Luggage.

We had a little scare this morning when the Amercan rep told me that only one of the bags had a confirmation scan representing arrival at the Montevideo airport. Long story short, all three bags are accounted for in Montevideo. The only thing in question is when they will get to the hotel. I have been told: (1) noon, (2) sometime between 4 and 9pm, and (3) 8pm give or take six hours.  So now we wait. But the bags are in the country so we will take one small victory at a time.

There is only one other unknown looming at this point....will we be able to fly out on Friday?

Fingers crossed.

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Believe it or not, I'm speechless.

I have been sitting here trying to think of a witty title for this post and well, I've got nothing.  We attended meetings in workout clothes.  We ate dinner in workout clothes. And in between, we went to the "mall" in an attempt to find real clothes for tomorrow.  I will be 100% honest, we just didn't want to blow the money.  So, JWS and KBG walked with us until we found what are still work out clothes, but are a step up from a cotton t-shirt.  That way, we didn't have to buy new pants, and shoes, and whatever else.  Not to mention we are both wearing sports bras that are hard to hide under non-workout clothes. I also bought socks.  Which leads me to my next point. Underwear in a bag (think Hanes) aren't here.  And the only thing worse than the situation we are in, are international panties that are on a hanger, free to be handled, with no way to truly wash them.  So with that, we need to make a deal before we proceed.  We are all family right? This is a no judgement zone.  And I write these posts because I love for y'all to laugh, even at my expense.  Well, I have to say this will be the first night of my life that I washed panties in a sink and slept in a bathrobe.  And our a/c in this room is a joke, so if I don't have a heat stroke by morning, I will consider that the first miracle of the trip.  

For those who are wondering, no one has cried yet.  No one is really down in the dumps.  It's quite funny that Savell is in this mess with Clay and I (KBG's bag was the only one that made it).  But, I really want to feel clean.  Showering and putting old clothes back on just doesn't do it for me.

Let's switch gears.  After shopping, this was the view from our room:

And this was dinner. I forgot to get a picture of each plate before we started eating, but you get the idea:

As Temple Grandin put it, "the steak was just ruined," the Chimmichurri (in the black bowl) was overpowering, but the veggies were okay.  The dessert was okay, but way too sweet.

I think that just about gets today covered.  I did submit a complaint to American for the mechanical delay and lost baggage, hoping the weather delay that occurred in between those two events would help our cause.  I asked them to rectify our lost time and money, even though they already turned us down twice on the way here, I requested that they consider upgrading our seats for the MVD to MIA flight home.  That flight here was horrible, the seats were so hard none of us could feel our lower body after 9 hrs, there were no power outlets, and no individual monitors.  Of course, I didn't share that last sentence with American, but riding in business class would be a wonderful treat, and I've never done it before.  I could add it to my list of firsts for this trip....

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Step 2: Arrive with your luggage.

Mission failed. Again. Our bags are in Miami, and we are in Uruguay. We are attending sessions this afternoon in yoga pants and Nikes. We tried to buy a hair brush at the gift shop, but it was $46 U.S. Dollars. So we have toothpaste and hotel shampoo until our bags come tomorrow. What else? Information sources on power outlets were wrong, they are not the same shape here. 

I did find an adapter on the alarm clock, and the bathroom has one traditional outlet so we figured out how to charge our phones. Clay packed converters but they are in Miami. Our posters are also in Miami because I decided I didn't want to carry them in my backpack. Truth be told, I wouldn't want to stand next to the poster in dirty gym clothes with unbrushed hair anyway, so not having them may be a blessing.

Here are a few shots from our 17th floor balcony:

Savell also wants us to attend the dinner tonight, in yoga pants, after showering, but not having a hairbrush. Not so excited about this, but hey, at least our bags are accounted for in Miami and some stranger didn't walk off with them at baggage claim, right?

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Guide to International Travel - Step 1:

Leave the country.

Our status? Haven't even left College Station.  Why you ask? Well, let me tell you, since I have plenty of time. We were supposed to board a plane out of CLL at 3:15pm yesterday. Delayed. Delayed worse. No way to make our connections, no later flight out of the U.S. to Uruguay. Solution: Book an earlier flight from CLL to DFW for today. Dr. Savell & Dr. (Harris) Gehring were booked for today's 9:30am flight out. Clay and I on the 11:50 am. Delayed. Delayed worse. 11:50 flight cancelled, no room on the 9:30 flight that became a noon flight.

Oh and for those who are wondering: yesterday something was wrong with the plane, today there was a flash flood warning in Dallas. 

Solution: we are driving to IAH with the hopes of catching a 5:50pm from Houston to Miami. There is only one American flight from the U.S to Montevideo per day, so our options are limited. When I checked this morning, the plane intended for the international leg of this race was already delayed.  

We have now said our goodbyes three times and had to get word back to travel agents that speak LIMITED English to not let the hotel give our rooms away. Oh, and we have to pay $400 for our airport transportation to the hotel - again.  I sent an email yesterday morning as soon as we knew what was happening but they didn't check email until after the driver was already at the airport waiting on us.

