Sunday, August 31, 2008

London

We arrived in London on the 28th and then the 4 of us that we picked up at the airport together (Kori, Josh, and Chris) went exploring in South Kensington bough. This is apparently the rich district of London (which houses parliament and all). Then a bunch of us (read 11) went out to dinner and 1 club (which looked the same as what one sees in the movies). The dinner was at Noonans (?) and it was Portuguese. It wasn’t that great. However the next night we went to Khans of Kensington and that was WONDERFUL).

On Friday the 29th, we took a bus tour to all of London and witnessed the changing of the guards. We drove by the Tower Bridge and London Bridge.

Other Places we drove by:

St. Paul’s Cathedral
Fleet St.
Buckingham Palace
Westminster Abby
Parliament
Duruy Lane
Covent Gardens
Hyde Park
The place where the Queen was born
The US, Canada, and South African consulates
Trafalgar Square
And so much more

Kori and I then did a tour of Buckingham Palace State Rooms (we got to see the dining room and about 6 sitting rooms) it was so cool. However, we couldn’t take any pictures for security reasons. We also walked to Big Ben and Westminster Abby to get better pictures. After the tour we talked back to the hotel via Hyde/Kensington Park and saw Kensington Palace (we couldn’t go in though)

The flight to St. Peter was 3 hours, but otherwise okay.

See ya’ll around the globe!

Travel to NYC

Wed, August 27th

Today was uneventful. I got up early, for some reason, and lounged around until I went to breakfast. Then I lunged around some more. Finally left for the airport around 1pm (which was the only time the shuttle would leave to get me to the airport on time). I got through security, but had fun doing it.

I was chosen for a “Secondary Check, no Alarm” (to quote the security guy). I think it was because I/AIFS bought my ticket so late and/or I checked in so early. Anyway, I had to be patted down and my bags wiped down. Once when she did it, the little indicator light turned red and se had to call the guy in charge over to “fix the machine” as she wiped the backpack again. As you can tell, I got through (no Megan, I am not purloining a WiFi signal as I sit in TSA jail).

Then I went shopping and spent $15.74 on lunch. It was a Panini, box-o-fruit, and a bottle of H2O. It was filling and I guess spending under $20 for lunch for one day is great! Now I get to laze around to airport and wait (w/o internet, thankyouverymuchMr.mean BritishArwaysguy). Only 5 hours until my flight leaves!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

In NYC!!!

So I'm currently in NYC ...well I'm really in a Fairfield in In Jamicia, but oh well...NYC it is! Today's adventure, boys and girls, began at 4 AM CT. OH what fun! It then involved a 45 minute drive to the airport and flights from 6:35 AM CT until 4:20 pm ET. However, I got to wait over an hour for my bags to reach me past security. :) I then got to walk to NYC AirTrain and take it to the Hotel Shuttle area, where I waited for 10 min or so (really quite good I suppose).

The hotel staff was really nice. Dinner was passable, good but not great.

However, the fun the hour tai cab ride I took to CVS to get something I needed but forgot! It cost $60!!! Which is more than they quoted me on the phone, so the poor cabbie got stiffed on his tip. I got to ride through areas that I'm not sure as a single white female I would have been safe (read projects with bars on the windows and a "Truck club" with snazzy SUV outside of it and gangbanger beside them), but it was okay to view it from the car.

Off now to enjoy my $208 bedroom, which is extremly small by the way...

See you around!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Getting Ready...

So, I started packing today...It was an adventure. I hope I'll have enough room for my stuff. I still don't know if I'm bringing the right amount, but I won't really know what I need until I get there.

I also got my "Departure Packet" from AIFS. It had my passport (with Visa), tickets, and a itenerary. I'll post later about more contact info. This is basically getting to try out the new blogger identity.

See you around the globe...