London

We finally made it to the wonderful, exciting and historical city of London. It was so much bigger then I thought it would be, and it was so unbelievably full of tons of things to do. We stayed with our friends Leah and Derek Beckman over the long weekend in their beautiful Kensington flat.

First, we went to the Orangery Cafe in Kensington Palace for High Tea. Despite it's appearance, High Tea actually consists of tea AND lots of cakes and sandwiches. Princess Diana lived in Kensington Palace for some time during her life. The picture below shows the outside.

Later, we went to the Churchill Arms Pub for dinner and beer.

Buckingham Palace was under strict surveillance because the Queen's birthday was Saturday, and many activities were planned.

Big Ben has the larges clock face on a non-church tower in Europe. Zurich has the largest clock face on a church in Europe, but don't tell the people from London I said that out loud.

The Tower Bridge is often confused with the London Bridge because it is a much more grandiose spectacle. This is the Tower Bridge behind us.

The Parliament is attached to Big Ben and next door to Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey has housed many Royal weddings in the past, however Princess Diana did not get married in this church. Her and Prince Charles broke away from tradition and married in St. Paul's Cathedral because it had much more seating.

The picture below is that of the Bell Tower in The Tower of London. One person said that the Tower of London has been the seat of British government and the living quarters of monarchs ... the site of renown political intrigue, and the repository of the Crown Jewels ... It has housed lions, bears, and (to this day) flightless ravens ... not to mention notorious traitors and framed members of court, lords and ministers, clergymen and knights.

This is the site of executions by beheadment of 3 Queens.

The Tower of London. Outside looking in.

Traitors Gate is found just within the walls of The Tower of London. Prisoners were brought into the Tower through the gate via the river Thames. Anne Boleyn was one of those brought through this gate. I literally got chills looking at the gate itself. How scary it must have been to walk up the steps to your death.

A video of the changing of the gaurd at the Tower of London. Also, look! It's sunny!.

Shakespears Globe Theater built in 1599. Of course we had to be dorks just a little on vacation. We went with the Beckman's and another couple from Chicago to a local Wine Bar in Notting Hill. The picture below is of The Travelers Bookshop which was featured in the Julia Robert's movie Notting Hill. I'm a sucker for movies, especially lovey dovey movies like that one.

We rode a the famous red doubledecker bus through the city to view all of the sites in London. Despite the language, London really is different then the U.S. There are different social and political rules that really make London a culturally diverse European city. We would LOVE to live in London at some point in time. However, don't let us fool you.... the prices are ridiculous!


If you would like to see more pictures of our adventures in London, please click on the link below.

http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=1006161213629641495/l=394861578/g=7389791/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB