Euro_Adventure - Day1

And so begins the epic tale of two small travelers in a rather large world. We got up Friday morning and shared the first few hours of the day with my dad who graciously decided to get up at 5:00am and take us to the airport. We got all checked-in rather easy considering that this was all we took.

That’s right 3 weeks in Europe with only carryon luggage. Pretty impressive, no?

The real motive behind this operative was that if we had checked bags in we would have had to go to baggage claim and re-check them in once we arrived in New York. After our experience in Frankfurt last year we weren’t about to risk our 4 hour layover to luggage claim and security lines. So we decided lets see if we can “go light.”

It was surprisingly not as difficult as one might think. Basically you just go as minimal as you can, one shirt, one pair of jeans, something to sleep in, a few pairs of socks and underwear and you are pretty much set. Had to throw in a few coats and rain gear since the possibility of rain/ snow was very high it being winter an all.

As to our plane journeys, well after our last one, I was desperately hoping that we would be fortunate enough to get an aisle seat. Alas, only the second half of the flight did that work out, but, no big deal just bothered a gentleman once or twice every hour or so on the way to New York.

Just an FYI and this will most likely be recapped in the lessons learned portion at the end of the trip, Norwegian airlines only gives you food if you have preordered and pre-paid for it. 

We arrived in London pretty much on schedule and hoped off the plane and into passport control for Igor’s first experience as a USA citizen. The customs agent asked and we replied “his first time in England,” “so what are you going to do?” Igor’s reply “I am hoping to check out a couple of the gyms…” You should have seen the woman’s face, she was shocked, and almost speechless. When she gathered her jaw up from the floor where it had subsequently fallen she said, somewhat indigently, “You’re in England, a country rich in history, archaeology, and beautiful country side, why would you want to be stuck in a gym?!”

Igor: “I like going to the gym, it’s a great way to meet people.”

Customs agent: “You’re mad.”

Me: “I’ll take him outside don’t worry.” And then shuffled him off before she decided that he wasn’t allowed to come in any more lol.

When we finally arrived in London, proper, we scurried off to find our hostel that I had booked for two nights. Pretty easy to find, we checked-in dropped our bags and took an hour nap before heading out to meet my friends for Avantika’s birthday party. (Ava is a friend of mine from Bristol). The nap was amazing and due to being very jetlagged (flight left at 9:30 am and we arrived in London at 9:30 am the next day) absolutely not long enough. We pulled ourselves out of our college style bunk beds and out on to the streets of London.

Ava’s birthday dinner and drinks were held in Covent Garden’s so we walked the approximately 40 minutes from King’s Cross Station to Convent Gardens, walked around a bit and then over to the restaurant (Mexican food, yes, in London….). After much needed huggy bears from my favorite Leanne and getting to meet her boyfriend of 5 years! We set down to chat and wait for Ava and her husband Sebastian to arrive (they got stuck in traffic).

We had a wonderful evening of friends, Corona with Lime, Mexican food and conversation. At about 10:30 PM though Igor had found a very nice egg shaped chair to nestle in and was fast asleep when I decided it was time to pull myself away from the girls and take him back to the hostel for some real sleepy time.

Me, Leanne, Avantika