I guess It's About Darn Time I Post Our London Trip

It's always been my dream to go to London. I've read everything there is to know about the history of England. We thought it would be fun to finally go there for our 15th (yikes, has it been that long?) anniversary. Traveling to London sounds like a lot of fun when it's eight months away. Traveling to London doesn't sound like very much fun when it's eight weeks away. Traveling to London is downright terrifying when it's only 8 days away and I was counting down the hours to my death the day before we left. I have a terrible phobia of flying, terrorists, dying, enclosed spaces, and water and flying to London involves all of these fears. I took some prescriptions anti-anxiety pills, then I took some more, then I took a little bit more. I wanted to be completely unaware of what was happening. It worked. I don't remember a thing. Jeff said I cried a few different times and when we finally got to the hotel I got sick and threw up (I took a few too many pills).

Here we are at Hampton Court, home of Henry the VIII and various queens, namely his 4th wife, Queen Katharine Howard.

The inner courtyard of Hampton Court
Still Hampton Court

St. Paul's Cathedral
Westminster Abbey
King Henry the VIII's armor at the Tower of London
Walking up the stairs to a prison cell at the Tower
The spot where Anne Boleyn was beheaded (why am I so obsessed with her?).
Traitor's Gate at the Tower. Anne Boleyn sailed through here on the way to here imprisonment.
Tower
Tower
Tower Bridge
Tower BridgeWe only had 6 fulls days in London (plus 2 days of travel--I didn't want to leave my kids longer than that). The jet lag is murder so it was hard to get out of bed before 11:00. We went touring and sightseeing all day everyday. It was exhausting and scary (believe me I scoured the subway for terrorists every time we got on). I'm glad I went. We cancelled our trip a dozen times before we left because I was too scared. Going to London was more about me conquering a major fear than enjoying the actual trip. I DID have a fantastic, amazing, memorable time with my husband that I will cherish forever. That being said, I don't want to travel abroad anytime soon--or ever again, for that matter.

The first day there, I started to get pretty sick. I took lots and lots of ibuprofen and cold medicine. By the end of the trip I was really ill. I came home as sick as I've ever been. After several doctor visits, two rounds of antibiotics and coughing spasms so severe that I vomited and dry heaved regularly, I discovered I almost certainly contracted Pertussis, or whooping cough. It's been named the 100 day cough and that's exactly how long it lasted. It was misery at it's very worst. I spent the ENTIRE summer on the couch coughing, coughing, coughing. MISERY!!!!!!!

Our next trip, and the one of the that, and after that, and then after that will be Disneyland.