Day 1- London, Hampton Court

SO, *rubs hands together* Matt and I went to Europe for 12 days. It was AMAZING, we left the children at home with our wonderful fantastic families and we had an amazing experience. One that in more than one occasion made me actually tear up because I couldn't believe I was actually SEEING something in person instead of dreaming of it in pictures. I pinched myself a lot, it was totally unreal and for a huge British History nerd like me just a trip of a lifetime.

After a looong flight, I want to say it was 12 hours but I'm not sure and matt would probably correct me if I did say it..so i won't. Anyway we left Utah at 3pmish and arrived in London at 12pm the next day. There is a big time difference there but it was I think 3 or 4am Utah time. We were lucky enough to both sleep well on the flight, thank goodness for earplugs,neck pillows, and sleeping pills. When we got their we had so much adrenaline for BEING there that we totally were not jetlagged and ready to GO! :)
First thing we did was hop on a bus at the airport to Hampton Court. It was about an hour bus ride..give or take. We drove through some interesting towns that I would not want to live in.

We arrived at Hampton Court on a beautiful warm sunny day. See that backpack and messenger back i'm carrying? Yeah thats ALL of my luggage that I brought for almost 2 weeks in Europe. I'm hardcore dude. I'd like to see anyone top that.

K this is one of the spots I teared up. Hampton Court is King Henry's VIII's favorite palace. He lived here with Anne Boleyn..other places and wives too but she is his most famous wife I think.

Like I seriously geeked out teared up. I was just imagining Henry and Anne being brought to this palace...just too cool dude. TOO COOL. lol

Here is a ugly fat Henry talking with some dork tourists. When Henry was first married people likened him to King Arthur because he was so handsome and robust. :) Then he got some nasty boils on his thighs, became a little too fond of the drink and the food. And boom, the Henry most people recognize.

This is the ceiling of his great dining hall. This ceiling was INSANE. It was the coolest thing. One neat little tidbit about it. When Henry had Anne's head chopped off he wanted ALL memories of her REMOVED. Her emblem was the Falcon. She had falcon stuff EVERYWHERE. One of the places she put it was on this ceiling. Its the only place there is still a sign of her because no one could get UP there to take it down after she died. So Henry had to live with it. And i guess anyone who was caught looking at her falcon up there would be in trouble with King Henry.

This portrait made me laugh. Its pretty sad actually but still, Henry was a total jerk sometimes. He had this painting done while he was married to his last wife Katherine Parr. BUT the chick in the picture in his wifes spot? THAT is Jane Seymour, the wife who died in birth giving Henry his only Son, Edward (edward is that little dude on Henry's right) On the far left and right are his daughters Mary and Elizabeth. He even put his court Jester Will with his monkey on the very right side. But nope no sign of his wife at the time Katherine Parr.

This crazy huge stairway was made by William & Mary, they built a wing onto Hampton Court when they ruled. This mural was INSANE. I only took a picture of one wall because it had my favorite picture on it. Can you guess what that picture was? Matt and I were DYING it was too weird!

This is the guards room. Henry's throne room and private rooms were just beyond this one. This is where all his guards slept (on the floor) at night. ALL of the walls were decorated like this, weapons all used as art. It was really neat.

King Henry's throne (among others who preceded and followed him), it was cool. Not as fancy as I thought it would be though.

This was the King's private garden. It had a lot of herbs and cool medicinal plants in it. And of course these cool statues.

The backyard. Yeah this backyard was MASSIVE and very very well taken care of. My mom had asked me to get a rock from each country for her (yes I know). And we could not find ONE ROCK that wasn't gravel in this place! The English are SERIOUS about their landscaping yo.

This looked like a big hershey's kiss. ....give me a break I was sleep deprived!

This is the clock tower..its where the coaches would drive up too when anyone important would arrive.

Our picture in front of the Thames. I was rocking a flock of seagulls hairdo because of the lovely wind by the river.

This is the Picadilly line stop at the Tube in London. I love LOVE the Tube. It was so nice, easy to follow, and so fast. I can't say enough good things about it. People watching was one of my fav things to do while using it. Check out these two time travelers from the 80's on the left there. They were ROCKING IT.

Our lovely view from the Hotel room. I wish we had had the other side of the hotel, it faced Hyde Park. MUCH prettier view..probably much more expensive too :P (Possibly one of the "family" rooms...if you can place that reference from one of my fav movies than i'll give you a treat)

After we got back from Hampton Court it was getting pretty late and we were HUUUNGRY luckily right by our hotel was this yummy place called Island. Matt and I both had the Rump steak with mushrooms and augratin potatoes. It was YUM. I had this chocolate pot with lavendar biscuits for dessert. It was really good! And I was surprised the lavendar cookies weren't too bad either.

Here I am walking back to our hotel. I was getting sick of matt taking pictures of me (hahaha little did I know what i'd have to ENDURE in days to come!) And since I was running on fumes and you KNOW how I get when I'm tired...he got this lovely shot of me.