First day in France

We started out by getting up at 5:45am. Thank you to all of you who prayed for us. We ate a nice English breakfast and then began our marathon hike to the airport with all our luggage. We arrived with plenty of time. IT was the London city airport and we were not that impressed. It was very tiny, they didn't even know your gate til you board the plane. Everyone just waits in a large holding area. As you walk into the airport you are greeted with police holding machine guns, and we got on a very tiny flight in which I got motion sickness. But once we arrived in Paris, we were ready for our next adventure.

We found a bus that took us pretty close to our hotel and check in. Our first stop out was a quaint bakery and had our first french encounter. It went something like this, us talking in English, her talking in French, us talking back in English and her talking back in French. Pointing didn't quite do it, so we managed to get meals but had to eat them in the freezing cold because we didn't pay the fee to sit inside. I am just glad that I took 3 1/2 years of French, too remember very little (sorry mom and dad) but I am remembering short phrases that are helping. Larry is actually letting me take the lead on stuff because I know a small amount of french. I also have our English/French Dictionary which we have already used several times. After our lunch we headed to 3 different historical churches, St. Chapelle, Notre Dame and St. Germain Des Pres. These catholic churches were so breathtaking. THey had stained glass dating back to the 1500s everywhere, statues and high arches, just beautiful. You could really feel the presence of God there.

Then, we ended our day with dinner and a stroll along Champs de Mars to see the Eiffel Tower and right as we approached, it lit up with lights for a few minutes. It was Spectacular!

We have realized how much we take the English Language for granted and how easy it was in Europe. But, we are determined to try to communicate the best we can, at least I would like to.

We have arrived in France!

Hello everyone,

We have made it to our next destination, Paris. We have also lost another hour of our life. We have checked into our gorgeous hotel, where you can see the Eiffel Tower right down the street. Please check back for our day's adventures.

Love you all!

Thank you Governor!

Larry and I enjoyed trying out are fake British accents all day. It's fun to speak like them and so many people are speaking another language around us they don't even notice.

Today we started off observing the changing of the guard. This is a tradition that happens at the Buckingham Palace, where the Queen lives, every other day in winter, and every day in the summer. The police clear the street and people line up all around the palace to watch as the guards and soldiers march in with a band and switch their posts. This display lasted a half hour, unlike in D.C. where it takes 5 minutes. It was definitely a grand tradition here, but we felt it was kind of overrated.

It was another freezing day today. I had on 4 layers of shirts, but we stilled couldn't beat the cold. We should have definitely reconsidered those winter jackets. We then headed over to Harrod's, which I discovered isn't pronounced like (Jarod's with an H) it's (Har-rods). I asked a man for directions and he looked at me like I was talking crazy, b/c of the pronunciation. It was a 6 level, 1 million sq. feet department store, that makes Somerset look cheap. They had everything you could imagine in this store and it went on for days, from wedding dresses to an ice cream scooper. We soon discovered that while a great attraction, we weren't really the kind of people that were going to by a Burberry handbag today. They only had high fashion designers and hardly any sales rack. We then took a walk through Hyde park which was nice with the sun basting on a faces, like 34 degrees out and at the end we saw a choir, rollerblading team and horseback riding, a lot going on. We took a pit stop by the pond where we saw a little boy feeding cigarette buds to the ducks, (very strange, I almost corrected him, but I resisted). We walked around Piccadilly Circus, which is like Time Square and Leicester Square, also like restaurant and shop district.

We searched a very long time looking for a PRET. This is a sandwich shop which makes fresh salads and sandwiches every day. I loved it!! We need a healthy and fresh sandwich shop in the U.S. where they make it fresh every day.

Our goal today was to relax, rejuvenate, and enjoy our last day in London. We didn't have any major plans, so it was nice to slow it down a bit. I apparently didn't get the memo that I needed to train before coming on this trip. My quads, shins, and hamstrings are extremely tight and our shoulders are sore from carrying a heavy backpack (with someones camera) :) . Also, I ran into a metal seat yesterday waiting for the subway and have a LARGE bump on my thigh. This is what happens when I am holding onto Larry and not paying attention.

I finished up my first memory card today. Good thing I convinced Larry to buy 3. No, I haven't taken 650 pictures in 3 days, but I did have my camera on a setting, unknowingly, that shoots the pictures at a higher quality and takes up more space, so I was only able to get 400 pictures instead. We finished off the day visiting the National Gallery, which houses artwork from various artists such as Van Gough, Monte, and Da Vinci. We truly loved all of the biblical paintings depicting Christ and other scriptural references.

