London!

Lolajasper
London was awesome! I think my feet and back have finally recovered from the miles of walking we did!

Saturday
Ed and I flew from Amsterdam to Heathrow on Saturday, August 5th. We took a cab to the London Bridge hotel located in the Southwark section of London. We then headed out to do some walking and find a place to eat dinner. We ended up at a pub called "The Anchor" which has been there a couple hundred years. Food was ok, but it was so pretty and right on the Thames River.

Sunday
We took a double decker bus tour of London. Traffic was crazy due to a triathlon in town. Had lunch in another old pub. I was really enjoying the fish and chips! We headed to Harrods department store and spent $4.50 on a single scoop ice cream cone! Crazy! It's the most gorgeous store I have ever seen; too bad I can't afford anything in it!!! We then went to Harvey Nichols, another really pricy store and didn't buy anything there either!!! We walked around Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar square. Very fun!

Monday
Tower of London first thing in the morning. Very cool - I really enjoyed the crown jewels. So amazing they looked fake! Headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral, so beautiful. Took an in depth tour and was really touched to see the Memorial Chapel for US service members who died in the UK during WWII. At the entrance of the cathedral it was amazing to remember that Princess Diana walked to the altar in that beautiful wedding dress many years ago. We then headed over to the Churchill museum and under ground cabinet room. The Churchill museum was very well done, very creative. The under ground cabinet room was where Churchill and his staff were housed during the bombing raids on London during WWII. Very interesting. Several rooms were just as they had been left 60 years ago. Walked around St. James Park and fed the pigeons (flying rats) and ducks. Had dinner at the George Inn that evening, a several centuries old inn.

Tuesday
Went to Westminster Abbey. It's hard to wrap my brain around the idea of a building being more than 1,000 years old. We paid for a guided group tour of Westminster and I was glad we did. We were allowed access to many parts of the cathedral that were off limits. Went to the British Museum in the afternoon and checked out the Egyptian displays. Had Greek food for dinner (YUMM!) and then went to the Globe Theater and saw Anthony and Cleopatra. Globe Theater is the reconstructed 17th century theater of Shakespeare. I'm not a big fan of Shakespeare, but it was interesting. I only understood about half of what was said due to the accents and the Old English, but I got the jist of it.

Wednesday
Went to Buckingham Palace. During the month of July and August the State rooms are open for public viewing. I'm so glad we went, though the ticket prices were high ($36.) So gorgeous. We also went to the Royal Mews where the horses, carriages and cars are kept. I could travel like that, though I don't know if I could get into one of the carriages! Headed out to the Guards Museum. We then caught a cab to the airport.

Thursday
We woke up Thursday morning at home to find out that we missed the closing of Heathrow airport by about 5 hours due to a terrorist plot to blow up planes to the US! I'm glad to be in my own bed!

It was a great trip! London is expensive but I'm so glad we went! The people were great and everyone speaks English!!!!! Plus I can read everything! We hope to get back soon - there is so much to see. Check out the pictures on Webshots!