London Sights

With only three days in London, we have tried to get in as many thinigs as possible.  I'll try to include as many pics as is reasonable here, but I'm working on a borrowed computer, so I'm not sure how well it will all work.

 We started our trip atop the London Eye.  This is a huge Ferris wheel right in the heart of downtown London.  We thought this might give an overview of the city so that we could get the lay of the land.  Beautiful views, especially of Big Ben and Parliament. 

We spent time trying to figure out public transportation and getting around a big city. We had decided not to ride a double-decker bus because we heard it was a rip off.  Come to find out, that IS the public transportation system and so we've rode them so often that it has become commonplace.  There has been a learning curve with travel.  I knew London was big, but didn't realize how expansive it really is.  But we have learned some key things and have let the kids each take a turn getting us to and from the subway system or bus and to our destinations.

The Beefeater Tour

We also went through the Tower of London which is a medievil castle on the bank of the Thames.  It dates back to the 1600s when it was used by kings as a royal manor or prison for distinguished prisoners.  This is also the safe place for the Crown Jewels which are beautiful.  It was interesting to hear the gory tales of England's past royals through the eyes of the Beefeaters, the guardians of this estate. We toured the rooms of the past kings of England to see how they lived in that day. 

The Tower of London

The Tower Bridge

We also went to the Tower Bridge, which was the only bridge crossing the Thames River for hundreds of years.  It is really quite spectacular to see and was raised to allow cargo ships to come to the Tower and unload their wares. 

We were able to take a boat tour on the Thames which enabled us to see the bridge up close, along with several famous spots like The Globe Theatre where Willaim Shakespeare held plays. This also took us under London Bridge, which, I know, provides a place for a natural joke: yes, we were glad it wasn't falling down! :)

Each one of these places we've seen holds special significance, as they are sites of some of the main events in our history and literature books, but they also are architecturally stimulating.  It is a wonder to marvel at these strucutres, many of which are several hundred years old and still amazing to behold. 

That is especially true of Westminster Abbey.  From the outside, it is truly one of those buildings that every one in our family walked up and said, "Whoa!"  It is massive and, even though it is under repair and some of it is hidden, it has so many spectacular angles to catch the eye.  We did not get to go in yet, but hope to go tomorrow. 

Westminster Abbey

One of the issues we've had to deal with is figuring out how to get in everything that we want to see here.  There is a short list of things that we wanted to see and we've seen just about everything that we wanted to see. 

House of Parliament

When we went to Washington D.C. a few years ago with the family, we were amazed at how magnificent our national buildings are.  It made us proud to walk down the national mall and see the structures that represent our country and things that we hold dear.  I can only imagine that Brits must feel the same way when they see these remarkable structures.  They are awe-inspiring!   

One of the things that have been impressed by in this city is how jovial and friendly the people are.  Brits have a terrific sense of humor and it is woven into everything they do.  For instance, when we were taking a boat tour on the Thames, as the tour guide was giving us our safety instructions, he assured us that it was highly unlikely that we would have a accident.  He said, "I mean, what are the odds that we would have TWO accidents in one day!"  That's the kind of thing I have appreciated here. 

The Monument

We also climbed The Monument, which is a large column dedicated to the Great London Fire in 1666.  It remembers a time when fire destroyed 13,000 homes in London and gives a great place to view things from the river. 

We also went to Buckingham Palace.  There is a huge park surrounding it which is open to the public.  You can get remarkably close to it, but it is guarded by these soldiers around the clock. 

Everyone says that you should see the changing of the guard, but it only happens once a day at 11:30 am and it's pretty difficult to catch if you're on a schedule.  We saw them change posts, and that was good enough for me.  We tried to track down of the soldiers to get a picture with him, but that hasn't happened yet.  Maybe tomorrow. 

Buckingham Palace

Since Buckingham Palace is used by the queen, it is only open to the public in August and September, so we didn't go through it. We did go through Kensington Palace, which is the home of Prince Harry and Kate?  I've never really been into that whole royals rubbish, so I couldn't tell you.  It was a magnificent building which has a history of about 400 years and is beautiful decorated.  Stacy and I went through the Builtmore a few years ago, and many of its features reminded me of that. 

It gave me some ideas for a remodel of the house--there is entire wing dedicated to the man of the house and an entire wing dedicated to the woman.  Both were equally spectacular for different reasons.  The paintings and furnishings in these places is simply unbelievable.  It is still used by the young royal family to this day.  Not a bad first home! 

Kensington Palace

Well, I'm on a borrowed computer, so I've tried to give you a glimpse into our past couple of days.  It's been a whirlwind, but we are blessed to have this opportunity!  We've enjoyed ourselves royally!  (I was trying to figure out how to work that in)  And we've only just begun. 

We would covet your prayers as our family has not been together in this configuration, this close for some times.  We had some beautiful moments that we will treasure for a lifetime.  I'll try to write again as I have opportunity so check back. 

Tomorrow we have some time in the morning to hit that last few spots that we hope to see here.  We're trying to get in a tour of the Tower Bridge, go through Westminster Abbey, and see at least part of the National Gallery before we have to catch a 2-hour bullet train under the English Channel to Paris ijn the evening.  Again, we appreciate your prayers!