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Published: March 16th 2009
London 1
Parliament Square and Big BenGreetings everyone, two full days in London is over. We saw a lot, but missed a lot. Here is a link to the major attractions that we either saw or should have seen
. Here are Saturday activities:
We took the motorcoach to Parliament Square and opted to get off. Marti, Carole and I went off by foot. We had a couple of places to see: Churchill Museum, Cabinet War Rooms, Trafalgar Square, Covent Gardens, Leichster Square, Theater District, Big Ben and everywhere in between.
After walking around Parliament Square, we headed for the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. They were both fantastic. Churchill's Museum was absolutely outstanding for the layout of materials, pictures and so forth. They had a very long digital table with a touch screen that brought up documents and pictures reflecting the activities of the given day.
We then walked up to Trafalgar Square and got involved in a Kurdish Celebration. The people and food was fantastic. Carole got the low down on the festival and the protest to support freeing their elected president who is jailed in Turkey.
Time is ticking down so off we went to Churchill
Ann, Marti and Carole At Churchill Museum Covent Gardens by way of The Theater District and Leichster Square. We then made our way to Harrods Department store. Marti went shopping and Carole and I had High Tea. Thanks Carole for the treat.
All our travels so far has been by foot and tube (subway). Back to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the group. After a little rest, we took off for food on the other side of the hotel. We started out with a large group and ended up with four: Carole, Donna, Susan and me. We ate Chinese but started out at an Indian restaurant. The waiter at the Indian restaurant royally pissed us off, so we got up and left.
On the way back to the hotel, we picked up a green scarf for St. Patrick's day. This was a great buy for 3 pounds. We had a nice walk back to the hotel, what a great evening.
So do we turn in or hang out? It's only 10 pm, so we hung out in the hotel lobby and had an absolutely fantastic time, staying up to 2:30 am. Yes, you heard right, 2:30 am. The conversation was
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle so funny and Bill and Dr. Meyer were the ring leaders. Off to bed for an excursion to Windsor Castle in the morning.
FYI: The tattoo picture is of a guy who took our picture in front of the Churchill Museum. He had this interesting tattoo. The picture of me wearing the socks was a gift from Nat and Lex. Two of my good friends and alumni of the DrakeSmart travel program.
Day 4- Sunday Up and off we go at 10 am for Windsor Castle. Dr. Meyer gave us a treat today with a side trip to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. It was a great sight with tons of people. Next, Windsor Castle for a guided tour. For me, this was the highlight of London. This is one awesome castle. The saying "seen one castle seen them all" does not count. For 11 pounds, this was well worth the entrance fee. The weather and the sights was perfect for a walk around the castle grounds. The only downfall, we did not have time to see the city center, but as Susan would say "that's okay".
We got back to the
St Paul
St Paul's Cathedral At Night hotel around 5 pm, dropped off our stuff and Marti and I went off to see three more sights before leaving tomorrow. We took the tube to find Abbey Road and within 20 minutes we are there. We took the obligatory picture and signed our names outside the wall of the Abbey Road Recording Studio. Off we go to find St. Paul's Cathedral.
After a tube ride and a very long walk, we got their for the 6 pm mass. Marti so enjoyed the reading that she asked the pastor to email it to her. Now time for a bus ride to get to the Tower of London. I'm going to see if we can get in to see the Changing of the Keys. This was found in Rick Steeves guideboook and I went to it in 2005. A longstory short here, you need tickets to get in to see this 750 year nightly ceremony. Per Rick Steeves, get their early, ask the guard nicely if they have an extra ticket or two and you may get to see this memorable ceremony.
The bus got us right there and after a few nice words to the evening guard,
Ann Abbey Road
Ann Crossing At Abbey Road he told us to come back at 9:15 pm. So we ate a sub at of all places, Subway, and took another bus ride to see the London Eye and back to the Tower Castle by 9:15. The ceremony was great and this was a great way to end the evening. Read more about this ceremony at
.
Back to hotel via the tube and we were were back by 11 pm. This was a very long day, up at 6 am and to bed at 12:30 am. Tomorrow we are leaving for Brussels so I better get packing. Ask me if I am exhausted?
LongStory Short,
Ann
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