This Vacation is Brought to You by British Airways

This post marks the end of our trip to Israel in March.  Let me begin by saying that I should have done this either there or sooner ... I am blaming jet lag for the fact that I can't remember half of what we did!  Must go back.


Anyways, all was going according to plan until Tuesday.  On Tuesday we heard rumblings that British Airways was going on strike beginning Saturday ... which would be the day we were due to head home.  On British Airways.  We didn't take it seriously at first, but around 10pm Dean checked the status of our flight home only to discover our flight from London to Houston had been cancelled.  He then spent the next TWO hours on the phone with a customer service rep trying to find a way home.  She finally determined that our best bet would be to take the flight to London and hope that we could make it out on a flight on Monday.  


And, that is how we got to spend two days in London on British Airways.


I will stop here and admit that I had a hard time enjoying myself because I was beside myself that I was missing school on Monday.  I felt a bit unprofessional.  When I got home, my school didn't mind a bit ... and no one ever said anything about my jet lagged state.  And, trust me when I say that me in a jet lagged state is not pretty.  At all.


I will also say that jet lag was beginning to kick my butt in London.  


All that to say, we made the most of our time in London ... we figured out the tube (trial and error ... all I'm going to say), rode around on a tour bus, froze (we left a mediterranean country and live in the south ... winter is not our friend), ate fish and chips and mushed peas (Torrey loved), and reveled in the years and years of history that was all around us.  Must go back.

Dean and Torrey on the tube (aka the underground).  We liked it when it wasn't packed with people, which only happened once.  Because of the Olympic games coming to London in 2012, several of the lines were being repaired and we had to hop off and on a few times ... proud to say we became pros.  Sad to say it took a few errors to gain the pro status!

We stopped to take touristy pictures in front of a bank of telephone booths.  (And, shout out to me for putting two pictures side by side ... please don't ask me how I did it.  I have no clue!)

We rode around town on a double decker bus with a tour guide.  You hop off and on when you feel like it (or get bored) ... sometimes your tour guide is hilarious and sometimes not so much.  From the bus we passed the following sights ...

Westminister Abbey ... I think.  It could be St. Paul's Cathedral.  It could be Parliament.  Remember my comment in the first paragraph about doing this earlier?  I give you Exhibit A.

Big Ben.  He made it into quite a few of our pictures ... mainly because we stayed close to the river.

On the bus we learned that the light posts with crowns are on land that belongs to the Queen.  She owns quite a bit of London ... I'm just sayin'.

When Torrey saw a brochure for the London Eye, she HAD to ride it.  You get in a pod with 25 of your closest friends strangers and go around once.  It takes about 30 minutes.  The view is fantastic.  I do not advise riding if you are scared of heights as the entire pod is glass.  Torrey liked it from the ground, not so much from the top!

This was taken BEFORE we rode the Eye ... not as big of a smile afterwards.  Live and learn.  Live and learn.

We were close to the ground here ... either just got on or getting off.  Jet lag.  

The amazing view from the top.  You can see Big Ben, a boat on the Thames, Parliament, Westminster Abbey.  It was a clear day so we could see pretty far.  Worth the trip ... to me anyways.

  Torrey by the river with Big Ben in the background.

By far one of my favorite pictures from a vacation that wasn't supposed to be.  But, I'm glad it was because it was a great adventure for my little family.  Thanks British Airways!