Friday night was our flight from Boston, Massachusetts to Reykjavik, Iceland. It is pronounced, ray ka vik. There was a 6 hour time difference from Colorado when we arrived in Iceland (Saturday morning) After checking out the airport, we got two tickets for The Blue Lagoon, a popular hot spring. The bus ride there was a little scary, considering how the bus driver handled his vehicle through the winding streets. Lucky for one old lady, she had reverse. And lucky for us, the bus had seat belts. Blue Lagoon really did earn it's name, the water was a soft, blankety blue. It was almost like being in a cloud there cuz of all the steam coming off the water. The lagoon was very large. The ground under the water so soft, it felt like a squishy mud. There was one station where they had mineralized (silicon) mask stuff, which was partly the substance under our feet.
At 2:15, we boarded the bus back to the airport. Our flight left at 4:00. Reykjavik, Iceland to London, England. On our flight, we passed the Wembley Stadium, where the champion soccer game was going on between Manchester United and Barcelona. A strong defense against a winning offense.
It was late when we arrived in London, and even later when we took the "tube" to our hostel, Arsenal Tavern. We stayed in a room with 4 triple bunk beds. In the morning, we had a breakfast from the hotel. Then, we got ready and left for the day.
First, we stopped at a little corner grocery store to exchange our American dollars into London pounds. We took the tube to Green Park. From there, we walked around the park, and found an information shop. We bought a map and got somewhat of a route from the man at the front desk. We walked towards parliament and were pleasantly surprised by the changing of the guard. We thought it was a parade at first. We Walked along Thames river and accidentally passed Big Ben, so we'll check it out tomorrow. Crossing a bridge, we decided to check out St. Paul's square. On our stroll through the narrow streets, we stopped at a cafe. They had marvelous croissants. When we finished eating, we took the wrong road and ended up at Lily Whites, an athletic store. It had three interesting windows, one with both a Manchester United and Barcelona jersey, another with a MASSIVE soccer ball, and in the third, a poster with the Barcelona colors, blue and white, that said: Glory is Ours. I soon learned that Barcelona won 3-1. We decided to check out the store. On level two, I was in heaven! It was a whole area of soccer. Soccer balls, jerseys, cleats, and more. It got a little to crowded, so we left. We retraced our steps back to the cafe, and we took the right route to St. Paul's. We walked around the building, and came out to an open spot with fountains, it was Teg--- square + the NATL gallery, an art museum. By the museum was a masterpiece made of plants on a wall. Extremely beautiful. We took a quick peak in the museum, but kept on our way. We walked for a while, heading toward St. Paul's Cathedral. It was giant, and miraculous. The building was built in 1675, and finished in 1710. From the cathedral, we journeyed to the Tower of London. We learned that it kept many beastly animals, including lions, to watch fights. After the long hours of walking, we decided to take the tube back to the hostel. There was a little boy riding, and it was so funny to listen to him talk, mostly because his accent made him sound much older then he looked. We took the wrong tube though, so we had to switch to another line and backtrack. We spent the rest of the night hanging out.