London
Monday morning began perhaps the most stressful day of our trip. The plan was to check out of billeting, catch a cab to Stanstedt Airport, store our luggage, and lastly to catch a bus to London and see as much of the centuries old city as we could in one day.
We got up at 3:30 and began to make sure that we had everything. We had done most of the packing the night before and just had a few things to throw into the suitcases. We had to distribute the weight evenly because Ryan Air limited us to 15 kg each. That's about 32 pounds. I don't know how but we managed to do it. While Brenda got the kids ready, I checked out of lodging and zoomed back to the room. The cabs were set to arrive at 4:30. Yes I said cabs. Apparently no one in Europe has three kids. We managed to get a taxi big enough for all five of us only twice the whole trip. Well, technically we got a third one in Germany but that will have to wait.
The first taxi arrived on schedule and the girls got in it. We loaded their luggage and the taxi driver said that he would come back to make sure that we weren't stranded. Our bus was set to leave the Mildenhall square at 5:10. The boys and I waited. And waited and waited. It began to rain. Hard. Bo decided to go get hot chocolate but didn't tell anyone where he was going. I thought he was going to go out and look for the taxi but he didn't come back and when I went out to find him, he was nowhere to be found. Finally the taxi arrives at 4:55 but still missing #2 son. Just as panic started to overtake frustration, he saunters around the corner. I was ready to throttle him. We piled into the taxi and headed for the bus stop.
We made it to the bus stop with just a couple of minutes to spare. Any later and we would have only had a half of a day to see London. One day was too short. Anything less would have been impossible. We rode to Stanstedt and tried to catch up on our missed sleep. It didn't work. We had an hour layover to store our bags. They didn't have lockers like in the USA. You took your ticket and bags and checked them to a storage area. They charged by the pound. Great.
After we got the bags checked in, I discovered that I had made another mistake. I knew the dates we would be traveling to Scotland and I didn't make hotel reservations at Stanstedt. We wouldn't realize how important this was for another 13 hours.
Finally we get our bus to London and we start into the ancient city. We were the only ones on the bus and the driver was friendly. It was like a personal tour. He recommended that we get tickets for the big red bus and that would take us around the city. You can get on and off and see what you want. This just confirmed what someone else had told us so it sounded like a plan. Now you need to know that I'm not very spontaneous. I plan stuff to death. I made a conscious decision to just relax and do as little planning as possible. We would take each day as it came. DON'T DO THAT!!! It ended up causing more stress than careful planning and a tight schedule.
We get to London's Victoria Station and buy our tickets for the Big Red Bus Line. We were off to see London. (Part 2 tomorrow)
We got up at 3:30 and began to make sure that we had everything. We had done most of the packing the night before and just had a few things to throw into the suitcases. We had to distribute the weight evenly because Ryan Air limited us to 15 kg each. That's about 32 pounds. I don't know how but we managed to do it. While Brenda got the kids ready, I checked out of lodging and zoomed back to the room. The cabs were set to arrive at 4:30. Yes I said cabs. Apparently no one in Europe has three kids. We managed to get a taxi big enough for all five of us only twice the whole trip. Well, technically we got a third one in Germany but that will have to wait.
The first taxi arrived on schedule and the girls got in it. We loaded their luggage and the taxi driver said that he would come back to make sure that we weren't stranded. Our bus was set to leave the Mildenhall square at 5:10. The boys and I waited. And waited and waited. It began to rain. Hard. Bo decided to go get hot chocolate but didn't tell anyone where he was going. I thought he was going to go out and look for the taxi but he didn't come back and when I went out to find him, he was nowhere to be found. Finally the taxi arrives at 4:55 but still missing #2 son. Just as panic started to overtake frustration, he saunters around the corner. I was ready to throttle him. We piled into the taxi and headed for the bus stop.
We made it to the bus stop with just a couple of minutes to spare. Any later and we would have only had a half of a day to see London. One day was too short. Anything less would have been impossible. We rode to Stanstedt and tried to catch up on our missed sleep. It didn't work. We had an hour layover to store our bags. They didn't have lockers like in the USA. You took your ticket and bags and checked them to a storage area. They charged by the pound. Great.
After we got the bags checked in, I discovered that I had made another mistake. I knew the dates we would be traveling to Scotland and I didn't make hotel reservations at Stanstedt. We wouldn't realize how important this was for another 13 hours.
Finally we get our bus to London and we start into the ancient city. We were the only ones on the bus and the driver was friendly. It was like a personal tour. He recommended that we get tickets for the big red bus and that would take us around the city. You can get on and off and see what you want. This just confirmed what someone else had told us so it sounded like a plan. Now you need to know that I'm not very spontaneous. I plan stuff to death. I made a conscious decision to just relax and do as little planning as possible. We would take each day as it came. DON'T DO THAT!!! It ended up causing more stress than careful planning and a tight schedule.
We get to London's Victoria Station and buy our tickets for the Big Red Bus Line. We were off to see London. (Part 2 tomorrow)
posted by Moneyman at 8:45 PM
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