s/o royal wedding

[KristinCB]

SO with all the talk of the royal wedding I was just wondering - who here has been (lived) in/to London? or other places in Europe?

I've never been and I would love to go one day to see. I LOVED art history in college and would love to go see all the churches and places that I studied (I would want to brush up again before I went of course :P)

[rach3975]

DH and I have taken 1 big international trip, just before we started our family. We spent about 10 days in London and Scotland. It was amazing. I'd love to go back one day.

[MamaBee]

I spent 13 weeks just south of London for business and spent an Easter in Scotland... HATED the reason why were there... but it was the BEST trip of my life! I LOVE LONDON and would love to live there.

[SmallMoments]

We had a 14 hour layover in London on our way to Northern Ireland. So we took advantage of it and took a bus tour. It was quick and we were all jet-lagged, so I'd like to go back someday.

Other places I've been in Europe- Northern Ireland for a week and a half; Frankfurt, Germany for 24 hours- we stayed over night there while we waited for our flight to St. Petersburg, Russia, which we stayed in for a week. I think that's it for my European travels.

[heathergw]

I've had 8 hour lay-overs in London and Holland and did some sight seeing while there... I didn't get to see as much of London as we had planned since one of our guys had passed a kidney stone while on the plane ride there so we spent some time in a hospital there.

I would LOVE to see more of Europe and the Mediterranean one day.

[dana]

i lived in paris for three years, and went over to london quite a bit during that time :) i loved it - although my heart belongs to paris :)

[eranslow]

Never been to London - but would LOVE to visit there. I was a history major and studied quite a bit of English history :)

I've been to Sweden when I was younger - went with my grandparents. I would love to go again now that I'm older :)

[dana]

re. other places in europe - i did a bunch of trips while in france - vacation over there is great - 5 weeks ;)

london - northern ireland - all over france - croatia - prague - vienna - venice - lake como - marbella - pamplona - sevilla - ibiza - scotland - corsica - monaco - portugal - munich - morroco - egypt (ha - last two aren't europe - but i did those vacations while living there ... ) ... i still want to go to sooooooo many places ...

[KristinCB]

well if we get to count layovers then i have.. hahaha. I went to norway to visit my sister when I was 15 and had a layover at heathrow. I was SO scared in the airport and almost missed my flight. It was not a good experience :)

[newfiemountiewife]

We only stopped over at Heathrow, but we spent 3 weeks in Scotland back in 2001. We LOVED it. We had Benjamin with us, he was 8 months old, so we didn't get to see all of the things we wanted, so we're hoping to go back someday. My Aunt and Uncle live over there. I didn't want to come home. :)

[Kiki]

I took a 25 day tour of Europe with friends. We rented a car and stayed with friends who live there. We visited France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Switzerland and drove through Germany and Lichtenstein.

[terrab]

I love London. It's one of my favorite places in Europe. Prague was also beautiful. I've lived in Norway and The Netherlands and got to see most of Europe while I was there. I am really feeling the travel bug and it has been too long since I was there. Hopefully sometime soon!

[ColleenSwerb]

We did a big trip for our honeymoon in the fall of 2009, and we're taking an even bigger trip this fall (one last "before kids" hurrah, lol).
We've been to Paris, Barcelona, Venice, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Naples, and Rome. I loved every second of that trip. I'm a huge fan of architecture and can appreciate it so much differently with my engineering background. At one cathedral in Paris I remember just sitting in the middle of it, looking around me in complete awe. The architecture all over Europe is just incredible. You just don't see that over here.

This fall we're doing London, Prague, Vienna, Athens, and Ireland. We're doing 11 days on our own, and then meeting my family in Ireland for the last 9 days to explore our ancestry. I'm SO excited!!

[sigmakap95]

My mother is French, so I have family over there. My mom and I took my first trip over when I was in college... Went to london, southern England, Paris, and the Loire valley - where there are many chateaux - where the family is. Three years later we went back and took my grandmother - who hadn't been back in 40 years - and added Switzerland on to that trip.

Three years after that, my husband and I spent 10 days inTuscany and then met my parents in France again to visit family. Have been to London once since then. Now with 3 kids, not so easy, but Tuscany is still my favorite, followed by the Loire. I didn't like Paris or London, but I prefer not to go to big cities while on vacation! Even my Frenchie relatives think the French are rude! :blink:

[jocelinsmommy]

I have been all over Europe and the middle east because my dad is military but took my senior trip to London and it was amazing :) Even had pictures at westminister and near buckingham palace :) I miss living over-seas--it was an amazing experience.

[nesser1981]

Super Jealous!!! I've never been to Europe, DH had orders to England, but turned them down and got out of the Navy since I couldn't get stationed there.

I lived in Japan and went to South Korea. Not nearly as cool though.

[MandaT]

I've never been anywhere outside of the western states, except for a week in Missouri about 10 years ago.

