I guess I'll start from the beginning...we got into London last Tuesday around 10am (local time). Our flight was uneventful...which is the way I like flights! The flight from Houston to London was pretty empty, so we got to spread out. Lauren had a whole row (3 seats) to herself, and Colby and I had our own row to share. We didn't get to sleep much however, because as I have discovered, it is virtually impossible to sleep on an airplane!! Especially when you have some wanna-be gangsters 2 rows over and 2 rows back with their light on for the entire 9 hour flight and talking loud and cracking up laughing the whole time!!!! Ugghhh...it was so annoying. I tried so hard to sleep...but it didn't work. So, when we finally started our decent, and everyone was waking up and they started serving breakfast, I just felt groggy and drained. Oh well...
When we got to Gatwick, and got through customs and immigration, we found Jamie waiting for us in the baggage claim area, where he'd been sitting reading his book since 7am!!! His flight had arrived early.
After a lot of aimless wandering, and back and forth, we finally found the right train, got tickets, and were on our way to our hotel. Once we got to the train/tube station, we had about a 15 minute walk, hauling all of our luggage, down a sidewalk to our hotel. We got to the hotel, got checked in, freshened up and went in search of nourishment. We walked back to a different nearby tube station- West Kensington (about a 10 minute walk), and took the tube to Victoria Station, and bought our tickets for the Hop on, Hop Off Bus tour(Lauren and I affectionately refer to it as the HoHo). From there, we caught the bus, and rode it past several famous sights, over to Trafalger Square. From there, we walked by the National Gallery, and since it was free...popped in for a peek. We saw a few galleries, and decided it was time to eat, so we went in search of food. We found a quaint little pub on a side street that was still serving food (it was around 4pm by this time). Lauren and Colby got fish and chips, and Jamie and I got the short-crust pie of the day (chicken and mushroom) with mashed potatoes, veggies and brown gravy. It was all very good! From there, we did some more walking, and made it over to Parliment and Big Ben in time to hear it chime on the hour...very impressive! :)
By this time, the sun was beginning to set, so we walked through China Town (putting up decorations for the Chinese New Year) to Picadilly Circus...see below...
It's like a mini-Time's Square. This big electronic billboard wraps around the building, and there's a small pedestrian square in the middle of the street with a statue. Pretty cool...
By that time, we were all EXHAUSTED...so we headed back to the hotel, got showers, and then Lauren and Jamie came down to our room so that we could force ourselves to stay up for at least another hour or two to fight off the jet-lag. We went to bed around 9pm...hoping to get a fresh start the next day.
Here we are the next day riding on the top of our HoHo bus, checking out the sights. Man, it was cold on top with that wind blowing...but really, that's the best place to ride, to get the full effect.
We saw lots of sights on the hoho, on Wednesday. Tower Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben, London Eye, Buckingham Palace, etc...
Tower Bridge...the middle section can raise to let boats through!
We got off at St. Paul's Cathedral to have a look around, but it was closed to sight-seeing (being Ash Wednesday) but we could still go in and take a brief look around, so we did. We then got off at Tower of London, and wen to get our tickets. Since I knew we wanted to get the 7 day Travelcard to use for transportation while we were in London, I was able to print off several 2 for 1 offers for us to use at various attractions. Tower of London was one of them! The 2-4-1 saved us 16 pounds or $32/couple! Hooray!! :) We went inside, and heard a lot of historical background from one of the guys who lives/works there (I forget what they're called)...it was very interesting though. He took us on a little 30 minute walking tour around the various buildings and grounds. Man...there was a lot of history in that place...mostly imprisonment, killing, murder, etc. So strange to think that most of it went on before America was even a county! While at the Tower of London, we got to tour the White Tower (now a sort of armory museum), and see the Crown Jewels (wow)...all very impressive.
We were trying to make it to Westminster Abby for a 5:00 Evensong service, so we headed that way. I had read about the Evensong services every day at 5:00 as a way to see inside the Abby without having to pay the exorbitant 16 pound/person entrance fee...so we were going to try it out. Once there, we learned they were actually having a Ash Wednesday service, instead of Evensong...but we went ahead and went anyway. I mean, how many people can say they've actually been to a service inside Westminster Abby!!!!?? It was absolutely beautiful and very humbling and awe-inspiring to see the Abby the way it was intended to be used...as a place of worship, instead of a tourist destination. It was really special. Here's a picture of the front of the Abby as we were going in...
West Minster Abby
When we got out of the service, it was dark...so we headed across the Thames toward the London Eye to check it out--here's the view crossing the Thames, it's a little blurry...but you get the idea: GORGEOUS!
We bought our tickets, and got in line. The London Eye was built by Brittish Airways, and the call the ride a "flight". The cars that you ride in are oval shaped glass capsule type things that have a large bench right in the middle...and you can stand up the whole time if you like. I'm not sure how many people each capsule can hold...but it's a lot. Since we're here in the middle of winter, we haven't had many problems with lines or crowds, and this was no exception. We had a total of 8 people in our capsule, including the 4 of us. It was so beautiful and peaceful. They dim the lights as you "take off", and you get to see London in all it's splendor. The entire revolution (you only make one...very slowly) takes about 35 minutes. It moves so slow that if you look out at the horizon, you can't even tell it's moving!
This post is getting really long...so I'll post the Eye pictures in the next one...
Me & Colby after the "flight"
We ended our night (but not until 3:00am !! (which would have been 9pm at home) Darn that jet-lag!) with a lively game of "slap" in Lauren and Jamie's room. Look at the sheer determination and concentration on their faces!! :) haha
