London Town

We made our first of what I hope are many trips down to London--it was amazing! The Aylor family came for their tour of Europe and we joined them in London. It was so great to see all of the sights we had always seen in pictures. Our first planned event was to experience Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace and we even took the time to get insider tips on where to be to get the best views. Five minutes before everything got started, one of the guards yelled,"if you are here for the changing of the guards, it has been cancelled due to a race going on near the castle grounds." Great! We hoped this was not a sign of things to come! We began to walk through the most beautiful park I have ever seen, St. James Park, and caught our first glimpse of Big Ben.

We then headed to the pub recommended by a Rick Steves travel guide and were able to sit in the seats that Charles Dickens and Dr. Samuel Johnson once frequented! The rest of the afternoon I spent in the park again while Ella napped and the others visited the Winston Churchill Museum and War Cabinet Rooms.

The next day was spent mostly in the Tower of London, under the careful watch of our 'Beefeater' Tour Guide. It was fascinating to learn how people were punished in the 'old days'!! After seeing the Crown Jewels I decided that I definitely need a bigger diamond ring, royalty must have very strong necks. Sorry no pictures are included, we would have been next on the execution block for snapping photos!

I always knew London had many sights to see, but I think we would need to spend a month there to see it all. We only made a dent!