We called it an early night because we had to head back and get all packed up to head to the airport tomorrow via subway. It's weird to think that our trip isn't ending, only heading to our next destination. We enjoyed London. It is a great fashionable city with a great emphasis on history, architecture, and the theater. We are ready for Paris. Bring on the Eiffel Tower. We should be able to see it from our HOTEL. :)

In Paris, we won't have the same luxuries as we have had here. We won't have our own private computer to update as we please. There is a computer in the hotel, so I do hope to be able to access each day. However, if I don't post right away, know that I will try my best to post as soon as possible. I do hope I can keep up the communication. It has been so wonderful to be able to share with you our adventure.

Please Pray:
**We have the strength to carry the luggage to the subway, onto the different trains to the airport.
**We awake in time 5:45am to make our flight and safety while flying :( .
**Please pray that the language would not be a barrier during our stay

We love and miss everyone! We are praying for your health and safety.

Where are all the gas stations?

(This is St. Paul's Cathedral)

So after our 12 hours of sleeping, we awoke fully rested and ready for a whole day of exploration. We have made some grand observations being in London for the day:
1. Everyone is very fashionable
2. There are only crazy expensive cars like, Mercedes-Benz, rolls Royce, etc here, but no gas stations
3.There are no markets around, yet everyone lives in London, because they are riding the subways, even on the weekends
4. History is appreciated- this is truly a historic city, every where you look
5. Amanda can not understand the British people when they start to talk fast, She now has a new appreciation for people who try to understand her. I mean we thought that we would be good in Britain, but when they get going, I got nothing.

Our day began visiting two of the most breathtaking and historical churches in London; Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral. Larry loved the Westminster Abbey because of the historical monuments and grandness. My opinion is that it was beautiful, but its also kind of a monument for everyone who was ever royal and politic in England. Amanda loved St. Paul's Cathedral because of the architecture and christian symbolism. We climbed 596 feet to the top and saw the whole city. For dinner, we ate London's famous Fish n' Chips. At night, we went to see a London play, WICKED, which was amazing! It was about the untold story of how the wicked witch and the good witch are friends, and they had the story of the Wizard of Oz all turned around. Amanda went through a whole memory card taking photos for the day, so she is loving her camera very much. It is extremely freezing here but we are learning how to get around on the TUBE (subway) and trying not to stand out like tourists. We can't believe that we have only one more day to join this beautiful country, but we are going to enjoy it.

Our First Day in London

We started off the day by jumping on a double decker bus and riding all over London. This gave me a chance to take lots of pictures and see a preview of what is to come. We both agreed this was our favorite. Then, we went to see the tower of London, pretty cool, historical site, and I got to see the crown jewels. Then, we took a boat cruise back for dinner at a London Pub. We couldn't wait to get back and get some sleep after our short cat naps on the plane ride. We survived day one. Everyone is very friendly and speaks English which has helped. We still can't believe we are here. Tomorrow we are going to see Wicked (broadway play) at night, I'm super pumped. We hope that all is well in MI!

We Have Arrived in London!

Our journey began on the plane last night. As we were stepping onto the plane, larry dropped his boarding pass, which in a rare moment, fell through the crack and onto the landing gate. Fortunately, a airline attendant retrieved it. To sum up our experience on the plane, Great Food, Great movies, lousy sleep. Amanda could not get comfortable for more than 10 mins and Larry got little sleep and watched two movies. But, we arrived safely at 7:30 am this morning and we have a great day planned starting with the Big Ben. I will post another update tonight with our days events.

Lent

So growing up Catholic, I always felt convicted to give up something for the sake of being without something that I really enjoy and I have always been drawn to food, specifically ice cream b/c I am addicted. However, this year I have been really convicted about my addiction to fast food. Now those of you might not know this by looking at me, but I am obsessed with fast food and I probably eat it twice or three times a week. It is the thing that calms me down when I am stressed, on my period, or just hungry. So, I feel like giving this up for 40 days will probably be the hardest thing for me. Another wrench to throw into the mix is that I am going to be traveling to Europe for 10 days and of course I have to eat out. That is the best part of vacation. So, to ensure that I am successful in my fasting I am, going to establish ground rules.

RULES FOR LENT:
#1 Subway does not count (b/c that is healthy to me)
#2 Restaurants (going out to dinner) is not included but if I do go to a restaurant I can't get burgers and fries
#3 While on vacation, cafes and restaurants are fine, but I need to make healthy selections

I'm not trying to take away the going out experience, mainly just the Wendy's and McDonald's, and greasy fries that I am so in love with

So, it may sound like I am scapegoating, but I do hope to cut my addictive ties to this wonderful and delicious food I crave so often.

Wish me luck, Lent starts Wednesday, which truly gives a new name to the phrase FAT TUESDAY TOMORROW :) :)