Hello to all our families and friends! Since I'm the wife, I think it's officially my responsibility to create and regularly update our blog. We just got back from Europe and had a marvelous time. My Ballroom Team prepared all last semester to be able to compete at the prestegious competition in Blackpool, England. There is not much in Blackpool, but we enjoyed the small city more than expected. The weather there was much like Washington, so Ian felt right at home. We saw rain all but 2 out of the 6 days we were in Blackpool. The Standard Team(not including me) received 2nd place out of 3 teams. The Latin team(yes this is me) got 4th out of 8 teams. Unfortunately our music kept skipping in the final round and a few team members could not recover, but we did the best we could and I was so proud to be there. Ian was a great support that week and I can't imagine doing what I did without him there. While we were in Blackpool we traveled to Scotland and saw some amazing sights. Ian now owns an authentic Scotish kilt and wore it down to breakfast for the next 3 days. ANd every night we would walk accross the street to the liquor store with dirty magazines to get our Magnum bars. The best ice cream bar I have ever had!
After the competition, we traveled to London on a bus. On our way we stopped at Warwick Castle for more sight seeing. We had a lot of fun taking silly pictures with a few friends. Once we got to London, some friends of ours took us under their wing and showed us how to use the "tube." This is the underground transportation or subway if you will. The night came to a close due to traveling all day and we fell into bed thinking we would get a good nights rest. Since it was a weekend night, the drunks were out and making plenty of noise to keep the city awake all night. No, this was not a good first impression of London. We couldn't close the window because it was too hot and Europeans have not all discovered air conditioning. Or deodorant. Or dentists. Or that smoking is bad for you. Or Really hot water to shower in. Or anything cheap!
Tired as we were the next morning we got up and readied ourselves for the trip of a lifetime. We took an expensive train ride all the way to Paris. This took about 2 1/2 hours and it goes under the water. Now when I say expensive I'm not kidding. After we were given the price, Ian's heart stopped and I quit breathing. What we didn't know is that it is much like a plane ticket and purchasing those at the last minute are pricey. We both decided that this might be our only chance to see Paris and that we had savings for surprises. So to Paris we went!
WE LOVED PARIS! We wouldn't have survived if we weren't shown how to use the tube system already and if Ian couldn't read the map. Words cannot describe the amazing sights we whitnessed and we both agreed it was worth every Euro. Word to the wise: Once you convert your American money over to Pounds or Euros, don't add up what you're really spending in American money. It's too depressing. Our hotel was so cute and quaint. It was reccomended by a friend and they were very hospitable. Our favorite things about Paris was the desserts and the Eifel Tower. Oh and they drive on the right side of the street! @ days was not enough time but we were so glad to have the time that we did. Being literally squished on the tube to the train station was the icing on the cake. I was made fun of by some old french hag but my husband pushed her out the tube door with his backpack at our stop so we could both get off. We still don't know if she got back on, or if she was left standing on the platform for the next tube.
Back to London we traveled and it was a releif to hear English again, even if everyone did have an accent. We saw Wesminster Abby, Big Ben, The British Museum, Buckingham Palace and St Paul's Cathedral. My favorite part about London? "Wiked!" It was fun to get tons of pictures but we found some odd signs that we laughed at mostly because their English is a bit different from ours. We also got our pictures taken with a guard and Ian is very proud that he got him to crack a smile. Our last day we saw the London Bridge, I saw the crown jewels while Ian visited the London Dongeons, and we walked around Hyde Park. Ther we found, after much walking, The Peter Pan Monument. To our delight there was an artist nearby who gave us the entire history of the monument, so that was a bonus. We wished Ian's Dad could have been there because we know the 2 artists could have talked for hours. We visited Platform 9 3/4 for Ian's sake and crashed when we got back to our room.
I accidently left a duffle bag full of dirty laundry on the train from London to the Airport and it was never recovered. We also were missing a suitcase when we arrived in Salt Lake. That was returned to us within 8 hours. Oh yes. Europeans are not exactly honest as we discovered. Someone is enjoying that new duffle bag. :( It took us a good 3 or 4 days to get used to the time difference once we were back. I really struggled in Europe with being sleepy every day. Ian had to drag me by the end of the day. We are glad to be back and making money instead of spending so much. We both want to go back so badly and plan on taking Ian's parents next time. My parents would not enjoy the close contact you have to have with strangers and all the smoke.
