London Day 1

every time i've been to london, my first venture out has always been to the westminster tube. you walk up the steps and this is what's facing you. perhaps my favorite thing.

you can kinda see the moon i was trying to capture on the right.

atop the London Eye.

back on the ground.

Buckingham Palace.

London Eye in the background.

I got into London- Heathrow around noon. I waited over an hour to be allowed into the country. Over an hour. Poorly run queues and such. When I got to the immigration desk, the guy quizzed me and scolded me because I didn't know the address of where I was headed. My friend and his mom were on the other side and welcomed me. I was asked if I was hungry. I just said, "I'm happy!" I was so happy to be back in London.

We drove to their flat right down the street from Victoria Station. I liked the sign into the parking garage "Dead Slow."

When Nick and I hit the streets, it was starting to get dark. We went straight to Parliament and crossed the Thames to go up the London Eye. This was my first time taking the half hour ride.

I think I've said this 100 times before, but one of my favorite things in the world is to see cities at night from high up. I was happy. Then we tubed over to High Street Kensington for some Old Dutch Pancakes for cheap. Then we tried to hit up Sherlock at the Empire (the sweetest movie theaters in the world are at Leicester Square) but we missed the last showing. So we walked home and past by St. James Park and Buckingham Palace.

Then we stayed up late planning for the adventures ahead.

Pre-nephew #2

You see her babies a lot on this little blog. Here is my sweet sister before Jonathan was born back in November. (Yeah I know, that was several months ago, but I just sent in the film.)

It's amazing to have sisters who trust you to take important pictures for them

Jonathan 2 month, round 1

iPhone travel apps

I used my phone everyday while traveling abroad. It was the perfect tool to have. If you are looking to travel, there are a lot of apps out there, so it is hard to find the good ones. I don't have all the answers, but here are the ones I loved the most (almost all of them free):

To check the price of things in the States and see if something is a commodity or not.

To spend 20 minutes on a train playing with a companion.

Perhaps a favorite, it converts everything to whatever outcome you need.

Great to check the current exchange rate.

Saving grace when you cannot think of the right word, or have no idea why they gave you a discount (did I look too young to pay full price in Italy?).

Most used app. A great way to take quick photos that look like toy plastic camera prints.

For those times you have to prove yourself right about who is in a movie.

I checked this multiple times a day before booking my flight to get the cheapest flight. Then used it to book hotels.

Didn't make it to the National Gallery this time, but there are a lot of great art apps that explain what's important to look for.

A mindlessly fun game to play with a companion while listening to music together.

So you don't have to carry around heavy scriptures, and not eat up precious data time while studying.

I used this to check the ski report in Chamonix. It has reports from all over the world.

A mini-journal tool and a great way to keep family and friends up-to-date on what you are doing on the other side of the Atlantic.

This is a magazine that I lived off of last time, but this time - I got it all for free! It lets you know what the best things to do around town are and when they end and how much they cost, etc. This is how I found out about ice skating.

Oh, how blessed an app to help you remember what stops and lines to take.

Helped me not be as bored on the plane.

Helped me check to see if there was any money left.

Tells you what is good around town.

Main source of anti-boredom. This and of course music.

Then the app we relied on the most was Maps. For obvious reasons. Yay GPS.

Candy

When I have the time, I love browsing big cities supermarkets. London has the best ones.

Didn't have time this last trip, but I did try some new candy I picked up real quick at the airport.

We see these only at Easter. I brought some back and Sammers loved them. He keeps asking me for more chocolate eggs. Made by Cadbury.

A twist on Starburst that were much more flavorful and fun.

Europe

I went to Europe for a few days. It was wonderful to be back there. Exhausting and edifying. I was able to go to some new places and revisit my favorites. Stories, pictures, finds, and fun are coming.

I shot all film except some pictures with my phone (above). I can't wait to see how they turned out.

Stay tuned...

Two babies

I'll be missing these two little guys for a week plus.

Follow me on twitter here to read about adventures as they happen.

They've already started.

A little ad

my awesome designer made for me.

High school best friends

It's crazy but it really does feel like we should still be in high school.

Too bad we just get together when someone gets married or Christmas. Missing Jenny's face.

Really into...

...this chubby face.

{taken with the Hipstamatic app}