Getting into the Groove in London

Geoff with his large pack on. Sweating but still smiling.
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Well-- our adventure in Europe started off, how do I put it, interestingly!  Ryan decided that he really didn't want to sleep on the plane, so we arrived in London with 3 whole hours of sleep each!  Things looked better when we got to our hostel and discovered that we had a private bathroom (a very important location later in the story).  That night, things started well with all of us falling asleep before 9:00.  But then Ryan's little body told him it was time to wake up at 1:00am.  No amount of coaxing would do!  He was ready for his day.  Shelley watched Little Einsteins with him while I tried to sleep, but the dvd player kept me awake.  So, utterly exhausted, I took te comforter from the bed and curled up on the bathroom floor!  After awhile, Bubba fell asleep and Shelley helped me back to bed, and we were sure that the morning would bring better times.  Breakfast on Wednesday went well as did our time in the local park where Ryan made friends with a 10 year old footballer named Josh.  But little did we know, liquid was about to "dampen" our day.  Our spirits were first doused when Ryan projectile vomited onto my lap and the bed.  The poor dude was sick!  He threw up several more times that night.  To make matters worse, Shelley had to stay home with him while we went to see The Merchant of Venice at the Globe Theater (a replica of Shakespear's actual theater).  So... we head to the theater, grab some dinner,a nd find our spots in the pit.  Notice I didn't say seats?  To save some money, we bought tickets for the pit where you have to stand the way the peasants did in Elizabethian times.  This wold have been fine, except for the rain.  When the intermission came a mere 2 hours into the show and we were all soaked through our rain gear, we decided to skip the last act and head for home.  Of course, as soon as we left the theater, the rain let up.  Go figure.

Inside the Globe Theatre waiting for Merchant of Venice to start.
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So needless to say, our first few days in London were a bit of a let down.  But on day three, we began to hit our stride.  We met up with Lonnie and Midge, Shelley's parents, and decided to take a double decket bus tour.  About 40 min. into the tour we realized that it was getting close to nap time and we'd better get off and head home.  Once again, we were bummed because the tour was expensive.  But before we could leave the bus, Ryan fell asleep, and stayed asleep for the next two hours!  It was his first good nap in London.  We were overjoyed!  He slept, and we got to see all of the major sights: Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Picadilly Circus, you name it!  So, when the twerp woke up, we exicted the bus and headed out to explore.  We did a quick tour of the National Gallery to get out of the rain (saw some pretty cool paintings by the Flemish masters-- my favorite), then walked from Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace.  We played in St. James Park and grabbed dinner at Subway before heading home.  It was a great day.

So needless to say, our first few days in London were a bit of a let down. But on day three, we began to hit our stride.

Trafalgar's Square. They had a large mural that people were painting by repelling over the top of the painting and scaling down over wet paint.
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Well-- I only have 4 min. left at the internet cafe, so I'm signing off for now.  Tomorrow we head to Stonehenge.  Look for more updates soon.