I doubt we'll ever make it across the big pond. DH is afraid of flying, June will be the 1st time in an airplane for him (he's 44) & we're going to Las Vegas (almost a 2 hour flight).

[DawnMarch]

I've been to London a couple times on business and took some time to sightsee while I was there. It's an amazing city and I would LOVE to live there. I've also been to France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. I love to travel and can't wait til the kids get a little older and we can take them.

[nun69]

I was stationed in Sicly for 3 years in the Navy :)

Spent a week in London {saw all the sights, Westminster, Stonehenge, the changing of the guard, Big Ben, Tower of London, and pretty much everything in between :)}
Spent a week in Paris
Went to Tuscany, San Geronimo Italy, Sienna Italy, Naples, Taromina,Rome, Agrigento , MT Etna, Florence Italy

but if I had the choice, I would live in Paris :) LOVED it!!! ABSOLUTELY LOVED it!

[kristijoy]

I've only travelled there.

I LOVE England, especially in the countryside. I've been there several times I can't wait until my son is ready to really enjoy travelling in Europe!

I've also been to Italy twice which is a delight. Fantastic food, art, spiritual sites. I'll be back there someday too.

[xboxmom]

We went in 2003 for 2 weeks to London! It was a BLAST. Even took all our kids with us. Then in 2005 we took all the kids and my 6 month pregnant self to Rome! AMAZING!

[Gemma]

I'm around 5 hours away from London up in Newcastle but I've never been down there, the kids want to go and see Buckingham Palace, the London eye etc but I've been waiting for them to get a bit older, we might go when they are off school for Summer holidays in July or August! :)

[Ginger_79]

Even though it's MUCH closer for me, I haven't been to London. Yet! :)

I live in Germany and my BF is from Nothern Ireland, so I've spent some time there as well. I'm very fond of Ireland now and we are planning to go over to Scotland for a bit as well, when we're back for a longer stay. The Bitish islands are very much my thing.

However, I do have a big passion for Italy as well. So far I only managed to go there twice, but my God. If it comes to live in style, NO ONE beats the Italians. I know outside of Europe people go on about the French, but trust me, Italy is the land of beauty. Food, architecture, fashion, art, history... Rome is pretty much an explosion of wonderfulness. Which I believe, isn't a word. But anyway.

[adrianka]

I've been to London for 4 times in the past two years and I plan to go there again, hopefully this year.

I love it - I very much don't like the crowds, but the city has so much to offer in compensation! I've been rarely this smitten by a place. If you ever plan to go to Europe, you won't regret if you go to see London.

Oh, and it was double as nice to watch the wedding since I've been to some of the places that they were showing. :-)

I would never want to live there though - too big, too busy, too tiring. I prefer sleepy towns.

[adrianka]

I've been to London a couple times on business and took some time to sightsee while I was there. It's an amazing city and I would LOVE to live there. I've also been to France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. I love to travel and can't wait til the kids get a little older and we can take them.

Czech Republic! Where have you been?

[Leah]

I would love to visit Europe someday. DH and I were talking about this a few weeks ago - if you could go anywhere...

My Mom visited London a few years ago, she said it was cold and rainy (my Mom needs heat), but the sites were beautiful.

[rachaelsscraps]

I haven't been to Europe, but I spent about 10 days in Russia my senior year in high school. My parents were adopting a little girl and little boy from Kazahkstan and we met up with them at the US embassy in Moscow. Unfortunately we went in the middle of December so it was freezing!! (like -30!)
I've always wanted to go to Europe though, I'd love to go the British Islands, maybe go to London and spend some time in Ireland!

[NeverendingJen]

I lived in Italy, between Naples and Rome for 3 years, while we toured all over Europe too. I never did make it to London, though its on our list!

[carriesmom]

I did a European trip with the band in between my junior and senior year of high school. I went to London, Paris, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Venice. It was a fantastic trip and I loved every moment. Loved London and I got to hear the Westminster Boys' Choir sing in the Abbey. It was breathtaking. I would love to go back and I know DH would like to go back to Germany where he was once stationed.

[sprauncey1]

DH and I went to Italy, Austria, and England in 2001 (wow that long ago!!!) and our favorite, most relaxing place was England.

For one we spoke the language mostly, and we already knew how to drive on that side of the road, so we had rented a car and had more freedom that way. We stayed in London for a day. Took a bus tour (because you have to right?), ate some GREAT Chinese food, did some laundry in a laundromat and enjoyed our pleasant July evening.
The next day we drove out of "town" and into the countryside near RAF Lakenheath and areas. We met some amazingly friendly locals, saw lots of historical stuff and enjoyed the green green gardens of the countryside and towns.

We both agreed to go back. Now that the boys are older it is a possibility (if we can afford it and not have to take vacation to visit family every year) I think this wedding thing has put a new bee in my bonnet! I want to go back!!