I’m Back!
Hey there! It seems like forever since my last post and it’s nice to be back in blogland again. The last couple of weeks I have had an amazing experience. Can you guess where from these pictures?
IF you guessed London, you’re absolutely right! Above is a police officer, pedestrian directions (trust me they are a necessity), the Big Ben Clock Tower and Buckingham front gate and Palace. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel with my family there and spend a couple of days in Paris. For the last two weeks, I have been experiencing British culture and it was amazing. I love London and we had the best time. Mr DIY, an IT Consultant in his other life, has been working on a project requiring monthly trips there. On his last trip, we decided to combine business with pleasure; he worked a week and we vacationed the second week. One of the biggest highlights – the flight! American Airlines Business Class is definitely a thumbs up! I had to keep asking myself am I flying somewhere or dining out at a restaurant? Mr DIY is use to it, but for me it was an unbelievable treat! Our boys enjoyed it as well.
As for London, our hotel was centrally located and we walked or took the Tube (transit system) everywhere.We stayed at the Marriot in Kensington which I recommend highly. The staff is friendly and helpful and the breakfast is heavenly. I looked forward to it each and every day. The weather was great; some warm days with a few showers here and there mixed with a few cool days.
We returned last night at 7:30 PM (12:30 AM London time) yesterday and I made a point of staying up to midnight (21 hours) with the hopes of getting in sync with the time change. NOT!!! Woke up 4AM (9AM London time) anyway. No. 2 son woke up at 4:30 AM as well. Mr. DIY, who is a pro at this, effortlessly woke up his normal time and headed out to work unaffected by the time change.
I kept a journal and took a lot of pictures (hope they’re blog worthy) of anything and everything that spoke to me. I will be sharing with you some of what I saw in the weeks ahead.
Gratitude is a big part of who I am. I make a conscious effort to not take anything for granted. This trip wasn’t just another family vacation. I viewed it as a “once in a lifetime” kind of experience. My last trip of this magnitude was when I took a 3 week class in Italy, before kids and a very long time ago. Will there be more trips like this in the future? Doesn’t matter, because I had this opportunity and I am very grateful.
Have you had a similar travel experience that gave you that “once in a lifetime” feeling?
so glad you had such a wonderful trip-my boyfriend and i went about 5 years ago (has it really been that long) when he won a trip thru a radio station!
last year we went to holland for 10 days and stayed in belgium for 2, so that was once in a lifetime. we stayed with my b/f’s co worker who was there for a year for work, so free place to stay! yes!
Welcome Back you!!
[...] you had a wonderful weekend! I am slowly recovering from jet lag and continuing to wake up between 4:00 and 5:00AM. Rather than tossing and turning, I just get up; [...]