Friday, August 31, 2012
Xandric's First Birthday Party!
After our Europe trip I had the chance to stay in California for an extra 2 weeks I was helping my aunt with her business while she was on vacation and filling out and applying to different nursing schools. I had the chance to be there for my nephew's 1st birthday party. It was really great being there I do feel like I have missed all the fun stuff like births, birthdays, graduations from my family members since I have moved to Utah... Hope one day I can be closer to my family! here are some pictures of the birthday party!
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Paris Holds the Key to Your Heart
On the night of the 15th, we checked out of our hotel in central London and got a taxi to a hotel close to the Luton airport, where we flew from at about 6 the next morning. When we got into Charles de Gaulle, I kept thinking how familiar it looked. It seemed almost like a dream; then I finally realized that I had seen it in the movie Taken. It was either shot on scene or it was shot at a studio that looked EXACTLY like the airport.
We got a train from the airport to our hotel, which was supposed to be extremely easy to find. Well, it turns out, it was a little bit harder than we thought it would be. We're going to blame it on the language barrier. We got off at a stop thinking we had missed ours. This lead to us wandering around for about an hour or so with all our luggage in tow, trying to find our hotel that didn't exist at that stop. Since our hotel was a little further out from the city (which we loved), not that many people spoke English.
We eventually realized that we needed to get back on the train for another stop, then our hotel should be much easier to find. So we get on for another stop and get off on the next stop. And we still couldn't find the hotel for another half hour. Turns out, it was right around the corner from the stop. After all that, we were pretty tired, so we crashed at the hotel for a bit.
Later that day, we went and saw the amazing architecture at the Notre Dame Cathedral, where we lit a candle. We wandered the grounds taking pictures and crossed the Pont de l'Archevêché, but somehow didn't even know about the "love padlocks." :(
We wondered the streets with no real plan and found a panini place and had lunch. After an awesome lunch, we walked to the Palace of Luxemburg and walked around the grounds there. After spending some time in the gardens there, we caught the train to the Arc de Triumph. From there, Jon thought it would be a good idea to walk to the Eiffel Tower, which you can see from the Arc. Turns out, it's a lot further than it looked. We made it, walked around a bit and then Jon took a nap in the park that is right beside it.
That night, we walked by Saint Michael's Church; it was just closing for the night, but the streets were just coming to life. We walked around the church and found a cute little place to eat dinner. After having another amazing meal, we got on the train and headed back to our hotel and called it a day. Jon, unsurprisingly, fell asleep on the train.
The next day, we woke up nice and early and headed to the Louvre, where we spent most of the day. Since we were no artists or art historians, though, we didn't recognize a lot of the pieces. Of course we recognized the Mona Lisa; Jon kept going on about the statue of the lady with no arms, though. Turns out, he was talking about the Venus de Milo. We recognized the Winged Victory of Samothrace, but couldn't name it to save our lives. We googled it when we got back to the hotel.
After going to the Louvre, we got a train and headed to the Palace of Versailles, an hour train ride out of the city. The gates closed literally two minutes before we got there. Not. Cool. We took some pictures of the courtyard and then got something to eat at... SURPRISE... McDonalds. Because where else can you get a fatty, greasy, unhealthy burger and fries? Oh wait...
After an american dinner in Versailles, we headed back to the Eiffel Tower, where we got tickets after a very long wait (and in incident involving a rat on Jon's foot) to go to the observation deck. We got to have an awesome view of Paris at night as our parting gift from the City of Lights.
We got a train from the airport to our hotel, which was supposed to be extremely easy to find. Well, it turns out, it was a little bit harder than we thought it would be. We're going to blame it on the language barrier. We got off at a stop thinking we had missed ours. This lead to us wandering around for about an hour or so with all our luggage in tow, trying to find our hotel that didn't exist at that stop. Since our hotel was a little further out from the city (which we loved), not that many people spoke English.
We eventually realized that we needed to get back on the train for another stop, then our hotel should be much easier to find. So we get on for another stop and get off on the next stop. And we still couldn't find the hotel for another half hour. Turns out, it was right around the corner from the stop. After all that, we were pretty tired, so we crashed at the hotel for a bit.
Later that day, we went and saw the amazing architecture at the Notre Dame Cathedral, where we lit a candle. We wandered the grounds taking pictures and crossed the Pont de l'Archevêché, but somehow didn't even know about the "love padlocks." :(
We wondered the streets with no real plan and found a panini place and had lunch. After an awesome lunch, we walked to the Palace of Luxemburg and walked around the grounds there. After spending some time in the gardens there, we caught the train to the Arc de Triumph. From there, Jon thought it would be a good idea to walk to the Eiffel Tower, which you can see from the Arc. Turns out, it's a lot further than it looked. We made it, walked around a bit and then Jon took a nap in the park that is right beside it.
That night, we walked by Saint Michael's Church; it was just closing for the night, but the streets were just coming to life. We walked around the church and found a cute little place to eat dinner. After having another amazing meal, we got on the train and headed back to our hotel and called it a day. Jon, unsurprisingly, fell asleep on the train.
The next day, we woke up nice and early and headed to the Louvre, where we spent most of the day. Since we were no artists or art historians, though, we didn't recognize a lot of the pieces. Of course we recognized the Mona Lisa; Jon kept going on about the statue of the lady with no arms, though. Turns out, he was talking about the Venus de Milo. We recognized the Winged Victory of Samothrace, but couldn't name it to save our lives. We googled it when we got back to the hotel.
