We saw the sun!

It didn't rain AT ALL today. No drizzle. No drops. Hardly even a dark cloud in the sky. I wore shorts. Madeline never put on her coat. It was amazing. We know it won't last, but it's nice to know this part of the world gets at least some sunlight.




We've found a few things out about Liverpool in just one day.

1. It is not a lucky place for us, but it always gives it back in some way. So maybe it is lucky after all. I always attribute my luck to my dad, he's the luckiest person I know.

2. The city makes no sense. We can't define it. It has a small town feel with a big city attitude. It has new modern buildings with serious shopping next to buildings from 500+ years ago. It has a Chinatown neighborhood with an Irish pub. Wikipedia says one of its nicknames is "the world in one city" or something along those lines. And that fits better than anything we've come up with. There are signs suggesting you tweet #itsliverpool. So our running joke when we can't explain something is to say, "it's Liverpool!"





3. It attracts so many different types of people. And we have no idea why. The weather isn't great. The Beatles story is cheesy. And there isn't much else to do. Maybe the night life is great? Maybe because it's relatively cheap? We're not sure, but when I get back I'm going to read all about it and figure it out!

4. The museums are aimed towards kids. Now this is great, but for two young adults looking for something to do in the afternoon, walking into a museum filled with parents and kids under 12 is awkward and slightly embarrassing. Needless to say we did a lot of aimless wandering. But when it's sunny, who cares?



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Oh good, seagulls.

Liverpool, in only 12 hours, has been an adventure to say the least.




We left London on a 7am train. Before we could even get that far, Madeline lost our key card to the hostel. We have no idea how it happened, it simply disappeared. And that was a solid indicator as to how the day would go. Once on the train we realized check in time in Liverpool wasn't until 2pm...great planning. So we sat at the freezing cold train station for 4 hours reading, but we did eat another pasty which had become our favorite meal when we can splurge on it! Except Madeline burned her mouth badly on the pasty and has a huge sore. But the day continued on.




For the afternoon we headed to the Beatles story museum. I'm not sure there is a chincey-er museum, if you can call it that, in all of England. But we had a good time poking fun! We definitely do NOT recommend it.






The Liverpool museum also had a Beatles tribute, with only about 10 display cases. Luckily the museum was free! But something had to go wrong, and this time we left the camera in the bathroom. So we sprinted back and fortunately someone had turned it in. No harm, no foul Mom!




The troubles were not over yet though. When we returned to the hostel we saw an old man who looked like Charles Manson roaming around and we laughed and hoped he wasn't in our 8 person room. But of course, he was. I was in the shower when he came in and Madeline bolted into the bathroom and said we needed to change rooms. I didn't disagree, he was quite creepy. And luck was on our side yet again because they had 2 beds in a 4 person room available, and the upgrade only cost £2!!

Now we're laughing hysterically about the whole day because what else is there to do? We miss our London hostel and it's familiar people and routine, but we're glad to be moving on with our trip!

One week down, four to go!

Maggie

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Cheerio London! Hello Liverpool.

Madeline here!
I can't believe it's already Friday and our week in London is unfortunately coming to a close. We are all packed and ready to catch our 7am Liverpool train tomorrow morning (thank goodness for coffee! But seriously, I could drop dead without it).




We took a trip to Buckingham Palace today, but couldn't get much closer than this picture since they were still cleaning from the Queen partying it up for her jubilee.








It was a very relaxing last day as we walked through the rainy streets of London one final time (though the biting wind became painful at times). We then had lunch with a work friend of our dad's, which was lovely. It's been an absolutely exhausting, yet adventurous, kind of week. We can't wait to reach Liverpool and give our inner-Beatles-fangirl something to squeal about. But before we go, we weren't quite sure what Abraham Lincoln was doing in the heart of London, but it made us crack up!




Still not really sure......
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Peanut Butter Sandwiches for lunch and wet socks for dinner

Madeline here!
Currently, I'm sitting in my warm hostel bed watching the sun pour through my window, (of course earlier it rained on our "afternoon in Hyde Park" idea), England's flag is flying, and there are quite a few British guys playing some football (soccer) at a nearby field. But don't worry, that's the cute, romanticized sentence that lacks a few details. For instance, I just came from the shared bathroom where I, without fail, have to wipe up British boy bodily fluid off of the toilet seat, I have eaten next to nothing in the past week, and my picturesque window has a few deceased 8-legged friends awaiting their proper burial. Yum.




