Day Two: Marathon Monday....Eurotrip24 Version

Exhausted from a long day, so we added a Jack the Ripper tour

So, it is almost 9pm on Monday. I woke at 6am on Sunday and did not have minutes rest from then until now. I am not alone, lol.  We had our own marathon today and we are all exhausted, but I think it would be described as a good day by all.

I am purposefully keeping tonight's post short because of the travel time and sleep deprivation I am going through, lol, but I will make up for it at some point. I promise!

We landed at London City Airport after a short layover in Amsterdam. The flight was smooth until the end when the pilot announced that they have to apply airbrakes during landing. It was a trip. After grabbing our luggage we went out to meet Maria. She introduced herself and explained that Martin, our bus driver, was on his way, but was stuck in city traffic. 

Our bus has a camera that shows the guide. Maria was giving instructions to the group.

We were on our way into the city when the clouds opened up. It was torrential. When we actually got off of the bus, the rain had subsided and we went into the National Gallery. An hour into the museum and the rain had stopped and we had a nice day ahead of us.

We were impressed with Picasso, Van Gogh, and Monet, but we were also psyched to get to go to lunch too. I am giving the kids a break today because of the travel times, but many of them went to Shake Shack, BK, or McDonalds. I did spy some kids with local street food and it looked very delicious.

After dinner, we made our way to meet Sean. He is a blue badge guide in London and is highly regarded. Today, he took us on a walk back in time as he told the tale of the Jack the Ripper murders. He infused appropriate humor to liven the group up, but took a serious and somber tone when discussing the murders himself. He knew we were beat and he did his best to build up our energy.  I was thrilled that the SHS Alumni Association was able to sponsor this event for us as well as purchasing our sweatshirts. Their generosity knows no bounds. 

The White Chapel

Narrow alleyways abound in London

 When we finished up with Sean, we headed to dinner. It was a traditional plate of English comfort food. 

Chicken Pot Pie!

The meal was pretty good tonight. A chicken pot pie with potatoes and peas. I had had so much junk food throughout the past few hours that I couldn't really finish, but it was good. A few of our picky eaters tried it to mixed reviews, but I secretly think they loved it. We walked back to Martin and our bus and departed for the hotel Moxy at Heathrow Airport. 

I will snap some pictures during breakfast tomorrow, but it is quite trendy. A bunch of kids ordered pizza, played ping-pong, or pool. Others made that important phone call home or texted friends and loved ones. We will let them stay up for another hour or so before lights out....some called it early anyways. 

Today, even though we did a ton of stuff, was basically a travel day for us. Tomorrow, we will visit Stonehenge and Bath.  There are a lot of other cool things headed our way as well. While I am extremely tired, I also really like the feeling these trips bring. Wide-eyed kids, in places they've never heard of, trying new things, and learning while they go...I live for it!

Mr. Lavoie, struggling to keep the eyes open after pulling a 34 hour day, so far.