off to paris

i dont have much time, but am just popping in to say we are off and ready to go to paris, our last day in london was great we visited the tower of london and did a jack the ripper tour and had a curry dinner. I really enjoyed london but am so excited to go to france : ) lets see how much of the language i can understand ok gotta go : ) -hales

London!!!

So, I am Finally in London!!! getting here was very easy and the plane ride went really well, considering that was a part i was worried about. i sat in the section right behind first class, so there was a huge gap and we had soo much leg room which was really nice, they layover went smoothly, we got our luggage and then got on the next flight and werent rushed at all, and right when we arrived in Heathrow, the first thing i saw at baggage claim was my bright pink suitcase which made me soo happy that it wasnt lost!!!... Then we get to our first day, wow! what a fiasco, we couldnt find our tour guide at the airport and after 45 minutes of waiting a man came and said to get on a bus and then we left and went around to the opposite side of the airport to get the other tour group, when we got there they driver got a call and said the group was back at the other spot so we had to drive around the airport again, and Heathrow is quite a big airport. We got to hour hotel eventually and put all our stuff in one room so we could start with our tour right away and not waste any time. we visited trufalgar squares, I cant remember much about it because we were so rushed to time (thanks to our tour guide ordering us child train tickets and realizing none of us were children!) So all i really remember were a bunch of statues of a guy named nelson.. cool stuff!! So after that we went to picadally circus. Picadelly circus is like times square but in London, I could have enjoyed it more if it were'nt for those damn pigeons crash diving at my face!! (you would have just LOVED it there mom!) We then did a little bit more sight seeing and then went to dinner at the Ye Ole Cock Tavern, we had fish and chips, but i was so exhausted i didnt really have an appetitte. The underground train ride from our hotel to the center of London is about 35 minutes and i was soo tired when i got back to the hotel i just crashed and had the best sleep Ever!!
Today has been ALOT better, our tour director is more organized and we were not rushed for time. We did a bus tour of london and saw the major sites, parliament, st.pauls cathedera,etc. then we saw the changing of the guards which was sooo cool, they were dressed so cute with their red uniforms and fuzzy hats and were yelling out comands. After that, we were done for the day with tours and had free time the rest of the day. wayzata decided to have a picnic in the park. we went to a market and got food and then sat down in this huge park.. (blanking on the name) it was sooo nice, i could do that every day!! After lunch we went shopping at harrods (biggest department store in the world) and other shops in london. I made my first big purchase of the trip at covenant garden... can anyone guess what it is??
...a ring!! of course haha i got it at this cute little market shop for 30 pounds it is a spoon from the 1940's and the vendor fitted it around my finger. I LOVE it : ) After that we went to the hardrock cafe and had burgers and then half our group split up to do the london eye and half went back to the hotel. So thats about it for day 2 in london, i am having a great time and have lots of stories : ) (sorry for all the spelling errors and such there is a line for the computer haha ) much luv : ) Hay

30 minutes

30 minutes until I leave my house for the airport!! My stomach is in knots from all this excitement. I am all packed and my suitcases are by the door. After looking at the forecast for London it might be kinda rainy so I made a last minute target run in search of a rain jacket... They didnt have any rain jackets at target so I went to wallgreens and the only ones they had were Hannah Montana!!! I really didnt want to run up to Arbor Lakes to look for one, so I bought it haha Oh well, hopefully now that I bought one it will mean that I dont have to use it!

Well, the next time I write it will be from LONDON : ) ciao- hales

12 HOURS!!!

In roughly 12 hours, we will be on a plane to Iceland!!! Wow I cant believe how fast that went I think waiting for this day to come was half the excitement : ) I got up at 5:30 this morning, probably because of all the excitement and nerves. After being sick all yesterday, I am sooo happy that I am finally feeling better, that would not be a happy beginning to a trip if I was still sick!

As for packing, I am pretty much all done, I had to upgrade to a bigger suitcase last night as I figured out that mine was wayyy too small. It still seems odd though that it only weighs 30lbs, but feels like its 100!!! Oh well, that leaves lots of room for souvenirs and shopping : )

Uggh one of the bad things about waking up early on departure day is the waiting!!! Its going to seem like FOREVER until I have to be at the airport at 4:30!! Ahh whatever shall I do with my time akfjkfjsdkfjsdkfjsdfdfdkfjskdfsldfjskdl : )

-Hales

48+hours

Woah we leave on Monday! It came up soo soo quickly!! I am sooo excited I have everything pretty much packed but will be going over it several time in the remaining hours that i have left. Claire and I have even gone over to each others house to check inventory and make a list of last minute things we need, im sure there will be many target runs in these last couple of hours. It seems like i just keep jumping over hurdles to get to the finish line, there was the last day of school, graduation, the all night party, grad. parties, now i just have a wedding and 1 more grad party on Sunday and then I will be done with activities in the U.S. hehe

As we go on we remember...

Ok, so its 12:10 on a Tuesday, I just woke up and everybody else is still at school!!! Graduation is TONIGHT!! Its pretty bittersweet, kinda sad, but happy too : ) 6 days until Europe! WoW that went by sooo fast like crazy fast!! I am pretty much all packed, except for the little things which I will do on Friday night since I have a wedding on saturday and grad parties all day sunday!!!

Baggallini

Heres a bag I just got at Goodthings, it will be perfect for travel and has so many compartments and is very secure!! They have them at www.bagallini.com