After going to the Louvre, we got a train and headed to the Palace of Versailles, an hour train ride out of the city. The gates closed literally two minutes before we got there. Not. Cool. We took some pictures of the courtyard and then got something to eat at... SURPRISE... McDonalds. Because where else can you get a fatty, greasy, unhealthy burger and fries? Oh wait...
After an american dinner in Versailles, we headed back to the Eiffel Tower, where we got tickets after a very long wait (and in incident involving a rat on Jon's foot) to go to the observation deck. We got to have an awesome view of Paris at night as our parting gift from the City of Lights.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
London
How amazing was London?? So glad that we were able to take this trip.
We got to London on the 13th around 10 or 11 in the morning local time. Thank goodness our first stop in Europe was to an English speaking country. We could hardly get out of the airport, we were so lost. With the help of some left over Olympic helpers, though, we were able to find a train with a stop right next to our hotel. And by right by, I mean more like a half mile walk. In the middle of the day. With all our bags. That was awesome. And don't worry, I knew exactly how to get to the hotel. OK, so we got totally lost wondering the streets of London for over an hour in the heat. But to my credit, I made all the right turns and we were on the right street; we just couldn't find the right place on the street. This resulted in Kim and I walking up and down the street, looking for our place. Keep in mind, we have our bags with us the entire time. We didn't look like tourists at all.
After dropping our bags at the hotel and a nap, we ran to the Eye of London. OK, maybe not ran, but we booked it. On foot. For some reason, we didn't get a tube pass the first day. Big mistake. One way walk to the Eye was 2.5 miles. But man, was it worth it!!!
The next day, we got up (I wish I could say early) and had a full day. We went and saw Buckingham Palace (not the changing of the guard, just walked around the grounds outside). We walked around Green Park and St. James' Park, where they still had a lot of Olympic banners up. From there we went over to Westminster Chapel and tried to get in, but it wasn't open. We had to walk around the outside and see the parliament and Big Ben.
We got to London on the 13th around 10 or 11 in the morning local time. Thank goodness our first stop in Europe was to an English speaking country. We could hardly get out of the airport, we were so lost. With the help of some left over Olympic helpers, though, we were able to find a train with a stop right next to our hotel. And by right by, I mean more like a half mile walk. In the middle of the day. With all our bags. That was awesome. And don't worry, I knew exactly how to get to the hotel. OK, so we got totally lost wondering the streets of London for over an hour in the heat. But to my credit, I made all the right turns and we were on the right street; we just couldn't find the right place on the street. This resulted in Kim and I walking up and down the street, looking for our place. Keep in mind, we have our bags with us the entire time. We didn't look like tourists at all.
After dropping our bags at the hotel and a nap, we ran to the Eye of London. OK, maybe not ran, but we booked it. On foot. For some reason, we didn't get a tube pass the first day. Big mistake. One way walk to the Eye was 2.5 miles. But man, was it worth it!!!
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| London Skyline |
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| Big Ben across the River Thames |
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| Looking up into the Eye |
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| Yeah, I'm just a kid at heart |
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| Big Ben at night |
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| Just calling home |
The next day, we got up (I wish I could say early) and had a full day. We went and saw Buckingham Palace (not the changing of the guard, just walked around the grounds outside). We walked around Green Park and St. James' Park, where they still had a lot of Olympic banners up. From there we went over to Westminster Chapel and tried to get in, but it wasn't open. We had to walk around the outside and see the parliament and Big Ben.
After seeing Big Ben, we headed to the Trafalgar Square, since we had tickets that night to see the Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theater. We went to the National Gallery for a few hours and saw THOUSANDS of works of arts (literally thousands - seriously, I'm not exaggerating. Go look yourself if you don't believe me). After the Gallery, we went and saw the play. When we got done, it was really late, but for some reason walked the 2 miles through St. James' Park to our hotel in Pimilico. Don't tell my mom; she would have killed me for walking around in the dark in a foreign country. Gratefully, we didn't have any bags with us.
On our last day, we finally got a tube pass. Mind the gap!! I don't know why we waited so long to get a pass, but we probably walked way too many miles and could have seen a lot more if we had gotten the pass. Maybe next time.
Speaking of seeing a lot more with the pass, that's exactly what we did. We were able to go check out St. Paul's Cathedral (closed - man, I really should check operating times next time, too!), the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, where we ate some proper fish n chips, and of course, we were able to finally watch the changing of the guard. In the rain. What trip to London would be complete without rain and the changing of the guard? Well, we got a two-fer!! Oh! And we got to check out platform 9 3/4 at the King's Cross station. It looked NOTHING like the movie. And no, we didn't look like tourists at all; we fit right in!
By the time that we left London on the 15th, the voice in my head as I read my book (Harry Potter) was in an English accent.
On our last day, we finally got a tube pass. Mind the gap!! I don't know why we waited so long to get a pass, but we probably walked way too many miles and could have seen a lot more if we had gotten the pass. Maybe next time.
Speaking of seeing a lot more with the pass, that's exactly what we did. We were able to go check out St. Paul's Cathedral (closed - man, I really should check operating times next time, too!), the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, where we ate some proper fish n chips, and of course, we were able to finally watch the changing of the guard. In the rain. What trip to London would be complete without rain and the changing of the guard? Well, we got a two-fer!! Oh! And we got to check out platform 9 3/4 at the King's Cross station. It looked NOTHING like the movie. And no, we didn't look like tourists at all; we fit right in!
By the time that we left London on the 15th, the voice in my head as I read my book (Harry Potter) was in an English accent.
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