World Travelers ...

So ... we are all here. In the same town. (We did get married ... and I will post about that later.) And then we decided not to wait on paperwork and to just fly over on our own. So ... we are here.

We packed up our house in Utah on Friday and cleaned it out, handed in the keys and said, "so long". Saturday, we flew out of Salt Lake and began the awesome 22 hour trip to Germany. We first flew into Dallas where we had a two hour layover. Right before we left for London (our next layover spot!) I "drugged" my child with melatonin and well, it worked. That kid was asleep before we even took off. He slept for most of the flight which was fantastic! He did wake up in time to watch all of 'The Lorax' but, that was it! Easiest flight ever. 

We landed in London and we had a 7 hour layover there. I wasn't about to sit in the airport with a 5 year old for 7 hours so, we headed down to customs, and it only took us 5 minutes to walk through there, after which we found the underground (ie: trains). We hopped on a train called the Heathrow Express, that took us into City Center (Paddington Station) in just 15 minutes. It was perfect. We got off that train and somewhat figured out the Underground system (after asking a few workers ...). We got on the train that took us to St. King's Station, which is the area of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, etc.

The Underground stations were adorable, some had brick walls with arches and hanging flower pots. Others were more run down and covered in posters all over the bulletin boards. But, as we would catch glimpses of the city above us, it made me want to venture out even more. Old brick buildings and cobbles stone streets. It is a charming city. 

As we got to our station and headed outside we just started walking, not really knowing where we were going (I felt I had bothered enough people for directions!) when all of a sudden I looked up and there was Westminister Abbey! It is a gorgeous church ... and HUGE! I didn't really take time to enjoy it (which I probably should have) but, I just took a quick picture and kept going. I was worried about seeing everything I wanted to and getting back to the airport in time for our next flight. 

After Westminister Abbey we saw Big Ben. Which, I am not going to lie, it wasn't all that big or glorious. I was kind of disappointed but, we saw it regardless. And just past that was the London Eye. Kason is set on going back to London so he can ride the London Eye (that's the big ferris wheel with oval shaped cars). As soon as we found the London Eye it started pouring rain. Kason was in shorts and flip flops, I had 3 bags of carry ons that I was lugging around and no umbrella. I had no idea how long it was going to rain for and Kason was miserable so, we decided to head back towards the train station. I was really wanting to find Buckingham Palace but, wasn't entirely sure where it was at. Kason was miserable and tired and hungry so, we just called it a day and hopped back on the train to take us to the airport. 

I wish we had gotten more time in the city to see things but, I am sure we will go back at some point. It was neat to be there during the Olympics though, even though we didn't see any of that. I will have to post the pictures of London later. I liked it there. The people were all incredibly friendly, too! 

Well ... we get back to the airport, and watch the screens for our gate number ... it kept getting delayed and then finally it showed up as a cancelled flight. I kinda panicked a little. I was in a foreign country, with 2 hours of sleep in me, a tired 5 year old and no way to get a hold of my husband who would be heading to the airport soon to pick me up. All I really wanted to do was call Brad and then curl up in a ball and cry. But ... I ended up having to go back through customs, pick up my luggage (which resulted in finding out that one of my pieces was missing ... and of course it was the bag with all my underoo's and bathroom stuff. just my luck!) ... by this point I was beyond frustrated. I go upstairs to departures to try and get my flight rescheduled and see if I could figure out a way to call Brad. I tried using wifi, I tried the payphone, I tried other people's cell phones ... nothing was going through and I felt so bad that he would be driving for 2 hours and not have a wife to pick up! I finally just broke down in the airport and started crying ... I was thankful we were in England where people spoke English but, it didn't help that I didn't have working phone or a flight to Germany. 

Well, I decide to walk over to British Airways to get my flight figured out and I broke down in tears again as I explained my situation to one of the ladies. She was very nice and pushed me forward to the front of the line so I didn't have to wait. (Crying DOES work!) I felt like a complete fool though. But, I talked to this really sweet lady who deserves blessings galore and she said, "You just have yourself a good cry right here ... it's okay. Your situation is just awful!" ... after that, I felt a whole lot better because somebody told me it was okay to cry! Well, she was amazing and got our flight rebooked for the next afternoon, got us in a hotel room there at the airport for that night, plus got us tickets for dinner and breakfast. She also showed me where I could go to email Brad and get that taken care of. Like I said ... she deserves blessings galore. 

After we left her, I emailed Brad and then went to the hotel to get some dinner. It was delicious and the hotel was amazing. It was SO nice to sleep in a real bed and get some actual sleep instead of sitting there dozing in and out of sleep on an airplane. Kason and I both slept awesome that night. 

Monday we woke up and went to get some breakfast. Oh. My. Gosh ... their food was amazing. I wanted to just sit there and eat the buffet all day! They had cheeses, meats, sausages (that were absolutely delicious), hash browns, eggs, vegetable sausage, cold cereal, yogurt, smoothies and the list goes on ... it was so good. Anyway ... after that we headed back to the airport, tried to track down my lost bag (with no luck ... but we finally filed a claim in Munich. but we're still waiting for it. *sigh*) and went to wait for our plane. It wasn't delayed or cancelled! So, we finally were able to make it over to Munich and be with Brad. 

It was a LONG few days but, it sure has been nice to be here in Germany. It is gorgeous here. It's interesting experiencing a different culture and I feel like I am always walking around being super conscious of what I am doing because I don't want to offend them. But, all in all, it's been great. I am pretty sure we are mostly over the jet lag and Kason is adjusting fairly well! I will try and get pictures up soon!!