So,. this is going to be a big one.....

Day 1- London (July 19)

So our journey begins! Kalle and I left our parents at the airport and boarded our plane after much excitement with checking in and getting our boarding passes. Then the long flight began, just under 9 hours. We finally arrived in London around 11am and took the underground train for the first time!! We only got confused a couple of times!! :) It turned out that our stop off the tube was closed, so we got off early and tried to walk...we didntà really know where we were going, but we met our first fellow Contiki traveler beacuse of it!! Chrissy is from California and was looking for our hotel as well...we ended us asking a random guy for directions and he helped us out on our way. Checking in at the Contiki basement at the Royal national hotel we got all of our info for our predeparture meeting and room keys. Our room is small but both Kallee and I have made it our own! So after changing and dropping off baggage, we ate at tjhe London Coffee and then went walking! We saw the London Eye, a HUGE ferris wheel, the river Thames, and Big Ben. We stopped also in St james's park, which (like all the other green areas in London) was beautiful and full of maple trees. We've decided to go to Buckingham Palace tomorrow and a musical when we come back after our tour, which actually starts on Tuesday morning!! Now with 30 plus hours of no sleep, our walking, and fresh fruit from a Tesco in the belly, its time for bed...at 7 pm. :)

Day 2-London July 20

What a wonderful sleep last night. We woke up nice and early and were eating by eight. And then we walked! First we went to Buckingham palace, then the house of the Duke of wellington and the HUGE hyde park, as well as the mounted guard for the palace. there was a fundraising run that many many many people in the park were participating inò we went to cross a street a group was running on, and it took at least 5 minutes before we could cross. We also went tan art gallery, saw a statue of Peter pan, and explored more streets, taking a different way back to our hotel. There was always interesting streets, good smells, and lots to see. Kallee and I still have one more day in London and figure we walked at least 20 some km...thus we are tired!!!

Day 3-London July 21

Today kallee and I slept in...until checkout time! this was interesting as we were supposed to check out, then check back in later, because of some booking confusion. So we gathered our things as quick as possible, and started our day around noon with breakfast at a cute little French restauant. Then we decided to visit Notting Hill!! On our way, we took in Oxford street and did some shopping...i bought a really cute dress there! The walk to Notting Hill was a long one, and we had to use a couple maps to get all the streets we were supposed to be on covered. finally reaching our destination 'round 5 we took the tube back home, ate supper and went to our Contiki predeparture meeting to meet our tour guide and bus driver, and sign in. Tomorrow is an early start, 6 am is when we are meeting up to leave, so Kallee and i are having an early night.