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| Here I am outside Big Ben and Parliament |
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| Cheers! |
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| Buckingham Palace |
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| Gardens at St. James Park |
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| The pub where I had a pint and fish and chips (and, sadly, mushy peas). |
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| Shakespeare's Globe |
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| Traitor's Gate - you don't want to enter the Tower this way. |
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| The White Tower |
Well, I'm back and barely getting over the jet lag. I spent 10 incredible days in London and enjoyed every minute of it. There is something so humbling and simply amazing about standing in a building that was built hundreds of years ago, or looking at parts of the Roman Wall and realizing that it was built by Romans almost two thousand years ago, or standing in Churchill's Bunker and realizing that this group of people saved the world. It was all so amazing and so worth the trip.
As for what I did, well, I toured and visited every site and museum that I could fit into my schedule: Buckingham Palace, (saw Kate's dress), St. Paul's Cathedral (climbed the dome and got dizzy), Westminster Abbey (saw Elizabeth's and Mary Queen of Scots' tombs), the British Museum (saw the Egyptian artifacts but was more impressed by the Roman artifacts from when they occupied Britain), Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (saw Dr. Faustus and Much Ado About Nothing), Ye Old Cheshire Cheese and Anchor Pubs (the former was rebuilt in 1667 after the Great Fire), the Natural History Museum (dinosaurs!), the Victoria and Albert Museum (design and jewelry!), the National Gallery (art from the 1600's and sometimes earlier), Churchill's War Rooms (never surrender!), the Imperial War Museum(got lost in the Holocaust exhibit which was too stressful to describe), the Tower of London (executions, jewelry, ravens!), the Museum of London (the Great Fire!), and more. I took four night London Walks tours including the Jack the Ripper Tour, a ghost tour, a hidden pubs tour, and a Bloodcurdling London tour. As I said, amazing and I hope to go back again.
By the way, if you are here to see my results from the Friday Night Sew-In there are no results to be seen. I fell asleep last night shortly after getting home from work and did not muster the energy to do any kind of sewing. I'm hoping to shake off the cobwebs and get something done today. It's been almost two weeks since I touched a sewing machine!
So that's where you disappeared to - I forgot you said you were going on vacation. Looks and sounds like you had a wonderful time. I hope we'll be seeing more pictures. Get some rest.
ReplyDeleteWelcome home. I'm sure the cat army were happy to have their mummy back. Glad to hear you had a great time. Sounds like it was very busy. Very glad to hear you visited the V&A. Awesome, isn't it! I don't get up to London often, but I should really try to more. I still haven't made it around all the exhibits there yet.
ReplyDeleteI am sooooo jealous. I love London but have only gotten to visit once, in 1998. I went to some of the same places you named and a few others that you didn't. I know exactly what you mean about how awesome it is to be in a building that you know was built hundreds of years ago. Your pictures were beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWay to go! If you are going all that way, the only way is to take in everything you can. Rest is what you do later. Thanks for the lovely pictures.
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