thought it was cool.  

After I got off the Eurostar I bought a metro ticket to make my way to my cousin Alice and family's apartment.  I took 3 different lines to make it there.  I went from the oldest train line RER A to the second oldest RER B to the tram line T2.  Each line was different as for the age of the trains and how much graffiti was on them.  Compared to he underground and London he Metro and Paris are very dirty.  And a bit more sketchy.  I suppose any city transportation system seems a little off in the evening.  The best part of the journey was seeing the Eiffel tower light show sparkle from the tramway.  Not too bad of a way to be introduced to Paris.   So I thought I would make it to their station at 9.  I got there about 9:15, not too bad of a guess.   Alice picked me up even though their apartment is only about a 5 minute walk away.  Maybe she didn't want to lose me on my first night in the city.  

We got back to their apartment which is right along the river Seine where you could see the top of the Eiffel tower as it lit up the night.  We talked for a bit, set up my sleeping space and decided on Versailles the next day.  What an amazing trip so far and now another new city to explore.

Day 18 Historical Quests

I started the day by river Thames at the Tower of London.  The tower is the home to the royal jewels, history for the last 1000 year including the beheading of Henry the VIII's wives and the bloody tower.  I spent more time there than I expected to, almost three hours.  There are two wall protecting the inside structures along with a drained moat.  The moat was drained in the 1800s because it was built at a lower level than the river Thames so water could come in but became stagnant because it could not flow out.  

Today it is just grass.  I was able to walk the majority of outside wall from the entrance about 3/4 the way around stopping in various towers that had sorted histories.  Some of the towers were the homes to the kings prisoners.  Some of the carvings that they did in the wall still remain.  Some where messages to God, some where astrological drawings and others were messages to those who they loved.  There was also the bloody tower where 2 princes mysteriously disappeared while they where being protected by the King.  

The best part of going to the Tower of London was the tour guides called the Yeoman Warders.  They are all a part of the military and were given this position for years of good service.  The tour guide I had had a great sense of humor.  There were about 100 people who chose to go around with the Yeoman but he did a great job talking loud enough for everyone to hear.  I got a lot more information about the past than I could walking around by myself.  He told more history about the killings done at the Tower and the prisoners that were held there. 

 We concluded the tour inside the chapel which I had not visited on my own.  This is where the bones of all the traitors that where executed.  They dug up many of he final resting places and found 400 sets of bones including those from King Henry VIII reign.  Some of the bones where relocated whole those of the likes of Anne Boleyn remain inside.  The tour with the Yeoman was the best part by far and worth price of entry by itself.

 I found the displays around the Tower to be aimed towards the casual tourist and not the history enthusiast.  There is even more history there than they presented and I really wanted to know more.  It was good to visit once but I don't think that I would go back again.  

From the Tower of London I walked down the river Thames to the Tower bridge.  The Tower Bridge is the most iconic bridge in London.  It's not the London Bridge like the song but another bridge at the end of London city.  I went into the bridge up to the pedestrian bridge above the driving bridge.  There was a short video describing the need for another bridge for transportation around the turn of the 1900s, a competition that was held and a winner was chosen and the bridge was built.  They say that the bridge raises and lowers seven times in one day.  

Up on the viewing platform you got a fantastic view of the River Thames but not much to write home about, even though that is what I'm doing right now.  I walked across both viewing platforms and took the elevator back down to the engine room.  The bridge operates with multiple power systems to raise and lower the street.  Also when I was visiting there was the Paralympic logo right below the pedestrian bridge that also raised and lowered along with the bridge.  

Once I stopped in shop and bought some post cards and stamps it was time to head down the river into the city of Westminster.  My London pass included unlimited journeys on the River Thames via City Cruises.  I was told that the boat was just about to depart so I huffed down to the loading area only to find out that it had probably just left.  So I sat down on the ground to write out some of my post cards before I struck up a conversation with a couple next to me.  About 30 minutes later the boat finally arrived.  There was an open deck on the top and since it was a beautiful day outside I sat up top.  

One of the crew members on board narrated our journey down the river, even though his job description did not include narration so he asked for tips on the way out.  It was a smooth ride down the river which took about 20 minutes until we arrived just across from the London Eye.

Just across the river from the London Eye sits the Parliament building and Big Ben.  Now Big Ben is not the nickname for the whole bell tower but only the bell itself.  So if anyone asks you if you saw Big Ben tell them no because it is only the bell.  Well it was beautiful outside that day with fluffy white clouds passing though a bright blue sky.  I took about 25 or so so at least one had to turn out.  Thank goodness for digital cameras and practically unlimited photo taking.

