Westminster Abbey was our favorite London attraction. The history was incredible, the Abbey itself was gorgeous and I couldn't help but stand in awe of all that has taken place in that (not so) small chapel. We saw the burial sites of William Wilberforce and William Pitt (Amazing Grace, anyone?) and that was really neat. We also saw the coronation throne, built in 1307 by Edward I, I think, and it's been used in every coronation since. It was built to hold the "stone of scone" which was stolen from Scotland, but more to come on that :)
We did a great job of eating fairly cheap in London (we were saving up for Paris!). We stumbled upon (we did some off-streeting, if you will) a little cafe that had incredible sandwiches! We ended up eating from the grocery store several times over our trip. They grocery stores had sandwiches that were a steal and were quite tasty. Plus, we could grab a few bottled waters, cookies, chips, fruit, whatever and enjoy lunch somewhere scenic!
A few other things we saw/did in London: The British Museum -it was very cool; The Churchill War Museum - a great use of almost two hours and 15 bucks a person, this was a very interesting place; Oxford Street, the "Magnificent Mile" in London. It was INSANE and made Patrick quite uncomfortable; Harrod's might be a huge department store full of pricey things and very nicely decorated, but it didn't suite our fancy; St. Paul's Cathedral was beautiful. It was Good Friday, so we couldn't tour. However, we did get in for free and were able to sit for a bit during mass; Hype Park - big and beautiful and very hard to walk through in very windy conditions.
We stopped into a cafe for lunch one day and the only seats available were with another guy. So we sat down and chatted for a bit with a local. He was so funny! He lives two hours away from London, but drives in four days a week because the pay is double. He shared his views of the US (big. also, he thinks we're lazy. fair enough), the Royal Family (useless, said he respects the Queen out of ignorance, hates Prince Charles), and also explained to us how the British Government works.
One of my favorite things from London was Wicked. Patrick got us tickets as a Christmas present for me and it was wonderful! We both enjoyed the play and, randomly, the girl sitting behind us was a freshman at Tufts (where Patrick's sister goes to school). It truly is a small world! The weather was cool and windy and inevitably, it rained at some point every day of our trip. Oh well, we had an incredible time.
Here are some London pictures:
This is Big Ben. One night while I was journaling, I could hear Big Ben ringing outside, that was pretty cool
The Tower of London. This is where the "crowned jewels" are kept. It was very expensive to go in and see them, so we just walked around the outside of the ancient place.
Waiting for the Tube. We really loved this thing. It was efficient, clean and very busy. It was a very good way to get around the city. Please mind the gap.
St James Park, so peaceful. That's why we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through this large park.
Me and Ben and the House of Parliament and wind...oh my!
The Buckingham Palace, residence of the Royal Family. The gate was tall and locked, but I stuck my camera in (I'm such a tourist) for a better photo. I took this for you, Mom!
Me with the one, the only - Alexander the Great. As you can see, I was thrilled to have my picture with this most famous of people.
Patrick in the ever so popular and world recognized London phone booth. He walked out very quickly because, apparently, the thing smelled like urine. Uck! But, just a quick bit of history, these booths were designed from a grave stone/memorial. Hum.
Looking up at St. Paul's cathedral.
Us sitting happily near the Tower of London, with the Tower Bridge behind us. This is not to be mistaken with the ever so famous "London Bride", that was conveniently down the river a bit.
Ah, that was quite a post! With all that said, London was most certainly our LEAST favorite city. The sites were great and it's definitely worth a one time visit.... But, it was dirty (expect for the Tube!) because they removed all the litter bins due to security reasons. The people were rude, the traffic was crazy, and everything was so fast paced. But that's to be expected from a big city that is becoming the world's meeting place.
5 comments:
Thanks for the picture of Buckingham Palace. Love it!! Can't wait to hear about Paris. Luv ya!
Yeah, I wasn't overly impressed with London. Did you see London Bridge? I was so disappointed - there's absolutely NOTHING special about it at all!! Great pics!
I think it's great you journalled so often! thanks for sharing! :)
I agree with you about London. It's a must see, but not a place I would want to vacation a week in. Edinburgh was by far my favorite British city.
Sounds like you had so much fun! It's great to see pictures and hear all of your stories :)
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