Who are we kidding? I've loved every second. Through the strained hamstrings, the directionally challenged cargo that is yours truly, and the chalky instant coffee, I've discovered a few treasures as well. First, there's Nutella and Tesco Express. Nutella for the spirits (I've never had it before), and Tesco for everything else. It's a cheaper Walgreens that has supplied us with a weeks worth of lunch and dinner for close to £6.




There's a list going for things we wish we'd done, travel items worth investing in, and mistakes we're learning from. We've discovered that it's all about the nitty-gritty when traveling, rather than the number of sights you see, so if you're a future traveler, stay tuned!




We have absolutely LOVED London! It was a fantastic way to begin our long journey. The people are lovely, the Tube is our new best friend, and the sights are spectacular.












One of my favorite things we've done has to be walking through Westminster Abbey. If you ever get the chance to go, do the audio tour! It's worth it, mostly because Jeremy Irons (Scar in "The Lion King) is your guide. His rich voice makes you feel like some sort of mega-history buff, or maybe that's just me.




I have to laugh because I just asked Maggie her favorite sight so I could write it down (figuring it would be the London Eye-kidding, she hates heights) and she answered Westminster too. We ARE sisters after all.




One of my favorite quotes from the trip so far came from two very sweet Finnish girls in our hostel. One of them took a long look at our bags and said, "so...you are gone for five weeks and all of your clothes are in...there?" When we answered yes, the other one came in with the save, thinking she figured it out, "oh, well then you will go shopping!" Their facial expressions to our confident "no" was absolutely priceless.
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London Day 1

What we didn't realize when we booked this trip was that our first weekend in London would be the queen's diamond jubilee. It marks 60 years on the throne. Amazing! And our day was centered around the celebration.




We started the day taking the tube (which I love) down to the battersea bridge to get ready to watch the fleet of boats sail along the Thames. Our dad's friend Adrien told is it is just like medieval times with the monarch
sailing down the river. It was madness down by the river and we decided to walk around until 2pm - when it was scheduled to start - instead of standing around for 4 hours.




Large picture hanging off building on the river.
This walk gave a nice introduction to London, but it exhausted us. We walked from the battersea bridge all the way to the London Bridge and elsewhere. We did finally stop to watch a big screen nearby with live footage of the boat. We saw Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Will & Kate, and Harry! So cool! It was interesting to be a part of this because everyone has such pride and respect for this family. We have nothing like it at home and we felt lucky to experience this with what seemed like every citizen of London.
After this we walked for another hour, realized we couldn't keep going, got dinner and headed back to the hostel. All in all a good start to our week in London. Can't wait for tomorrow already!
Maggie
PS found this sign for mom :)




The bar in the lobby of our hostel:




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Iceland

Maggie here! We've made it to Iceland and we had a quick little excursion into Reykjavík. It was short and sweet as we are exhausted and completely sleep deprived, but it's a good start to our adventure!!




This is a cute part of Reykjavik!

We split a croissant for breakfast and that's the only thing we've eaten since we left MSP Friday afternoon, but our time is all off because of the time change. Fingers crossed for no jet lag! But were ready to go and can't wait to really get this trip started tomorrow after a good nights sleep.


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Hey, haven't we left yet?

Almost!! I thought I'd put up a few last-minute photos of us all packed (yes, a miracle!) and strapped in!

We head off to Iceland tonight for a layover pulling into the gate around 6:30am, at which time I will require a caffeinated IV. From there we have all day until an evening flight into London.

Now I can see how all of this travel time may seem daunting, maybe even miserable, but I have a secret weapon: soundtracks to musicals. I swear by it. You may scoff, but if you listen to an entire soundtrack, suddenly, it's the final encore and an hour has passed. (I would also suggest no sing-a-longs unless you are paired with an enthusiastic person next to you-I never seem to be). It's all I need to travel on an airplane. Okay that, and some good nasal medication to open up the sinuses. I just can't believe we are just hours away from crossing the atlantic and taking sips of European culture (but mostly, listen to the accents, we are just a couple of girls here). Oh I'm kidding, but I truly am so thankful for what's to come and all of the support from our family and friends the two of us have had throughout the past year. I can't quite express what it means to us, so I'll attempt to write it the best I can as we go. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my ramblings, there will be more to come! We've received a spirit of adventure from more than one of our family members, and for that I am grateful. I could have done without the lactose intolerance though...

ALSO! Just thought this clip of Gilmore Girls says it all. They are my guide for which I make giant life decisions, like backpacking through Europe! Just click on the following:
Gilmore Girls on backpacking