My next stop is literally right across the street from the Parliament which is Westminster abbey.  This is probably the most famous church in the English speaking world as it the wedding place for William and Kate and where the Queen was crowned.  Did I mention before that they love the Queen there.  I mean, they LOVE her.  60 years on the throne and they wish she would live for another 60 years.  Well anyways into the abbey I went with my London pass.  It was so nice not to keep bringing out my credit card for all this stuff plus I did a lot more things than I would have without it.

Once I was inside I grabbed an audio guide and off I went.  The layout of the interior is very similar to other churches in the area.  There is the seating area in the front, the choir section and then the alter.  Because of the shape of the gallery, usually in the shape of a cross, many people seated in the gallery could not see the alter or even the preacher.  And unlike American churches there is not a ton of audio visual camera and screens all around.  But I wouldn't mind because there is so much to look at.  If I haven't said it already I would go to church again if I had had much to look at around me.  I walked round the alter area around the top of the hour when they do a small prayer and a moment of thought.  It was a nice reminder where you truly where.  Once the moment passed I walked behind the alter into where most of he crypts lay.  Different from St. Paul's many of England's monarchs where buried here.  In fact there is a section that was added on the back that they call the women's section because it had the crypts of Elizabeth I, Bloody Mary and Mary Queen of Scots.  The details of each tomb was incredible with a likeness of many of them laying on top.  And the ceilings where truly out of this world as they were outlying white with incredibly intricate carvings.  One thing to remember if I ever get a chance to visit Europe again is to always look up because most of the time there is something to look at.  I passed through the other crypts from monarchs to authors and politicians.  

On my way out there was a display for the Queen's diamond jubilee about her history with the church.  From when she was a child to her coronation, the marriages of her children, the death of Diana and the wedding of Willamette and Kate.  It is quite a history which had been detailed through photographs over her entire lifetime.  Truly the first British monarch who has really had their whole life seen through photographs.

I was just about to go out the exit door when I noticed something to my left.  I almost missed the coronation chair!  The chair is clearly very old, hundreds of years.  The style and wood are nothing from this century.  This is the chair that at least the last 600 ignore more where all monarchs where crowned.  And this is the chair that sits on top of the Scottish Stone of Destiny that was returned to Scotland 15 years ago.  I'm glad I was trained not to follow the crowds around because I might have missed if I did.

Ruhr next to the Abbey is the remains of an old castle called the Jewel tower.  It is very small building three stories tall that gave the history of the building.  It was mostly used as a place of standards including weights and measures.  They also explained the history and the practices of the parliament as it sits right across the street.  It was a quick visit that also included a door that was built in 1621 and is still in use today.  Very cool.

Once I left the Royal area around the Abbey I took the tube over to Hyde park.  I went to a different station that I had not used before which was in a shopping area of the city.  I would have stopped in the TK Maxx, no that is not a typo even though I know I have made many of those.  Yes TK Maxx.   I needed to make to over to Kensington palace before they closed their entries for the day.  This was the favorite palace of Diana and still to this day there is a memorial fence one one side that people lay flowers for her.  I saw a couple people lay some flowers down some 15 years after her death.  And inside the palace one of the exhibits had 5 of her dresses and style that she was so famous for.   

Two of the other exhibits were celebrating the only other monarch to reach their Diamond Jubilee which was Victoria in 1937.  The first one showed the celebrations all around the city bad the reactions from everyday people.  The interesting thing about these exhibits was that they seemed more like an art installation rather than a history exhibit.  The other Victoria exhibit was about her life.  She was such a small woman.  From the dress that they had inside a case I don't think that she was any taller than 4 foot 8 inches.  She had such a loving relationship with her husband Albert and was just totally destroyed when he died.  She never wore anything but black again.  

The final display was from the beginning of Kensington palace and the tumultuous time with a king and queen coming from abroad after the previous king left his throne.  The new queen had only one of 18 pregnancies live to be 10 years old.  The king then died, the queen died and her only surviving son died.  He throne was passed 32 spots to the next monarch.  Talk about a lot of drama.

After exploring everything that I could inside the palace I breezed through the shop.  I had another non buyers remorse issue with a ruler that had all the kings and queens on it.  A ruler ruler, get it?!  Oh well.  So I ventured northward in the park towards my hotel to find the Peter Pan statue.  I asked a couple different phere it was and I fianlly got an answer after about the fifth person.  The statue has Peter on the top with his pipe flute and all the mermaids around him.  Very cool.  Plus there were some other people around the statue so I asked them to take my photo with Peter.  I don't have a lot of proof that I exist in front of the camera.

I bade farewell to Hyde Park and walked back up to my hotel.  Another really exhausting day that did some great work on my legs.  Only one more day in London left and then off to Paris!