London, Day 2

Today was a very full day.  We started the day with breakfast in the hotel and then rode the Tube to Westminster station.  I really wanted to visit the spot where Dave proposed.  I found "our" bench and we got a lot of great pictures.

Once upon a time, sitting on a bench by the Thames, a boy asked a girl to marry him...

After seeing Big Ben, we went into Westminster Abbey.  There's so much history to observe.  It is truly beautiful.  They definitely honor many important people in the Abbey (kings, poets, etc.).  It seemed sad to me that in such a beautiful building that happens to be in the shape of a cross, and that has a beautiful altar, people crowd in to honor other people.  Tour groups walk around learning more about important  people in English history and quietly in the center is Christ seeming to go unnoticed.  They've built large shrines to honor kings and are feet away from the King of Kings who could save more than their country.  (end rant)  We weren't able to take pictures inside, but got some lovely outside shots.

After visiting the Abbey, we walked to the National Gallery.  It was a beautiful day.  We spent several hours looking at paintings, took a break for lunch, and then saw the rest of the gallery.  It was amazing to be feet away from paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Turner, Degas, and Constable.  Signs clearly said not to take pictures, but people did anyway.  We were respectful and did not take pictures inside. 

Sights on our way to Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square and National Gallery

Lunch - Mom had a peach and prosciutto salad and I had the superfood salad with quinoa, spinach, broccoli, pomegranates, and avocados.

Next we walked through the West End (theater district) where we were last night for dinner and "Mousetrap" and went to the British Museum.  It is such a cool museum with so much history from various countries.  

Sights we saw on our walk to the museum.

Easter Island Head

Babylonian wall decor

a model of the solar system from the Enlightenment

"The Tree of Life" made from used guns after an African war

The Rosetta Stone

parts of the wall of Nineveh

part of the Parthenon

from the Parthenon

We ended the day with a great British dinner of fish and chips for me and fish pie for mom (shepherd's pie, but made with sea food).

London, Day 1

We started our trip at the Detroit Airport.  We arrived at 8:30pm and breezed through bag check and security.  I don't think many people travel internationally late on Wednesday evenings.  We had plenty of time to get a bite to eat near the gate.  We loaded a plane (which wasn't completely full - a nice surprise) and took off right on schedule.  The flight was uneventful and seemed short (a mere 7 hours).  Even with the smooth flight, it was not easy to get sleep.  I did see a couple movies I'd been wanting to see!  
Once we landed (11:28am London time), after getting bags, going through security and customs, we tackled the Tube.  The travel advisor told us to get off at South Kensington on the Pickadilli line, which turned out to be the wrong station.  We hiked, with our luggage for 4-5 blocks and finally found the hotel.  Once finding our hotel, we discovered that there was a station conveniently across the street from the hotel.  It didn't seem funny at the time.
After freshening up, we walked around our hotel neighborhood, got a bite to eat, and then took a power nap back at the hotel.  The evening plans included dinner at Brown's Restaurant at Covent Gardens.  We had a three course meal of cauliflower soup, cheese souffle', and salted caramel profiteroles.  After dinner we walked down St. Martin's Lane to the St. Martin's Theater to watch Agatha Christie's "The Mouse Trap", which happens to be the world's longest running play and a London staple.  It has a surprise ending, which we are not allowed to share (the cast made us promise at curtain call).  It was a lovely old theater.  For only having one afternoon in London so far, we sure made the most of it.  Tomorrow will be a full day of sight seeing and museums.  We look forward to sleeping in a bed tonight.

Ah, London!

So many interesting food options at the store down the street from the hotel.

cute church across from the hotel

dessert!