London

This was the little side trip that was part of the original plans before I got hypnotized by Katie. Since we had been to London just last Christmas, we didn't plan a long trip when we came back. There were a few things we missed the last time that we wanted to see and few that we wanted to see again. Most of what we took was on video (like The British Museum), so there aren't that many pictures. Lucky you!

Anyway, before we even went back to London, we had to stop there on the way to Edinburgh. We flew into Gatwick, which is about 25 miles outside of London. From there, we had to go to Heathrow to catch the plane to Edinburgh. That was an adventure in itself. We had to take the shuttle train into London, catch a tube to the train station and then transfer to a train that took us to Heathrow. We originally had about a six hour layover. We got there early and they had availability on another flight, so we only had to hang out there for about an hour and a half.

Our hotel was right around the corner from Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard was the next day, so that was the first thing we did. We saw it last the last time we were here; however, they did a lot more this time. Not to mention Katie is a Royalty nut! In addition to the regular ceremony, a band marched in with the guards and played inside the gates of the Palace for about a half an hour. Even the Bobbies came out to see the procession!

We happened to stumble upon the palace. We had been by it before on our previous trip, but we didn't know it was open to the public. This was where Princess Diane lived. Of course we had to go in so Katie could see all the dresses and gowns Di had worn. Of course, I buzzed through all that and went through to see all the paintings, architecture, etc. It was actually very interesting. It was built in the 1600's and acquired as a royal home for William III. Queen Victoria was born here as well. The really neat thing about this palace is that is remains very much the same as it was in the 1700's. Unfortunately, they don't allow pictures inside, so the only pictures we have are of the gardens (this was Di's favorite escape).

Our favorite place to go in London is along the Thames to see The Tower of London and The Tower Bridge. The castle is awesome. Ann Boleyn was beheaded here and Sir Walter Raleigh was held as a prisoner in one of the towers. It is a conglomeration of buildings the started with the White Tower in the 1100's. As the town grew, so did the castle. There are now multitudes of different towers each with its own unique history. This is also a great place to hang out along the river and see most of the views of London. The Crown Jewels are also kept here in the White Tower. Definitely, one of our favorite places. Look for the side tours given by the Beefeaters every hour or so. We got to walk around down in the moat and see some of the castle that most don't get to visit.

The Tower Bridge is, of course, the most well-known bridge in the world, built in the late 1800's. It's pretty cool to walk across it and see all the sights. I don't know if it was worth the $20 (per person) admission the last time we were here to go up across the top span. I think we preferred walking along the street with all the traffic and see the hustle and bustle of the bridge.

Big Ben is, of course, a part of Parliament, which is also right across from Westminster Abbey. These are definite must sees if you ever go to London. This is a great place to just sit and soak up the culture of London. It is always busy and there are many sights to see around here including the Prime Minister's residence (on Downing St.), St. James Park, the Cabinet War Rooms (this was the underground headquarters for Churchill during WWII), Whitehall Estate, the Horse Guards and Trafalgar Square (where we spent last New Years!).

Westminster Abbey was especially spectacular. Built in 1066, you can walk through the crypts and touch the tombs of all the Kings and Queens including Queen Mary I; Elizabeth I; Mary, Queen of Scots; Henry VII and Edward the Confessor (who brought the current royal lineage to the UK). In addition, you will find the poets Dickens, Chaucer, Wordsworth, Milton, Kipling and Longfellow as well as Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. This is where all the Kings and Queens through the ages have been crowned.

That's about all the pictures we have for London. A lot of what we did is on video, so I hope to post a little of that soon. The two things we enjoyed the most were the British Museum, which included seeing the Rosetta Stone, many Egyptian and Roman artifacts as well as Armour, tools, coins, mummies, etc. This was probably our favorite of all the museums we visited. This is a must if you plan on visiting London.

Our other favorite thing we did on this trip was visit a brass rubbing center at Trafalgar Square. They have brass engravings dating back to the 11th century here. You go down into the crypt where you can go through almost a hundred different engravings. To do a rubbing, you tape a piece of paper over the etching and then take different colored wax sticks to rub over the picture underneath. It took a little time to figure it out, but once you do, it really is a lot of fun. Katie took my rubbing of a medieval feast and had it framed. She did 5 or 6 rubbings to my one! Does that surprise anyone?

We didn't have time to do too much, but we had seen a lot of London when we were here last year. This was a chance to see some of the things we missed.

Now it's on to Rome!