We have decided that this is either a "third time's the charm" or "three strikes, you're out" situation.  I'll have to let you know how this ends up. May be a short blog this year. 

If all goes according to (the third) plan, we will land in Montevideo at 9:20am local time tomorrow. That's 7:20am here. As soon as we figure out the internet, I'll post an update. 

To be continued......

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Day 10: London in a day

We started the day before 7am by taking the "tube" which is also referred to as "the Underground."  This is essentially a color coated subway system that takes you all over the city very quickly.  We rode it to Smithfield Market, of which I only have a picture of the outside since you have to have a permit to photograph the products inside.  It was quite impressive, very clean, no odor, everyone in frocks and hard hats.  There was everything from beef to quail to rabbit to deer.  Full carcasses hanging in coolers with windows behind the retail case.  There is no way to ever describe the numerous different things we saw.  Cheeses, processed meats, and fresh meat and poultry, it was very interesting.  So were the young people we had to walk through to get there, they were a rough crowd that had yet to go home from the bars....no wonder riots were a problem when you have people like that roaming the streets.

Back to the tube, the next stop was Westminster.  Here we saw the Westminster Bridge, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and Big Ben.  

Houses of Parliament:

Westminster Abbey:

Big Ben:

Eye of London:

We did not tour Westminster Abbey for fear of missing changing of the guard.  We then rode the tube to the Buckingham Palace area.  We found another Marks & Spencer and were again closely monitored for our picture taking of the products, except this time they asked us to stop.  We passed Buckingham Palace and saw that they were selling tickets for tours.  If you go on a tour you get to see the Queen's Gallery, the State rooms, Kate's dress, and Buckingham gardens.   The State rooms are only open for tour until the end of the summer, and the dress is considered a "special exposition" and will likely start traveling like Diana's at some point.  I overheard an employee say the next admission was at 3pm and tickets were 17.50 pounds.  Needless to say we were in a rush to figure out how to see the changing of the guards, so we continued on.  After staking out what we thought was the best spot, we decided I should go get the scoop on the tour because we decided we really wanted to see the inside of the Palace, and the dress.  Lindsey and I headed back over, the employee explained how to get in line, that the next admission with tickets available is now 3:30, last admission at 6:15 and the tour takes two hours.  We return to give Dr. Harris the news, and although 2 hours is a big chunk when you only have 12 to give, we decided it was worth it.  To stake our ground in front of the Palace, Lindsey and Dr. Harris stayed, I took the money and went back for the third time.  They were suddenly sold out.  After the changing of the guard I asked again and they told me that they were suddenly inundated and were now sold out until August 24th.  How on earth does that happen....there were no words that even come close to describing the heart break, no words at all.  I go back to our spot and share the bad news.  Over the course of the next hour the area in front of the Palace starts to fill when we discover that you have a choice, you either see all of the horses and soldiers marching on the street, or you have a spot at the gates to watch the guards actually switch places.  We were on the street, naturally.  But the horses were beautiful, although the people around us were pushy and terrible because we had front row seats on the street, right at the rope, and people wanted our spot, but we did not let them in.  The funny thing was, that the marching band, for lack of better words, played "YMCA," "We are the Champions," and the theme to Star Wars.  Not what we expected at all.

Buckingham Palace & main gate:

Changing of the Guard:

After the changing of the guard we toured the Royal Muses, which are the royal horses and all of the carriages.  We saw the white horse that pulled Kate, and the Rolls Royce that William and Kate rode in.  Along with all of the carriages that are used to this day for royal ceremonies.  Many of the horses were out of the barn since the changing of the guard had just concluded, but it was still a nice thing to see.

Glass Carriage, carried Diana at her wedding and was part of many other ceremonies:

Replica of the most grand carriage in the Royal Family:

Daniel, the Horse that pulled Kate:

At this point it is after 1pm and we are starving, so in an effort to impress the world, we all ate fish and chips with mushy peas since that is one of the major local dishes.  And those who know me, understand my hatred for fish and green peas, separately.  But I did it, and it was fine.  However, steak & kidney pie, chicken & mushroom pie, and Shepard's pie were not tried at any point, even though there was no time, I'm not sure those dishes would have made our menu if we had a week here.

Next stop, Kensington Palace, former home of Princess Diana.  For those who are unaware, let me inform you that the Queen has always hated Diana, and it shows.  KensingtonDepp in Alice in Wonderland meets a circus, kind of dark, museum.  If that is not disrespectful, I'm not sure what is.  But to make it worse, I wanted to see the Diana Princess of Whales Memorial Fountain.  I am pretty sure we walked for an hour to find it in the most remote place, away from anything that matters.  It is a shallow cement ditch, with a sign that says "Do Not Walk in the Fountain."  Look over the fence, there are children in their underwear running in the water.  There is no "fountain" in our since of the word, it looked like a cement drainage ditch, no lie.  I was so angry, it was an embarrassing display of remembrance.....pathetic.

