This was my first street view of London!
We did a lot of things I wouldn't do with the kids and/or Kevin, like shopping. This is the Liberty of London store. Of course, I couldn't really justify actually shopping in these stores, but it was fun to look.
Mandy and Jen in the iconic London phone booth.
We even did high tea at Brown's. It was everything I hoped it would be. Relaxing, yummy and classy but not snobby. I ate so many scones with clotted cream I'm surprised I was able to walk out of there!
After high tea, we went and saw Stomp in concert. It was a fun concert, they were great performers and entertainers.
On Friday we started at Buckingham Palace.
the guards..
There was a police escort waiting...
for this very important person, whoever they were.
A Buckingham Palace guard we saw on our way past St. James park.
Big Ben.
Westminster Abbey
view of the Abbey from the cloister
side view of Westminster Abbey
Then we did a London Walks tour. Our tour was 'Eccentric London', and she talked about many interesting things. Here she's showing us the ornamental wraught iron by the doorways and the importance of unique fanlights (since all the row houses tend to look the same).
We walked by Ben Franklin's house but didn't go in.
At the end of the tour we walked down this street - I really love these bowed windows.
Then we did more shopping. This was the girl in the Bare Minerals store. Jen liked her haircut so I took some pictures of her and her hair. I think we creeped her out just a tiny bit. She put some majorly heavy eye makeup on Mandy and Jen, so we were ready for our Gordon Ramsey dinner. For some silly reason I didn't take any pictures of our dinner there or our fantastic food. Trust me, it was definitley picture worthy, I was just tired!
This was our favorite Tube performer. Of course, the competition wasn't too steep, but you have to love a man who performs with Animal.
London Tower Bridge.
There was a police escort waiting...
for this very important person, whoever they were.
A Buckingham Palace guard we saw on our way past St. James park.
It's not quite as exciting now that spring is in full bloom here, but the spring flowers were up in the parks in London. We had incredibly nice and sunny weather!
Big Ben.
Westminster Abbey
Inside the Abbey cloister
view of the Abbey from the cloister
side view of Westminster Abbey
Then we did a London Walks tour. Our tour was 'Eccentric London', and she talked about many interesting things. Here she's showing us the ornamental wraught iron by the doorways and the importance of unique fanlights (since all the row houses tend to look the same).
We walked by Ben Franklin's house but didn't go in.
At the end of the tour we walked down this street - I really love these bowed windows.
Then we did more shopping. This was the girl in the Bare Minerals store. Jen liked her haircut so I took some pictures of her and her hair. I think we creeped her out just a tiny bit. She put some majorly heavy eye makeup on Mandy and Jen, so we were ready for our Gordon Ramsey dinner. For some silly reason I didn't take any pictures of our dinner there or our fantastic food. Trust me, it was definitley picture worthy, I was just tired!
This was our favorite Tube performer. Of course, the competition wasn't too steep, but you have to love a man who performs with Animal.
A few London night shots.
London Tower.
London Tower Bridge.
Saturday we walked down Portobello Road to check out the Market. We walked past George Orwell's house.
This was a sweet store, they had tons of old Singer sewing machines on display.
Then we walked through Hyde Park/Kensington Park and past Kensington Palace.
And by the way, I think we averaged something like 20,000 steps a day ... which Jen's pedometer calculated to be about 10 miles a day. So we could eat all those scones and clotted cream and not feel too bad. Or so we told ourselves...
A view coming out of the crowded Tube. London had about 1/2 of the Tube closed for the weekend to update it for the 2012 Olympics, so the rest of it was packed.
The British Museum. We also went through the British Library, but you weren't allowed to take pictures in there and for once I obeyed the rules.
Jen was holding all our stuff and sat down while Mandy and I used the toilets and when we returned we decided she looked slightly homeless. In a weird way with all those Harrod's bags. We shopped at Harrod's as well of course. But I guess I was too busy buying this time to take pictures. Of course, all I bought was some souvenirs for the boys :)
Back to the British Museum - the Rosetta Stone.
Egyptian artifacts.
We walked past Chinatown on our way to a delicious Thai dinner with Mandy's friend Annabella. She happened to be in London so we met up with her and she took us to an amazing Thai place for dinner.
The end. It was a very fun trip filled with a ton of walking and shopping and sight seeing. Definitely a weeked to remember with good friends! Thanks, Mandy and Jen, for all the planning and booking you did to make the trip happen!
Streetview
This was a sweet store, they had tons of old Singer sewing machines on display.
Then we walked through Hyde Park/Kensington Park and past Kensington Palace.
And by the way, I think we averaged something like 20,000 steps a day ... which Jen's pedometer calculated to be about 10 miles a day. So we could eat all those scones and clotted cream and not feel too bad. Or so we told ourselves...
A view coming out of the crowded Tube. London had about 1/2 of the Tube closed for the weekend to update it for the 2012 Olympics, so the rest of it was packed.
The British Museum. We also went through the British Library, but you weren't allowed to take pictures in there and for once I obeyed the rules.
Jen was holding all our stuff and sat down while Mandy and I used the toilets and when we returned we decided she looked slightly homeless. In a weird way with all those Harrod's bags. We shopped at Harrod's as well of course. But I guess I was too busy buying this time to take pictures. Of course, all I bought was some souvenirs for the boys :)
Back to the British Museum - the Rosetta Stone.
Egyptian artifacts.
A picture of me in front of one of the Trafalgar Square lions. I'm not sure why, but I really wanted a picture with one of these lions. I was going to climb up and sit in between his paws but it was getting late and we were hungry and we just snapped a picture of me standing in front instead. Next time I do believe I will have to climb up for a picture.
We walked past Chinatown on our way to a delicious Thai dinner with Mandy's friend Annabella. She happened to be in London so we met up with her and she took us to an amazing Thai place for dinner.
The end. It was a very fun trip filled with a ton of walking and shopping and sight seeing. Definitely a weeked to remember with good friends! Thanks, Mandy and Jen, for all the planning and booking you did to make the trip happen!
1 comment:
Loved catching up with you and your travels. Bummer about the break-in.
Loved your reflections about life the way it really is. It really is that way... and what you are experiencing now will shape you forever.
Tim just got back from almost 3 weeks in Japan and China.
Makes me want to wander!
Stephen graduates May 16th. He will go on the Ireland Mission trip with Quent and Julie.
Jonathan is off for Summer Tour from May13-June 12 and then on to Bejing for the rest of the summer for an internship.
Take care and enjoy the spring!
Vera
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