London and Amsterdam

We spent two days each in London (planned) and Amsterdam (unplanned).

London is a vibrant city, even though they mostly all wear black! As I wandered around, the first day with my husband, the second day without, I found the people to be lively, friendly and quite in the rush. They do not stop much but constantly seem to be going from one place to another.

We got to tour around the popular sites a little:

We rode The Eye which was really fun:

and just enjoyed the feeling of a big city.

I loved taking the subway and finding my way around while looking for warm clothes, coats, gloves, etc....getting ready for our upcoming move. We bought so much...even though it will still probably not be enough to get us through the whole winter in Atyrau!

and it ended up costing us in the end! Why?

Well, we were fine, weight wise, if we flew directly from London to Atyrau, with just a change in planes in Amsterdam.

But did you really read the first sentence of the post well?

We didn't get to do that! We ended up not having all the paperwork in time for the flight between Amsterdam and Atyrau. So, we waited for the paperwork and flew to Atyrau on Sunday. What does this mean?

We had to pay for the baggage because the local airlines limitations are MUCH smaller when you check in in Amsterdam.

So, we stayed an extra two days in Amsterdam.

We had both been to Amsterdam, but not together. It is an interesting city that thrives on a true European feel. The streets are filled with people walking, talking, shopping...we got to enjoy a delicious cheese and meat fondue, stroll through the streets together hand and hand.

It was a lovely stop over, even if unplanned!

We took a boat ride through the canals, were charmed by the architecture and enjoyed our time exploring this city of canals, together.

All in all, it was a beautiful 4 days. We rushed around and strolled along. We visited and took pictures, made memories and bookmarked where we would take our children!