London Part 1

Hello everyone! We are now back from our fab trip to London. Today I'll post about what we did on Monday and Tuesday, and tomorrow I'll finish up with what we did on Wednesday and Thursday.
Monday started at 3:30 a.m. We left our house by 4:ooish to drive to an airport that is about 1 1/2 hours away. Our flight to an airport outside of London was only about an hour, but then it took about another 1 1/2 hours on a bus to get to London itself. All said and done we arrived at about 11:00. We grabbed a muffin and some juice to refuel and then we were off.
Our first stop was Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament pictured below. Actually, the clock itself is not Big Ben, but the bell inside the tower that rings is the "real" Ben (named after the man who made it).


Then we went to Westminster Abbey. Tristan is pictured at the front door below. You couldn't take pictures inside, so this is the best you get. It's was interesting to learn how many different people are buried inside, many monarchs but also others like Geoffrey Chaucer (author of Canterbury Tales).


Here's a picture of us on a bridge over the River Thames with the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.


Our next stop was the Imperial War Museum. Along with lots of cool army equipment, we liked the exhibit on war posters, the Holocaust floor and the exhibit about British army intelligence.


By 6:30 we figured that we needed to find the hotel that we were going to stay in. We took the Tube (underground) to the stop we thought was closest and started to walk, figuring that the hotel was not too far away. After walking for about 30 minutes, we found a couple of police officers to ask where to go. They pointed us in the right direction, and after about 45 more minutes, we found it. The hotel itself left a lot to be desired, but obviously we survived. Needless to say by that time we were pretty shattered and ready for some food since a muffin and a couple of granola bars was all we had to eat since 4 a.m. So we headed out again on our tired feet, and after a couple more "detours" we made it to the Hard Rock Cafe ready to feed our ravenous selves. Below is a picture of us waiting 40 minutes to be seated.


Below is a picture of Tristan being so hungry that he is going to eat pepper. We finally got to eat around 9:45. The hamburgers we ate were so delicious. I realized as I was eating mine that I hadn't had one since July when we first got here! Pretty crazy huh?

Day 2 started out with a trip to Windsor Castle. It's located a bit outside the city, but a train took us there easily. Apparently Her Majesty the Queen was there while we were, but she must not have realized we were there, because she never waved at us from her window. Below I am pictured with some guards marching with their funny hats, and then us with a guard in the background.


Next we visited the Tower of London. It was a fortress of sorts for the royals, and also served as a prison.



After a yummy dinner at Wagamama, we went to what is one of the highlights of our trip. Wicked! This musical is awesome! If you ever get the chance to go see it please do! We LOVED it!