Kensington Palace & Garden:

Diana Memorial Fountain:

After the Kensington Palace, Kensington Garden, and memorial fountain experience, we had to make the forever long trek back to the tube.  We rode all the way back across town to see the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.  Turns out the London Bridge that you would think you want to see, did not even make the information pamphlet.  I guess I will go looking for that next time.  We took some pictures, and headed back to our hotel for dinner, and here I am.

Tower Bridge:

Tower of London:

 

Random Pub that thankfully had a restroom:

  

I have already compiled my list for next time I am here.  And if I manage to save up by next summer (this is major optimistic thinking, MAJOR) I can see everything I missed, the Royal Jewels will be on display, and some of the construction we dealt with today will be finished.  But - I have to plan for June/Early July or Late August to avoid the Olympic games.

If you haven't gathered, this was A LOT to take on in a day.  Lindsey's left knee gave up, Dr. Harris's right knee gave up, my right knee considered it, but decided to let my feet give up instead.  My feet have never felt the way they do right now, I cannot imagine how people backpack through Europe.  We were being tourists for a day with no backpack and have nearly killed ourselves.  The 3 of us also hit delirium about an hour ago and have laughed since.  Primarily because we are all limping around, hunch-backed like we are 110 years old, and we still have to pull our clearly over-weight luggage up and down the stairs to the tube to get to Heathrow.  Rush hour tube traffic is from 7:30-10:00 and our flight leaves at 11:40....we will hope for the best, and that we don't collapse and die in the subway station.

Wish us luck, wish for no delays.  And if everything goes at planned, we will arrive in Aggieland at 7pm.

Goodbye London.

Day 9: The end of Paris and the start of London

Well, we have discovered that we have misappropriated our time.  Paris should have been the 1-day sprint, and London should have been the 3-day stroll.  I know everyone says Paris is the place to go, it's so romantic, this, that, and the other.  But as I have already said, if you do not have a working knowledge of the history, then seeing the outside of the major sites, and getting a couple good views of the city to take in the environment and the architecture is all you need.  I grew up with my mother and grandmother being very interested in the royal family, and most of us do have a working knowledge of the Royal Family: Prince Charles, Camilla, Fergie, Andrew, Diana and her boys, now Kate....and I never thought I was that interested until I got here.  Now granted, all I have seen is the clock tower of our train station, and a map, but I already feel rushed and I am worried that we won't spend the time this place needs.  To be quite honest, I am really really bummed.  I just keep telling myself that tomorrow will be a 5 star experience, and I can always come back in the future.  But please, do not let anyone tell you that Paris outweighs London, it is a lie - London has already impressed me.  I really enjoyed Paris, I do not mean to sound ungrateful, but there is so much in London I never even realized, and I think I have a better appreciation for London and it's history.

With my self-pity out of the way, we took our open air tour bus in Paris again this morning to see the Pantheon, Luxembourg Gardens, and we drove past the Moulin Rouge.  Then we began what has been our only transportation nightmare of the trip.  The Gare de Norde Eurostar Terminal is just dreadful.  Hundreds of people in a small space, all nationalities, tons of babies and luggage, no air flow.  Security screening, passport check, one line for US passports.....no thanks.  And although I love London already, I have decided the French are friendlier people.  Even the London ATM sounds rude, "Wait a moment, we are dealing with your request."  Seriously?!  If it is such a hassle for me to get my own money and loose $5 in "inconvenience" fees anyway, then why even put in an ATM.  Whatever happened to "One moment, your request is being processed?"

Luxembourg Garden - Paris:

Madeline Flower Market - Paris:

Pantheon - Paris:

Goodbye Paris:

Hello London (Home of the 2012 Olympic Games):

Anyway, after the heat stroke and luggage triathlon, I slept on the train.  We get to London, our BEAUTIFUL hotel is actually ATTACHED to the BEAUTIFUL train station....so much better than the Paris train station, no pee smell, no bums on the floor.  But, I will say that Lindsey pointed out that there seem to be a lot of drunks everywhere.  We walked around and found a Marks & Spencer grocery, high-end retail in London.  The packages are so cool, and the product is much better looking than France, here you can actually see through the packages to look at the meat.  And, there are fresh products here, although they all seem to be in MAP packaging.  However, we nearly got run out for taking pictures :)

Marks & Spencer Pictures:

 

Now we are in the room, trying to figure out what to do about seeing an open air market in the morning.  It is almost midnight now, and they usually open at 4 am.  But the one we were supposed to go to is closed tomorrow.  However, I found the Smithfield Market online, which is meat only and has been trading for 800 years and started originally with live cattle.  The only downfall is that pictures are not allowed....

/www.smithfieldmarket.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithfield,_London

Those links will give you a history lesson, I haven't read it all, but I think it would make Savell proud.

It looks like we are going to meet at 6:15am to investigate Smithfield Market.

Goodnight from London...