Want Details ? Here they are !

I know, I said I would post to give you more details about my trip to the UK. I haven't done so, and I'm sorry, so here it is.

DAY 1, LONDON

It was the first time i traveled with my sister. The plane ride was much more enjoyable than if I went on my own, that's for sure. We had a good laugh and honestly, I didn't think my sister and I had a good time like that in years. Here's a picture (on the left) taken at the airport just before we boarded our flight. We flew with Air Canada, as usual. The Montreal-London crew is exceptionnal, they give excellent customer service. High five to them ! I will rebook with them any day, even if I don't work for Air Canada Vacations anymore.


We arrived in London on June 13th around 7:30AM. It's Sunday in London, the sky is gray, nothing wrong with that. We get to our transfer, and we realise that a BMW is waiting for us instead of a shuttle bus. NEAT ! We get to our hotel, to see fi they have a room ready or not. Regular check-in times are around 2:00-3:00PM, but if they have space for you, they normally give you a room right away. So, like I said, we get to our hotel, eager to take a shower. We both stink, and we both can't stand our clothes anymore. Well, we're so lucky that no room was ready for us yet, so forget about the shower.

We then decided to head to Westminster Abbey and Parliament Square and see what we could do from there. We grabbed some stuff for breakfast near Gloucester Road tube station, then got on our way.

We arrived to Westminster station (picture on the right) and spotted the London Eye right away. We decided to head there and make it our first attraction of the day. On our way, we took CLASSIC Big Ben pictures, walked past Westminster Abbey, saw a couple double decker buses and almost got hit by a couple of cars. (Remember, people there drive on the left side of the road...) We finally got to the London Eye ticket office just to see that there was no queue and that we could get in almost right away.

Overall, the London Eye is a good attraction, but the price is a bit high. It costs about 28 CAD to get aboard a regular capsule, for a 30-ish minutes ride. The views are good, if you want to take pictures of London's skyline. I can say that I recommend the attraction, but be prepared to pay. (When we think about it, it's not worse than NYC's Empire State building... Costs a bit more, but still, same price range.)


We then walkekd to Buckingham Palace just to notice that something unusual was happening : It was the Queen's Birthday. (Not her real birthday, but a set day on the calendar where they hold a ceremony for her) We happening to be there for the Trooping of the Colors, which was a nice complement to our trip. See the picture on the left, one of the marching bands that were part of the parade. This was so much better than the regular changing of the guards !

It lasted at least an hour, and as soon as it was over, we headed back to our hotel, and thanks goodness, they had our room ready and we could (FINALLY !!!) take a shower. I've never been so happy to see a bathroom in my whole life, even though it wasn't any bigger than my closet at home.

After a much needed shower, we went to St-James Park and had a nice picnic there. (Yeah, jsut grab sandwiches, veggies and fruits at Tesco's and head for a park ! Cheap picnic and awesome time outside.) We stayed there until 3:00 or 4:00PM then went back to our hotel. Roxanne and I were really tired, jet lag really had a big effect on us both. We went to bed at 5:00PM then woke up the next morning at 7:00 for another big day...