Trip Report - England - Part III - London

London:

We had one and a half days to see everything we wanted to see in London, which meant we walked a little faster, jumped on the tube as much as we could and took pictures like we were from National Geographic (probably like 40 frames a second or something fast like that).

It is quite an awesome site when you exit the tube only to see Big Ben right in front of you, but this time it wasn’t in some cheesy ‘80’s Chevy Chase movie…ok, here is something to jog the memory…. remember “look kids it’s Big Ben!” It is almost like a big monument that screams, “Welcome to London – we will impress you with our stature.” And we were impressed!


We were pumped to be able to take the tube (take the tube buddy…it’s faster) and indeed it was, catch a show (Chicago and “all that jazz”), I was up for seeing Mary Poppins, however, Robert wasn’t up for the “spoon full of sugar.” We saw the quite impressive “Big Ben,” the House of Parliament, the infamous Thames River (I still remember reading all of those incredible pieces of literature that reference this body of water), Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, Buckingham Palace where we couldn’t resist having our photo taken with the guards…come on, what if we never get back? We also saw, St. James Palace, Green Park, Marble Arch, Nelson’s Column, Eros, St. Paul’s Cathedral and how could the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge not leave a lasting impression on someone? Wow, that is quite the site, regardless of the rain, it is simply incredible!


Highlights/Observations from the trip:

London – a beautiful city with amazing architecture, fabulous shows and great fish and chips…from what we heard, we didn’t eat any, but I really liked the food in St. Alban!

The Abbey in St. Alban – I fell in love with my personal tour guide, Alec who was about 70 plus and full of incredible knowledge.

England is very similar to America, from the language, the news, the behavior of the youth, the stores, but much more expensive.

The ability to maintain a sense of humor when things do not go as planned.

easyJet is a great value for your money; you get two landings for the price of one!

The realization that not all places in the world will be like Switzerland.

Trains will not always run on time, nor will they always show up.

Two adult people can fit into a twin bed.

You can learn new phrases, like, "Hello Love," "This is Brilliant," "Mad as Crackers."

Tower of London

Melinda and Robert in front of the Tower Bridge

Tower of London Gardens and the Tower Bridge

Westminster Abbey

Nelson's Column

St. Paul's Cathedral

The London Eye AKA The Millenium Wheel (Or the very expensive ride!)

Tube Sign

Take the Tube Buddy...It is Faster...Tea and Toast...

Melinda and Robert with the Guards at Buckingham Palace

Melinda and Robert in front of Buckingham Palace...the Starbucks was Robert's idea...

The House of Parliment

House of Parliment Continued...

Eye of London over the Thames - View from Westminster Tube Stop

The House of Parliment and Big Ben

Overall:

Great trip and we are pleased to say, we have checked off one of our "Must See" Destinations!