The View from Here

Every guide book I read said that it wasn't worth it to wait in line for hours and pay the extra money to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. We explained this to the kids before we even left Minneapolis and though they were mildly disappointed, they understood that waiting in long lines would cut into the time we had to do other things.

Today we arrived in Paris and walked down to the Eiffel Tower from our hotel and I found it as beautiful today as it was when I saw it the first time when I was only 17. Many things have changed. You have to go through security to even walk beneath it and soldiers with semi-automatic weapons walk among the crowds. 

Not surprisingly, the kids wanted to go to the top - everything we'd talked about before the trip was quickly forgotten. The lines were long and moving slowly and we told them it could take four hours and they said, "But we're here! We have to!"

So we did. 

It was worth it.

(The images aren't uploading here so you'll have to trust me or head over to Instagram and follow me there.)

Tea Time

Before the trip, Luisa arranged to tour the Warner Bros Harry Pottter exhibit with Miguel, since they are both big fans of the books and movies. I loved the books but didn't make it through all the movies and Zeca doesn't really care about either, so, we decided to go our own way.

Our only real plan was to have afternoon tea at the British Museum so I made a reservation for that and we figured we'd sort the rest out later. 

Today was the day. Luisa and Miguel left the hotel at 6:20 a.m. and we slept in. In fact. We didn't manage to leave the hotel until 10 a.m. 

This was our day:  

Took the metro to Picadilly Circus and got lost looking for the M&M store. Twice. 

Visited the M&M store and then got lost trying to find Covent Garden. 

Visited Covent Garden via Chinatown.

Put on and took off rain jackets 197 times. 

Took the metro to the British Museum and didn't get lost after exiting the subway. Repeatedly exclaimed, "I'm getting better at navigating!" while Zeca bit her tongue.

The Museum was insanely crowded and Zeca and I were both overwhelmed so chose exhibits to visit based on which ones had the least number of people in them. it worked out well for us. 

Then, we had tea. It was the best part of a rather hit and miss day and we enjoyed it thoroughly. 

Sandwiches and treats

Good company

Goodbye London - tomorrow we head to Paris. 

Mean Time

Today, we were focused on going to the London Eye and then taking a quick river cruise to Geeenwich and hurrying back to the Tate Modern. We did do all those things but the unexpected came in Greenwich.

We had a lovely lunch at a pub there and then decided to go to the observatory. It was cold and windy but the views were spectacular. We learned a little about Greenwich mean time and waited way too long to straddle the prime meridian and I can't explain why I enjoyed it all so much. It was just one of those times when We clicked. We talked things through, made decisions together, and changed our plans.

Some of the best times are unexpected.