On Thursday night after Tom’s work, we drove up to Bremen to
a small airport. We flew to Stansted. It is about an hour north of London and since
it was late we stayed at a hotel right near the airport. It was nearly two in the morning by the time
we got to bed and we were exhausted.
We had already booked our bus tickets early the next morning so we got
up early too and headed into the city.
On the way there, we passed the Olympic stadium and the torch. It was cool to see. We immediately walked to our hotel. We stayed right on Picadilly, across the
street from St. James Park which is next to Buckingham Palace. We were all pretty tired from our lack of
sleep so we hung out in the room for awhile.
Then we walked up Picadilly and stopped at a Pret-a-Manger for some lunch. We walked to Picadilly circus and then down
to Trafalgar square. We took a few
pictures, they had a countdown in the square for the Olympic opening
ceremonies. Afterwards we went into the
National Gallery. It was a huge art
museum and it was kinda confusing. We
put Sam in the backpack and Ainsley in the stroller and they both slept the
whole time.
Picadilly 
Looking from Trafalgar Square down to Big Ben
Nelson's Column at Trafalgar Square. The National Gallery is right behind it.
After touring the National Gallery, we walked to Westminister to see the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and Westminister Abbey. It was closed for Good Friday, so we planned to come back on Monday. We walked through Buckingham Gardens. We stopped for awhile to watch the birds, let Ainsley play at the park, and eat some snacks. Then we headed to Buckingham Palace. Then we walked back to our hotel for a little break.
That is Buckingham Palace behind her
After seeing Buckingham Palace, we walked down the
street back to Picadilly Circus and found a pizza place to have some dinner. While we were waiting for our check, Sam
started to get really fussy and so I decided to take him outside and walk
around with him. I was pacing up and
down the street when someone called my name.
I looked up and saw Tom’s cousin Brandon Winder and his family. I was shocked. We were both so surprised to see each
other. Turns out that they were visiting
Melanie’s sister who lives in London. Neither
of us knew the other would be in town.
It was such a coincidence that we ran into each other because were lost,
looking for their bus stop and I only stepped out of the restaurant for a
moment. I told them to go into the
restaurant to surprise Tom. Brandon walked in and pulled out the chair at Tom’s
table and sat down. Tom was shocked. We spent the next little bit chatting and
catching up. We hadn’t seen each other
for a few years. They walked us back to
our hotel and said goodbye. It was so
fun to see them.
On Saturday, we got up early,
grabbed some breakfast at Pret, and caught the bus. We had to make a transfer and couldn’t find
the new bus stop. We ended up walking in
a big circle but found Covent Garden which we had wanted to go to anyway. We found a toffee shop we had wanted to buy
some souvenirs at. They had a huge fabrege egg display for Easter. We took a minute to look at all the unique designs. Then we walked back down to the same street we had gotten off the bus at, found the correct bus stop an headed to the Tower of London.
When we finally pulled up to the Tower of London, we were shocked at how many people were there. I think every tourist in the city happened to go to the Tower that
morning. It was packed. Luckily I had prebought our tickets so we didn't have to stand in the hour long line. We immediately went into the tower and waited for a tour. The tour was crowded but it was worth it. The Yeoman Warders, tower guards, gave us an hour long tour about the history and events that had occured there. I had just watched a Tower of London documentary on Netflix before we went so I was a real nerd and kept pointing out things that I had seen on the documentary. But the tower is so fascinating to me. I love history. After we went on the tour, we went into one of the buildings to see the
Crown Jewels. Then we walked around the tower viewing the different displays
and performances. We sat and listened to some musicians play on some old instruments.
We
were getting really hungry but only had snacks. It was getting late and it was starting to rain, so
we quickly walked across the Tower Bridge. We
caught a bus to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater.
They rebuilt the Globe in 1997 as close to the original as they could. It is still an open air theater with wooden
seats a thatched roof. It was really interesting tour and it taught us all about what London was like back then, how people died their clothes to get certain colors, and what it would have been like to see a play at the Globe. They still do performances exactly the way they were done back then. It would have been fun to see a play but the season isn't open yet. He told us they are going to be doing plays in 37 different languages during the Olympic games.
After seeing the Globe theater, we
walked across the Millenium Bridge towards St. Paul's Cathedral. We
bought some hot almonds and snacked on them as we walked across the
bridge. Tom teased me because I told him that when I saw the part in
Harry Potter 7 where the dementors destroyed the Millenium bridge, I
didn't realize it was a real bridge in London. I thought it was just
designed for the movie. So we joked that it was "the made up
bridge...that didn't really exist." When we got to St. Paul's we were
tired so we sat for a few minutes on teh steps. Of course, I insisted
on singing, "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins. I think both Ainsley
and Tom were a little embarrased to be sitting with me:)
Then we headed back to Covent Garden. We found
an English Pub to have some traditional British food.
Ainsley and I both had Fish and Chips and Tom had a Steak and Cheese pot
pie. It was delicious! After dinner, we went and got some icecream
and walked back to the hotel.
On Sunday we headed to church at
the Hyde Park Ward. It was nice to
attend an English speaking sacrament meeting again. After church, it was pouring so we headed
back to the hotel, changed and went to the British Museum. Again, probably every tourist in London was
there due to the rain so it made the museum really crowded and hard to get
around. We had printed off a highlight
list and so followed it through the museum.
We saw the Rosetta Stone, Parthenon statues, Lewis Chessman set, and
lots of other really cool stuff. After
the museum, we went souvenir shopping.
Ainsley picked out a Yeoman Warder teddy bear. Sam got a little two level red bus and black
taxi. Then we went back to the
hotel. 
Monday was our last day in
London. We checked out of the hotel,
stored our bags, and then headed straight to Westminister Abbey. We had to stand in line in the rain for about an hour before we got through. Once inside, it was packed but very interesting. They give you an audio guide to take a personal tour throughout the church. It was is an amazing church. I was amazed at how many people are buried
there. There are tombs everywhere! We saw tons of Kings and Queens from
throughout history including Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Henry VII,
etc. In Poets Corner, we saw
memorials and graves of famous writers including Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Jon
Keats, as well as musicians such as Handel.
We also saw Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin. The last thing we saw before we left was the
Coronation Chair which has been used for every British Monarch since St. Edward
the Confessor. It was pretty cool. Sadly, they don't allow pictures inside.
