London: Part One

Day 1: Crystal get your shoes on, we're at Grandma's. Not really, we're in the U.K.

Finally, after much anticipation I finally made it to London. It was like a dream come true. Our airplane arrived into Standsted around 8:00am. First we needed to go through customs, get our luggage, and then buy our train tickets into the city. It was so cute because the lady at customs when asking the usual questions noticed that I would be in the country for my birthday. She also asked if it was my first trip to the U.K. I responded in the affirmative and she then wished me a wonderful holiday in London. What a great way to start of the trip!

Around 11-11:30am we finally made it to the hotel--Brent X Hotel.
This was our hotel room (Outside picture to come later).

Check out the tellie.

It had been a very long trip, especially for Crystal coming from Utah, so we took it easy at first. Crystal took a nap while I watched some British television and sort of dozed at the same time. A couple hours later, we decided to go find a place to eat near the hotel. We asked the staff member at the front desk where his favorite place to eat was and he told us this pub called the Preston. "You can't go wrong," he said.

Can't go wrong, indeed!

The Preston.

After dinner we walked around the neighborhood a little while and then went back to the hotel to plan for the next days activities.

Day 2: Our first full day in London we first headed to the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A).

Here are some of the things we saw.

These shutters are for you dad.

The courtyard of the V&A.

Wearing my British shoes in Britain. So happy!

After the V&A Museum we headed over to the Science Museum. On the way, I stopped to take a quick phone call. Could it be London calling?

Or maybe it was NASA? Hello Houston.

While at the Science Museum, we decided to eat at one of
the cafes. Look at the awesome tables.

I love that they call it the lifts.

There was an exhibit about plastics and there was this awesome
chandelier made of bic pens and paper clips.

The same day that we were in South Kensington this cute ice skating rink just happened to open for the holiday season. I would have gone ice skating, but I had already planned an ice skating trip for when I got back to NYC for my birthday party. So I had to wait.

Crystal and I then made our way over to Harrods. There we walked through the store and even stopped and had a Berry Pavlova Sundae at the little gilato bar in the food area. Now I can say that I have personally experienced the magic of Harrods.

This was our Underground stop to our hotel...Preston Road.

Day 3: Friday morning after breakfast we headed off to Buckingham
Palace to see the changing of the guard.

All Hail Her Majesty the Queen!
(and I'm not talking about me)

Some of the many pictures of the guard/bands as they march in.

And a couple of pictures as they march out.

Now this is what I call a "gated" community. Check out all the gold detailing.

Our first spotting of Parliment and the famous Clock Tower
(we all know the bell in the tower is actually Big Ben).

Me so excited to see "Big Ben" in person.

The London Eye!

Crystal and I went and bought our tickets to ride the London Eye for later in the day. After that business was taken care of, we continued to walk around to check out the sites. But first, a stop at Wonder Waffles to try one of their delicious looking waffles. AND it was delicious.

Crystal has a thing for kissing animals (if you didn't learn from her recent post).

Crystal and I in front of the Houses of Parliament.

As we walked along we came across this park next to the river. As we walked in there was this statue and this is what I first noticed. Good Game, eh, boy?

The Thames!

After sitting in the park for a little bit, we continued our walk around the area.
We walked down this street and turned onto this street that was quiet and quaint. We also made friends with this really loud cat. Man that cat could meow!

This sign totally made me think of Monty Python.

Westminister Abbey!

Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day here in the US of A) fell right during the middle of our trip. At Westminister Abbey they had this memorial set up in rememberance of all the soldiers who died in both World Wars. I loved seeing the Poppies everywhere and was grateful for the fireside lesson I had in Young Women's when I learned the significance about the poppy. Go research it if you don't know what I'm talking about. Let's just say that Crystal and I are on missions now to get people in America to don poppies next year on Veteran's Day.

RAF...Royal Air Force! (Thanks Chicken Run)

View of the Houses of Parliament from Westminster.

Here is a new memorial that we walked past that I had just learned about the evening before watching the tellie in the hotel. It was dedicated to the women of World War II.

As we continued our walk we made it to Trafalgar Square.

Crystal was so excited to be at Trafalgar Square, but her excitement was soon turned into tears when she learned that it was no longer allowed to feed the pigeons there.

Here is Crystal kissing her second lion of the day. Don't get jealous Gene, Crystal still loves you.

After Trafalgar Square we headed back over to get on the London Eye so we could get on as the sun would start to go down.

On our way over to the London Eye, we ran into a couple of street performers dressed up as statues. Crystal especially liked this bicycle guy.

The beginning of our London Eye ride.

The view about halfway up looking south down the Thames.

View from the top.

Not long after we got off, the London Eye lite up the night. So beautiful!

The end of another glorious day in the city of London.