We had a great time in London over the 4th of July weekend. It was nice to visit a country where we share the same language.
Fun Fact: Did you know that Brit's love American accents?!
I found myself wanting to speak with a British accent almost everywhere I went. (I secretly wish I was British.) Not to mention men seem so much more attractive when they have an accent... am I right ladies?!
Anyways...
Day 1
Going through customs took much longer than I initially anticipated... but at least they stamped my passport. Out of all the countries I've been to England is the only country that has stamped my book, and probably will be the only one to do it. I almost immediately had my "Welcome to England" moment when I saw one of the custom's agents teeth.
Once we checked into our hotel in South Kensington we took the underground to Westminster and saw Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
We walked around for a little longer and found the Imperial War museum and it ended up being closed due to maintenance, so we decided to call it an early night so we could plan out the next two days.
Day 2
We got an early start on day 2. We first went to The Tower of London, which was much bigger than I thought. We were able to see the Crown Jewels, which for me... was a highlight of our trip. It really is something I think everyone should see for themselves. We walked around in some of the towers and then headed to The London Bridge. It was cool to go inside and see the exhibition but, we quickly moved on. Then it was the HMS Belfast. Which was also a quick trip considering we were both starving.
Then it was onto Piccadilly Circus! Totally packed with people... they call it the 'Times Square' of London. Then we went into M&M's world...a chocolate lovers paradise!
By then it was late afternoon so we decided to do some exploring. We found China town, (Cameron was in heaven) and Ripley's Believe It or Not.
By this time everything was closed for the day so we decided to take a stroll through St. James Park and when we came out the other side, Buckingham Palace was in front of us.
The Queen was home so the Palace was closed to the public. So we decided to call it a night and head home for the evening. As we were heading home on the Underground I saw a poster that said Bon Jovi was playing in Hyde Park that very night! Since our hotel was a 15 minute walk from Hyde Park, we decided to go! Sadly, you needed tickets to get in... so we sat outside the entrance and ate dinner while listening to some rock classics. It was great!
Day 3
Our day started off with a trip to The British Museum. That place is huge... I mean HUGE! We saw artifacts from almost every period/culture on the planet, including the Rosetta Stone. It was all very overwhelming but also very cool. By the time we left it was lunch time so we grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to Kings Cross so I could get my picture taken at Platform 9 3/4 (this was a must do before I left London).
After I got my Harry Potter fix we headed to Trafalgar Square where the National Galley is located! I was probably most excited for this part. Cameron, eh....not so much. I was able to see some of the most beautiful/famous art in the world. Van Gogh, Monet, da Vinci, Eyck, Seurat, Degas, Botticelli! Oh my, the list goes on! I was in heaven.
I could tell Cameron was ready to move on after an hour so we left and went to the Churchill war Rooms. I was surprised how interactive and updated it was. We both enjoyed that piece of WWII history.
We soon found ourselves taking a stroll through St. James's park once again, and ended back in Westminster. I tried to get into the Abbey but it had closed for the day : ( So we continued to walk around and see the sights once more before we left the next morning.
We left at 4:30 am from our hotel to get to the airport on time. We took a taxi from the hotel to Liverpool Street Station where we hopped on a train headed for Stanstead. I had one of the best moments of our trip in the taxi. He took us past all the sights on our way to the train station so it was a nice 'Goodbye London.' Anyways the moment happened when both Cameron and I saw Big Ben in the early morning hours still lit up and covered by a thin fog. I WISH I got a picture of it! It was one of the most dramatic things I've ever seen and it's something I'll never forget.
All in all, we had a wonderful time. Emma had a rough couple of days but we and she managed. We ate fish and chips, I heard bloke, cheers and Emma REALLY laughed for the first time the last night we were there. It was a perfect end to our trip.
* I also realized that I never blogged about our cruise to Greece last year. I'll do that once I have some time on my hands!
