Hello from across the pond!
We are going to split the blog post so we could both post some memories from the day...
We, unfortunately didn't see the changing of the guards. We didn't realize what time it started and totally missed it. No big deal, we had a great time seeing TONS of other sites today! We must have walked a million miles, but we definitely saw a lot.
We went to the other side of the city to see Big Ben, the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament. It really was unreal standing there taking it all in. Afterwards, we went to West Minster Abbey then to Buckingham Palace. Then we went to see some major attractions in the museums and then walked through the city and went back to see the Westminster area at night.
We keep getting confused with the opposite of the way transportation. Too many times we have looked left instead of right (or vice versa) and thought the way was clear. They painted some directions on the edge of the sidewalk to let people like us remember, but we keep forgetting, but I don't think Paris will have the same problem because they drive similar to us.
The weather has been great! Absolutely great! I would say mid 70s and SUNNY!!!!!!!!!!! AMAZINGLY SUNNY!!!!!!!!!! At night, we need sweaters or long-sleeves, but during the day jeans and short sleeve shirts are great!
My absolute FAVORITE part of the day was seeing VAN GOGH'S SUNFLOWERS!!!!!!! YES! his sunflowers! I can't even explain how exciting this was for me (this painting has been a favorite of mine from childhood)! Seeing it in person in Europe was unreal! I loved it! Among Van Gogh, we found da Vinci, Raphel and Rembrandt (no pictures allowed though, so you'll have to take my word that we saw it!). Then we went to see the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum. I found this pretty cool and enjoyed seeing it, but I don't think Jeremy was as impressed. I also really enjoyed Westminster Abbey, but Jeremy said absolutely that was his favorite thing in London, so I'll let him write about it (BUT...GRAM...you'll never guess who is buried there?! THOMAS HARDY! Yes, the man who wrote Tess : ) I know you'll enjoy hearing this! Haha!!)
To give us an energy boost, we stopped at this Pure Frozen Yogurt shop called Snog. It was VERY good. This was perfect to hold us over until later for dinner. We had baguette sandwiches at a small to-go shop for lunch to try to get in everything (the museums closed at 5 and 6 and we needed to rush to get to them all).
As Dana was saying, today was a very exhausting day...lots of walking, walking, and more walking! All in all though, it was a great day in London and we probably saw almost the entire city. We spent almost 3 hours in Westminster Abbey on an audio tour. This was my favorite place that we toured so far on our trip. It is hard to explain the magnitude and detail of the items found in this church. The church is almost 1,000 years old (dates back to 1065) and all English Kings and Queens have been crowned there in the same coronation chair since then. We saw hundreds if not thousands of tombs and monuments inside of the church in honor of English royalty (including all the Kings that have died up through George II).
We walked through the world's largest department store (Harrod's) and the largest toy store (Hammel's). We walked through numerous districts that resembled New York including Soho, Chinatown, and the Theater District and an area called the mall that resembled the mall in the heart of Washington, D.C. It feels like we have either walked or taken the bus or subway through every area of this city.
London far exceeded my expectations in almost every way. The city was fun, safe and clean. The people were extremely nice and helpful when we had any questions or looked like lost Americans. It was very easy to get around and plenty of things to see and do for the two days we have been here. We were both saying that if we get to come back sometime in the future that we would like to go to some of the areas outside of London like Wales, Stonehenge, Oxford, and definitely Scotland to the north. There's plenty more to see here, but tomorrow we're on to the next city in our short tour of Europe, Paris. We'll be hopping on the Eurostar train across the English Channel to Paris, France before lunch tomorrow. I know that Dana is looking forward to Paris the most of the three cities, so I hope it lives up to our expectations.
So stay tuned for more updates on our trip. Well, it is almost midnight here, so enough said, I'm going to bed.
The street reminders:
Oliver Cromwel and Jeremy outside Parliament
Us in front of Westminster Abbey
Big Ben and the House of Parliaments across the Thames
Us in front of Buckingham Palace!
The Rosetta Stone!
Jeremy at Snog in SoHo!
Big Ben and the House of Parliaments at night
Westminster at night!
Dana and Jermy, Angie helped me figure out how to post a comment. I love the pictures and look forward to the blog everyday. The gothic buildings in Poland were fasanating!!!! You both look good but Dana you are too skinny. eat some good food and sty away from everything wrapped in cows stomach. love gram and pap
ReplyDeleteDana and Jer....It sounds like you are having a terrific time and we are looking forward to a narration with pics when you get back. I certainly hope that you get to witness the changing of the gaurd tomorrow....it would be a shame to be there and not see that. I would like to ask Jeremy if you all did more walking in London than we did in NY...If so I feel sorry for your feet. It sounds like you are enjoying your time and the food over there. I think Jeremy will be able to fix us a European treat when he gets back....we certainly know how the food looks by all the pics, but can you cook it? I hope so. Duke beat Army today 35 to 19. GO DUKE!!!!!!!! I am turning this over to MOM as she is like a vulture looking over my shoulder waiting to get her hungry little fingers on this keyboard...querty....
ReplyDeleteWell Hello you two world travelers! I understand you cannot do everything in one visit and the changing of the guard will be next time.... I am glad that you are walking and getting ready to do the rome in two days...I hope you do the audio tour in the collosium. Lets tell you about here. Dad got 12 loads of dirt and has grass seed down everywhere. Lets hope it works...we are trying to see about a sprinkler system who knows its always something here with a new house. CJ is on his way here to go to a school for one week. Tara had to stay back to work SHE IS NOT HAPPY, but that is what happens when you marry ARMY.....(wonder what happens if you marry an accountant?) LOVE YA BOTH....be safe and enjoy yourselves
Hey guys. Hope all is well. Just wanted to give Jeremy a quick football update. You would have been proud of the Dukes for the first 55 minutes of the game. Up 7 in the 4th quarter, the coaches put the game on auto pilot, and started getting too conservative. We eventually lost by 3 in OverTime to Maryland, but it was obvious we were as good or probably better then they were. Dudzik had two nice td passes, and a 70 yd td run.
ReplyDeleteAnd on another sad note for Jeremy's football teams, Ohio State choked late in the 4th and lost to USC by 3.
That's all from here. Looks like you all are having fun. Take lots of pics, and talk to ya soon.
Hey Jeremy, I want to thank you Buckeye's it was a good game, hard fought game But the better team won. The trojens will always "cover" a Buckeye. Hope you and enjoy your trip in Paris and Rome. Don't read to much into Angie's posts
ReplyDeleteThat's a neat photo of the parliment you guys got. In fact, all your photos so far have been cool! Enjoying the blog for sure!
ReplyDelete-shaloot
ps- we lost in softball. we def. missed you both today... we gave up 8 runs in the 1st innings, and so it was too much, ended up losing by 3... so close!