London Chapter 3 - From a Tourist's View

It has been almost 2 months since we returned from our trip to London. It has been a very busy time with little time to detail the the last chapter of our visit - London as a tourist. We were digesting history from a thousand years ago. We couldn't take it in fast enough! Since we had only one day we had to move along, sometimes before we were really ready. But we knew that we were going to miss so much any way and dawdling would only make it worse. It was great to have Amber as our tour guide as she had already been to all of these sites. This is Amber in front of her flat. I don't know why they call them flats as it is anything but flat! Her bedroom was on the top floor so she was the 'princess in the tower'!

Harry Potter, The Half Blood Prince was just out on the screen and so to honor that book and movie, we had our picture at the King's Cross Station. We would have loved to go to the movies while there but, had too many other choices and it was a lower priority.

Dinner our first night was Chinese Dim Sum. It was something that Scott had loved while on his mission in Hong Kong. It had been since our cattle showing days in San Fransisco 20ish years ago that we had enjoyed this treat. Our favorite was the BBQ Pork Buns in the right hand bottom corner. We loved the time visiting with Amber.

The tube! What an experience! We were so thankful that Amber knew how to navigate public transportation. We enjoyed 'people watching' while traveling. Amber thought we were pretty fun to watch as we were doing this. It was so interesting. There is such a diversity in nationalities.

'The Old Curiosity Shop' immortalized by Charles Dickens in his writing survived the London fire of 1666. It was near the LSE campus.

Tower of London - such an intriguing place. I could have spent a whole day there so that I could read every information plaque and gone on the same tour several times! So much history. I was amazed at the building materials and engineering - some had lasted 1000 years.

A river tour on the River Thames.

Graduation Day dinner at 'The Blueprint Cafe' on the River Thames. We enjoyed pickled walnuts and Creme Brulee. The food was awesome as was the view of the river and city. On one side was the Tower of London and Tower Bridge and other historical sites and on the other was the very modern business district of London. While we were eating, a rain storm came through and we enjoyed the lightning display.

The London theater experience has its own unique. We wanted to see Les Mis, Lion King or Phantom of the Opera, but tickets were unavailable for the night that we were able to go. We did enjoy '39 Steps', a take off of an Alfred Hitchcock story, that had only 4 actors.

A picture in front of the Drummonds Bank Building!

London phone booths!

The London Eye - a ferris wheel of sorts that rotates every half hour to give a panoramic view of the city. You could see it from all over the city making quite a contrast to the old architecture.

Big Ben - We learned that Big Ben is the bell in the tower not the clock! It is another site that is visible from many places in the city.

Westminster Abbey - what an incredible building. Compare the people walking on the sidewalk to its size. Another place where the engineering accomplishments of 1000 years ago are amazing.

Buckingham Palace - Another huge building. The gates were massive. Sadly the queen didn't come out to greet us!

At the end of the day our treat was gelato! It tasted heavenly. I could get used to a taste of that each day. For the fun of it, I had worn a pedometer to keep track of how many steps I walked - 24,010! We were tired but thoroughly enjoyed the day.