1st 2 Days in London

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Well we finally made it to London after our plane being delayed for 3 hours. When we arrived in the city by way of the Gatwick express train, we both decided we were too tired to walk around, so we took a big bus tour on London. It took us around the main sites in town and had a nice commentary that told some English history. After that we went to the Tower of London and walked around inside. We saw the crown jewels and the armory. After that we headed on a riverboat cruise down the Thames River. It was really a cool view, but we soon discovered that London has the worst weather ever! It is a lot like Florida where it rains all the time, however it's also cold. Not a really good combo. We ate dinner at a small Italian place down the street from our hostel, which by the way is really nice. We're staying at the Globetrotter Inn. It's amazingly clean, the staff are so nice, and the beds have these handy curtains around them so you can separate yourself from the rest of your roommates. Our roommates are really nice also. We're staying with a couple from Idaho and two guys from New Jersey. We basically just passed out early our first night because we were so jet lagged!
On day two we woke up early to hot showers and breakfast in the hostel. We set out first to St. Paul's Cathedral. It was amazing!! So beautiful, and totally worth paying to go inside! We actually got to hear a choir singing during the time we were there, and it was lovely. We also decided to make the 483 stairs climb to the top of the dome to look out over all of London-awesome (but windy) view! Then we went and had a quick sandwich at a small cafe, and headed to Buckingham Palace. It's really breathtaking! There's a long walk up to it with trees lining the street and then it opens up to a fountain and behind it the palace. From there it was a straight walk to Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and Big Ben. This is where the storm started. So after looking around a bit, we decided to head inside to the British Museum. Among my favorite things inside were the Rosetta Stone and the mummy display. We ate dinner at an official English pub, and I had the official fish and chips dish. Let me tell you that they brought me out an entire fish deep-fried, yet it was definitely good!

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