Émilie

Sadly, the Union Jack was flying here instead of the royal standard, so the Queen was out to lunch at one of her other residences.

Nevertheless, it was a remarkable experience!

The following entry is pieced together from an email I sent on December 24th at 2:00 PM:

It was another cold, gray British day today, but I have a good coat and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves regardless. Today we visited Windsor Castle. It wasn’t as lovely as some of the French residences I’d seen, but seeing as how the Queen still lives in it on the weekends, I could definitely tell it felt more like a home. (A ridiculously lavish and ceremonial home, but a home nonetheless.)

We were lucky that there weren’t any state visitors in the country, so we were able to view the state apartments (where foreign nobles/royals/important people still sleep!). We also got to walk up the red-carpeted entryway where these same important people would enter. It was really wild just to be there.

Windsor is also home to the world’s most famous doll house complete with miniatures that I can scarcely describe. The house has working electricity, plumbing, and miniature works of art recreated by the artists themselves in some cases!

We also got to see the changing of the guard, and the band that led in the new guard was playing Christmas carols, so the crowd sang along, and it was delightfully corny!

It was a delightful trip, but we came home exhausted, so we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in front of the telly and working on Robin’s new jigsaw puzzle.

So now my first conscious day in London is coming to a close (I slept for almost the entirety of yesterday minus an AMAZING meal in SOHO at a great vegetarian restaurant), and aside from being exhausted, I’m having a marvelous time.

This morning we took a tour of the Tower of London, and our tour guide was hilarious. He told a lot of specific stories about historical people that really made it possible to imagine yourself there hundreds of years ago. He took every possible opportunity to make fun of Americans, but it was enjoyable. It was so entertaining that I almost forgot about how dreadfully numb my toes were!

Inside the tower we got to see the crown jewels… and damn. That was just crazy! The tour guide told the women to look down at their left hands…. then at the jewels… then back at their hands. One of the scepters held a 530 carat diamond! (No pressure, Michael. )

We really haven’t seen anything that I would classify as beautiful, but I am loving how old everything is! We are tracing the footsteps of history! Robin told us that even one of the tube lines we rode was first used in 1906! I’d never been interested in the history of British royalty, but seeing the places where they’d lived, married, and beheaded one another (yeah, welcome to London) made it much more interesting.

We ate lunch in a classic English pub. The “chips” (=fries) were delicious. Then we popped over to briefly walk around a modern art museum, but we didn’t care for it much, so we left early to get our daily groceries and return home to make dinner in our nice, warm flat. It’s great to be out of the cold!

More soon! Cheerio, loves!

Two entries in my travel journal typed here for your viewing pleasure:

7:05 PM, CLT airport, at gate D3

No problems so far except that my poor bladder almost burst. Why are there no bathrooms until after you check-in and pass through security?? I had to pee from the time Michael dropped me off, and the sight of those long lines almost made me cry. Fortunately no one/thing poked me in the abdomen, so I made it.

7:55 AM, London time, on plane

Not at all a comfortable flight. I remember loving the trip to France… This time, however, the first let down came when I had not brought my own head phones, so the in flight movie wouldn’t even play unless I purchased and plugged in the $5 US Airways ones. I didn’t, so it was a long, uncomfortable flight. I swear this is the smallest possible seat, even for little ol’ me! I slept very little and spent most of the flight looking over the shoulder of a man 3 rows ahead of me to watch his silent screen.

I’m tired and dehydrated.