Hello all! I know everyone is waiting for part two of our London trip...hopefully I'll get to it tonight! This cold has had both of us out of commission for the past few days :( sorry for the relay!

Lovin' London

Hiya! (that's how they say it in England!) Well let me start by telling you how this trip came about...About 3 weeks ago Donavan was working one night and because I don't have a phone, sent me a message on Facebook saying "I'm taking off work Oct. 2nd-12th...book a trip to London or Portugal." Umm okay! And that's when I began the planning frenzy! Fast forward to Thursday, October 6th @ 6:30am...
After catching a courtesy ride from the police station (the MP thing comes in handy every once in a while) we are waiting for our 6:59 train to Munich...we board and get settled...I last minute checked out a London book at the library, time to get reading!! The attendant comes around to check tickets, we hand him our Bayern Ticket...it's not valid til 9am, oops! So we are charged €51 for 2 tickets to Munich, on top of the €29 we've already payed....what a great way to start our trip :/ We knew that we'd need to switch trains at the central station and head to the airport and only had 16 minutes to do so, but once we got there the timetable and platform list that'd planned for (from all my research online) turned out to be wrong. Donavan to the rescue! He found our way to the U bahn and we literally hopped on the train 20 seconds before it departed! All this and it was only 8am...we arrived at the airport with plenty of time to check in and go through security, get a bite to eat and board our plane. It wasn't assigned seating but we were able to score 2 seats next to each other :)



A quick hour and a half later we arrived @ Stansted Airport, through customs and onto another train headed to central London!



After the train we took two buses and walked about a mile until we found our hotel...the reviews were mixed on tripadvisor and it was further away from central London than we wanted but with such short notice our options were limited. I was nervous, as I am everytime I go to an unknown hotel...but it was fine! It was just what we needed...no frills, just a place to sleep and shower...






Eager to learn the public transportation system we hopped on yet another bus and took it as far south as it went...London Bridge! We did what's called 'The Queen's Walk' through the wharf from the London Bridge, through City Hall and ends at Tower Bridge...it was there that I found....wait for it....a Starbucks! Oh what a sweet little treasure! Okay I know I sound a little crazy but, 1) it was FREEZING and windy 2) we don't have one here in Germany 3) I haven't had good coffee since I left California!! So guess what, I had 3 that day :)





















After our chilly walk we sat down for appetizers at ALL BAR ONE. We shared duck tostadas, calamari and wasabi chicken tempura....yumm! Donavan wanted to explore so we spent 2 hours 'wandering' the streets of London, yay! Finally, cold and exhausted we headed back to our hotel to crash...it 2 separate beds :( ...all by 10pm!!

Good Morning! Rise and Shine! Day 2 off to an early start...Hop on-Hop off double decker bus tour, dinner and comedy show coming up!
First stop...Piccadilly Circus!















Next stop...Trafalgar Square!


















Just passing by...The Royal Courts of Justice & historical downtown where the Great fire of 1666 happened...






This next picture is just a random building, but the holes in the sides are from WW II shrapnel ...



Lunch break...we heard about a really good sushi place called Yo! Sushi so we looked for over an hour, no luck! Fish 'n Chips with a side of mushy peas will have to do @ Chequer's Pub :)

Back on the bus for Big Ben...Parliament...London Bridge...The Naval Memorial & Tower Bridge

Here is a video going over London Bridge...you can see Tower Bridge in the distance and me chowing down on gummy bears :)

Next was dinner @ Grace where I had more mushy peas with fish 'n chips and Donavan had bangers and mash (sausages & a mashed potato cake), then off to the Big Night Out Comedy Show....BORING! Maybe it's a different sense of humor, but we left after the 2nd act...that won't ruin our night! We scored big in China Town...dim sum...yum yum yum!









Donavan's, I repeat, Donavan's chicken feet! Eeeewwww!




It was a great full day in London!

Check back tomorrow for the rest of our trip...lots of awesome pictures to come!
Love to you all!

Location:London, England

Oktoberfest in München

On Saturday the 1st we hitched a ride with the BOSS Program (Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers) to Munich for Oktoberfest. It was the last Saturday and even crazier than we expected!!!



We got there at 10am and the tents were already full and lines had formed outside of them, so we opted to walk around before trying to make our way in. It is very much like the LA County Fair...food vendors, souvenirs, carnival rides, tents and biergartens.












We eventually made our way to the 'traditional' Oktoberfest which was a 1st last year and was such a hit, they had it again this year! It is set up like it was back in the day...no crazy rides instead old wooden games...the attire of the workers is more traditional, the beer is served in a ceramic mug instead of glass (it keeps it colder, longer!), traditional food (see D's mackerel & the girl selling pretzels) and it's mostly families and locals.








In true German tradition Donavan proved his manhood by earning me a flower and buying me a cookie necklace....'mein leibling' mean my favorite!






By this time it was about 2 o'clock and all those 10am drinkers were either puking, fighting or passed out being pushed on a gurney with a siren by paramedics :) Not my kind of day....it was so crowded and nearly impossible to walk without someone bumping into you. After a couple of close calls of almost being thrown up on, we escaped into a psychedelic fun house!

It was then time to catch our ride back...all in all it was an opportunity to experience Oktoberfest but we both agreed that next year we will go early on a week day and get the chance to sit in one of the tents and experience it that way! We both just know we are lucky to be here and experience it in any way!

Thanks for following along and supporting us...love to you all!