I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!

Oh Europe, how you have MISSED ME! So I made it to London, we got in around 6 a.m. this morning British time, around midnight in Omaha and luckily I slept ZERO on the plane... soooo.... yeah....

We went straight to our hotel this morning to drop off our luggage and grab a coffee, seeing as how we basically skipped Monday night and sleeping. After I mastered the underground (which by the way, I love) we hit the British Museum. Among the things we saw there were the Elgin marbles, an ancient Greek tomb hall, mummified remains of Egyptian Pharoahs, and a set of giant centaurs used in ancient Assyria to scare people away from royal quarters. It was significantly cool... definitely something to write home about. After most of the group nearly passed out from exhaustion at the museum, we took a much needed coffee break and grabbed a sandwich for lunch before continuing on.

We wanted to hit the British library next, but in true American tourist fashion, we got lost and split from our group, etc etc. We took the Underground eventually to King's Cross Station, made famous (for me at least) by none other than HARRY POTTER!! I stood next to Platform 9 3/4 and was sorely tempted to run at it, hoping to find the Hogwarts Express. No such luck. Next time.

So we didn't get to spend much time at the British Library, but our short time there was well worth it. I saw the Magna Carta (!!!???!!! i know), the enormous personal collection of King George III, and original manuscripts from William Shakespeare. Although we nearly passed out from exhaustion here too.

After that, we checked into our hotel and NAPPED! I think I looked forward to my first nap than my first glimpse at the Magna Carta. I have NEVER been this tired and exhilarated at the same time... and tired. Did I mention how tired I am? I just got done eating dinner at a local Italian cafe, which was extremely authentic and thus extremely delicious. We had a really cool waiter who gave us the dish on the best night clubs to go to when we finally regain our strength... which will be tomorrow night. When in Rome, hmmm?

I do have to pat myself on the back though so for being such a savvy traveler. At least 75% of the people on this trip with me packed double the amount that I did, yet they are staying less than half as long. Is that a good thing? We will see... All in all, I'm just stonished that I made it here and this is actually happening. I've been picturing this and planning this for over 9 months now, and looking up London and Paris hot spots on Google was beginning to get old. My dad said that I would be homesick by the third day for sure... while I'm not quite homesick yet, I do have an overwhelming gratitude that I have something for which to be homesick.

God bless & wish me a really really really really good night sleep :)