London - Day 1

We've had our share of arrivals into Europe during the morning hours and let me tell you, I struggle. Mandi, is much more accustomed to losses of sleep, but I am definitely on who appreciates a solid 8 hours.

The flight into London was great though and actually found myself catching a bit of sleep, ready to go when we arrived.

We navigated ourselves to our hotel within the Covent Garden district of London, and wow, this was an amazing decision (thank you Kristen!). We found ourselves only a minutes walk from the London Eye and Big Ben and our first minutes in the city, we really felt like we were in the heart of London.

Our day was full of sightseeing and walking. LOTS of walking. We ate at Frankie & Benny's just outside our hotel and had a decent breakfast and from there walked across Waterloo Bridge with sites of Big Ben and the London Eye heading towards the London Eye and eventually onto the very crowded Westminster Bridge. After several pictures and catching some sights of Westminster Abbey, we hopped on a quick tour bus to get off our feet and travelled all throughout the city of London. This was a fantastic idea for us because we were so exhausted from the flights. The bus took us to all major sites, all the way around Hyde Park and Paddington and back all the way to the East towards Tower Bridge. Mandi and I both really wanted to experience Tower Bridge and the Tower of London and our bus took us all the way over there. It was perfect. We ended the bus ride at Buckingham Palace where Mandi snapped a few pictures of the guards there and we grabbed a quick taxi back to our hotel for a super early night (I cannot stress how tired we were!).

We needed an early night though in preparation for Day 2, touring the set of Harry Potter, all the way up north in Watford, and to find ourselves eventually in the Chelsea district of London on Day 2 for Chelsea v Benfica Champions League Match!