Scotland Trip DAY ONE

(this is the account of the greatest trip of my life that I took last year to London and Edinburgh. I hope you enjoy.)

Let me start by saying this really is a dream come true for me. I don't even remember how old I was when I first wanted to come to Europe, and especially to London. There is so much history here. It's overwhelming and definitely something I wish I could share with Dad.

So let's start at the beginning. The travel went well. Not many problems. We have five kids that have never flown before, so I empathize with them. My first flight was overseas, and I still remember how scared I was. When I arrived in Houston we met the AHSTF school from Hawaii, and they are really nice. Kinda made us shut up about the travel when we found out they had already been flying for a solid day.

The flight from Houston to London is sooooo long. Airplane food is much better than the last time I ate it. It was also very cold. Those blankets just aren't big enough. I tried to sleep some, but it just wasn't happening. Enjoyed the personal television and the movies I got to watch.

When we arrived at Heathrow it looked so ghetto. They are remodeling the international entranceway, so it was a bit of a let down. I was totally expecting the whole Love, Actually (great movie if you haven't seen it) entrance into London. Our tour guide was amazing. I'm still not sure how she was able to keep us going. It was her job to keep us awake all morning and afternoon so that we wouldn't go to sleep until nighttime and the jet lag wouldn't be as bad.

I was like a kid in a candy store. I loved the tour! We began with a tour through the city streets and then went by Kensington Palace where Princess Diana lived. We went to Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, you name a specific tourist attraction in London, we went to it today. I think the highlight was watching the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. It is as grand as you expect it to be.

The movie buff in me was served as well. seeing the bridge from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the "Feed the Birds" cathedral from Mary Poppins, the flower scene from My Fair Lady's Church. We saw MI-6 for the James Bond fans, London Bridge, the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament. It was such a packed day. But I think we were all so thankful to finally reach the London School of Economics where we will stay the first two days. Interesting facility. It was nice to finally get a shower. However, I made a huge goof! I was so worried about the kids getting their stuff off the bus that I left my laptop (with my passport) in the luggage rack on the bus. Thankfully, the staff of AHSTF are incredible and tracked it down and I had it back in just a few hours.

Sleep is a wonderful thing. I fell asleep about 10:30 and slept straight through until 7:00 the next morning. Getting ready for breakfast and then its off to more sights and sounds of London. My Dad told me he always wanted to experience other parts of the world, and he didn't get that chance, so I'm going to experience as much as I can for both of us.