I was not ready to wake up this morning. I guess that was the jet lag running its effect on me, or possibly first trimester pregnancy, either way I was tired ALL DAY. We had breakfast at our hotel. It is always nice to have a free meal when traveling. The food was.... well cheap hotel food AND English so it had two strikes against it. (I guess it's because I've only ever tried to eat cheap in London and maybe you have to pay good $$$ for the good stuff... But part of me doubts that. The English can do chocolate though.) I had hot chocolate from a fancy coffee maker deal and it was fantastic. Much better than the fake eggs and sausage I choked down in the name of eating enough protein.
After we ate and had breakfast I navigated the underground to Traffalguer Square. This is the second time I have been to London, the second time I have been in to much of a hurry to get a picture there. We found our way to the tourist information center and got the tickets for our red hop on hop off bus tour. We quickly found the bus stop and were on our way. I think it is such a great introduction to the city. You get to see almost all of the popular places, hear some history and decide when you want to get off to see the sights. We actually just rode the thing for the whole route. Then got off two stops before the stop where we got on.
We wanted to do the river boat cruise from Westminster to Tower Bridge. While we were waiting in line mom was playing personal photographer to Katie and I. A lady saw and asked if she could take a picture of all three. Mom resisted ( her curlers didn't work as the only electricity converter we brought has a European plug for it. So she didn't get to do her hair, which basically meant... NO PICTURES PLEASE!!.) Finally with some prodding she agreed and hopped in our picture. So all three of us had a picture together. The boat ride was fun and informative. A crew member gave us great information on the sights we could see from the water. The top of the boat was open so you had great views and good picture opportunities. The only down side? It was a little chilly. So on the way back we rode on the enclosed bottom of the boat.
When we arrived back at the Westminster pier we spend about 30 min trying to get some good pictures of us with The London Eye and Big Ben. I am kind of picky when it comes to these types of pictures. I have a way I want the pictures to turn out in my mind, and get frustrated when the person taking the picture does things like; make the focal point crocked, gets me from an angle that makes me look heavy, or gets other people in my picture. It's kind of ridiculous but in my mind these are places you don't see every day so I want them to be captured perfectly. Mike usually puts up my demand to retake the picture three times. It's like a one, two,three strikes I'm done having you boss me around thing. But my mom was so patient to help me find the right angle, lighting ect. This was made even more difficult due to the fact I felt fat in all my pictures #pregnancyproblem. After the photo shot I was starving so we found a sandwich shop on the corner and got a wrap, which was gross. I had to follow it up with a raspberry crepe (which they called a pancake) to make me feel satisfied with my meal. I then impressed them both with my mad memory skills and took them to a clean restroom I remembered from my trip last summer.
Then we headed to Westminster Abbey and took a few more pictures. After that we walked to Buckingham Palace. When we were taking pictures there, we ran into the same lady that took our picture at Big Ben. She asked why mom wasn't in the picture and demanded mom give her the camera and get in the picture. It was funny to run into her again and even better that she captured a moment of the three of us.
It was getting close to the time we needed to be at the theater to get the tickets for Les Miz. The only problem was I didn't write the address down, so we had no idea where to go. Well, I knew we needed to be in the Piccadilly Circus area but wasn't sure where to go from there. So we just kind of wondered around until we saw a shop had a sign for discount west end tickets. We went in there and asked for directions. It turned out that it was just around the corner, which was good. The shop we got directions for was right next to a Cinnabon shop. Mike and I had stopped there last year for a treat before the show. So in honor of Mike I got one for myself. Then we found the theater, got our tickets, took some pictures then went in search of some dinner. With little time to eat and not many quick options we settled for McDonalds. Then we headed to the theater for the show.
Les Miz did not disappoint. It was just as amazing as when I saw it last year. The cast was absolutely phenomenal. Much better than the movie cast. We just ate it all up, by the end we were in tears. Such a moving performance. Katie got a sweet shirt that said "24601" on it. I figured I could make one if I wanted too. Lol.
After the show we Metroed it up and went back to Westminster. Last year I wanted to get a night picture of all the major sights, but we were always to tired. I have regretted it ever since. So this year I made it a point. We spend another 30 minutes trying to get a good picture. Then we went back to the hotel. I was able to FaceTime Mike and catch up with him. The only problem is that I got a second wind and wasn't tired. I laid in bed till 2 am trying to fall asleep. Jet lag fail...
