Cheerio!

We're spending our boys' school spring break vacationing in London, England this week. We've had a blast taking in all the sights... Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard, London Tower, Greenwich, Tower Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle, etc. Photos will definitely follow. Until then, allow me to share with you a few things I've learned while here in London...

1) The Underground is an underground subway system, not a big entertainment complex with shopping, restaurants, etc., like in Atlanta.

2) The British say, "Mind the gap" when getting off the subway, which essentially means "Watch your step." Oh, and there are no "EXIT" signs here... only "WAY OUT" signs.

3) The Underground users are just like the ones in the DC area... rude and inconsiderate. It's as if no one has ever heard the words "excuse me" before. Seriously... manners are becoming a thing of the past.

4) Drivers drive on the left-hand side of the road, which would totally confuse me if I were driving. Thankfully we've been using the Underground and/or the train system, thus we haven't had a need for a rental car.

5) Our original hotel room didn't have a shower, only a bathtub, which is rather inconvenient, however, some rooms don't even have a bathroom, so we're feeling blessed.

6) Most rooms don't accommodate a family of 4, but we've been fortunate in that ours does. We each have our own twin bed (The hubby and I have had a good laugh over that).

7) One must sell a kidney in order to pay for a family of 4 to go to the movies in London. It's THAT expensive!

8) London is very much an international city in that we've seen (and heard) many, many different nationalities represented here.

9) Fish and chips rock!

10) The history in this city is astounding!

11) It's truly a small world. When one can run into friends, not once, but twice, in a city the size of London, it's a small world indeed.

12) There are cafes where people smoke these things called "shishas" or "hookahs," where they're inhaling fruit-flavored tobacco. I'll post a photo later. I'd never seen anything like this before and found it quite interesting.

13) It's difficult NOT to speak with a British accent while visiting here.

We were supposed to go home to Spain yesterday, and made it all the way to the airport, only to discover the volcanic ash from the eruption in Iceland had made air travel impossible. Flights scheduled after 12:00 noon yesterday were cancelled (Ours was scheduled to depart at 1:10pm), and the airports have remain closed ever since. We're fortunate that we were able to book a room at the same hotel and that we have the means to pay for it. There are many travelers who aren't as fortunate.

So we're spending more time in London than we expected. It's all good, but I'll have to admit, I had my heart set on sleeping in my own bed last night, and so did the boys. Our youngest quipped, "I hate Iceland," after learning we wouldn't be able to return home for at least a couple more days, as if Iceland could have prevented the eruption from happening. It's fun, but very expensive here, so we're going to be doing more things that are FREE, like the museums and window shopping. Cheerio for now!