Sun is in the sky, oh why oh why would I want to be anywhere else?
I've finally got the photos up! Many new photos for you to enjoy.
I fell behind in my updates here and photo uploading because I wanted to post about London the same time I uploaded the London photos. I got stuck trying to recap our trip to my satisfaction, and thus stubbornly refused to upload the photos, and 6 weeks later, here I am.
So, London was beautiful, sunny. Who'd think one would go to London to get sunshine? But we did. April 6-9 -- a quick weekend trip while Joe was still able to get weekends away was the idea. It was a nice getaway. Too short. There's so much to see and do, I think we barely scratched the surface. Here are some highlights.
Friday night we met Kathryn and Filippo (former colleagues of mine) for dinner. We met in Notting Hill and went to a Spanish tapas place. It was yummy! It was nice to see them, and to get the weekend off to a running start with something to do the first night there.
The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind tour of central London. We walked all over town.
In Leicester Square we bought tickets to see The History Boys. We walked to Piccadilly Circus, and from there we continued on Regent Street to Oxford Circus. We stopped at the Apple store and another well-known store called Liberty.
After much walking, we visited the Natural History Museum and checked out the dinosaur exhibit.
Saturday, we went to Forbidden Planet on Shaftsbury Avenue (thank you Molly!) for our comic fix.
From comics to ancient relics, next was The British Museum. So much to see, so little time. :) Their Near Eastern exhibit was closed, but I did find a few pieces of Armenian brass work. You’ll see them in the London set.
After the museum, we went to Hyde Park Corner, and walked down to the Hard Rock Cafe. It is the original Hard Rock Cafe -- founded in 1971. Did you know that? We didn't know that!
Sunday morning we walked down Whitehall and checked out the historical and government buildings there. We went to the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill War Museum. That was really cool. We went into the actual underground bunkers from where Churchill and his generals ran the war during WW2. The bunkers were all there, and all the original furniture and everything was still there, and there was a cool audio tour that explained everything and even had audio clips of interviews of people who worked there at the time. I highly recommend checking it out if you're ever there.
Then we walked down to Westminster Abbey. We were not able to get in, because they don't allow tourists inside on Sundays. That was a bummer. I guess we'll just have to go back. :)
So we walked around the Abbey, took some photos. Checked out Westminster Hall, Big Ben, and walked across Westminster Bridge. Then we took the tube to Tower Hill. We got tickets to The Tower of London for the next day and walked across Tower Bridge and went to the South Bank. We walked along the South Bank of the Thames until the London Bridge, then took the Tube to Southwark, and then walked to Waterloo station and down to the London Eye. The lines were crazy long, so we decided to skip it.
We crossed the river again at Westminster and walked down to take a closer look at The Houses of Parliament. Then we walked up Whitehall and stopped at a pub called The Red Lion. The pub had been around since 1434 and apparently Charles Dickens used to go there. We had a pint and a rest, which was very nice, and then took the bus back to the hotel. Then we met up with Elisabeth for dinner.
Monday morning we stored our luggage at the hotel and made our way to Tower of London. We saw the Crown Jewels, and the Bloody Tower and the Ravens, and the torture devices and the armor and more. We touched the Roman wall remains. Then we rushed back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage and went to the airport, barely made our flight back.
There was a lot we didn't do. But it was a good intro to London. Now I feel like I know the place well enough that we can go again and get even more out of our trip. I hope we have the chance again soon. I've got family in Cambridge to visit, too! There was no time for so many things this time around. But it was awesome.
Yay London!
I fell behind in my updates here and photo uploading because I wanted to post about London the same time I uploaded the London photos. I got stuck trying to recap our trip to my satisfaction, and thus stubbornly refused to upload the photos, and 6 weeks later, here I am.
So, London was beautiful, sunny. Who'd think one would go to London to get sunshine? But we did. April 6-9 -- a quick weekend trip while Joe was still able to get weekends away was the idea. It was a nice getaway. Too short. There's so much to see and do, I think we barely scratched the surface. Here are some highlights.
Friday night we met Kathryn and Filippo (former colleagues of mine) for dinner. We met in Notting Hill and went to a Spanish tapas place. It was yummy! It was nice to see them, and to get the weekend off to a running start with something to do the first night there.
The rest of the weekend was a whirlwind tour of central London. We walked all over town.
In Leicester Square we bought tickets to see The History Boys. We walked to Piccadilly Circus, and from there we continued on Regent Street to Oxford Circus. We stopped at the Apple store and another well-known store called Liberty.
After much walking, we visited the Natural History Museum and checked out the dinosaur exhibit.
Saturday, we went to Forbidden Planet on Shaftsbury Avenue (thank you Molly!) for our comic fix.
From comics to ancient relics, next was The British Museum. So much to see, so little time. :) Their Near Eastern exhibit was closed, but I did find a few pieces of Armenian brass work. You’ll see them in the London set.
After the museum, we went to Hyde Park Corner, and walked down to the Hard Rock Cafe. It is the original Hard Rock Cafe -- founded in 1971. Did you know that? We didn't know that!
Sunday morning we walked down Whitehall and checked out the historical and government buildings there. We went to the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill War Museum. That was really cool. We went into the actual underground bunkers from where Churchill and his generals ran the war during WW2. The bunkers were all there, and all the original furniture and everything was still there, and there was a cool audio tour that explained everything and even had audio clips of interviews of people who worked there at the time. I highly recommend checking it out if you're ever there.
Then we walked down to Westminster Abbey. We were not able to get in, because they don't allow tourists inside on Sundays. That was a bummer. I guess we'll just have to go back. :)
So we walked around the Abbey, took some photos. Checked out Westminster Hall, Big Ben, and walked across Westminster Bridge. Then we took the tube to Tower Hill. We got tickets to The Tower of London for the next day and walked across Tower Bridge and went to the South Bank. We walked along the South Bank of the Thames until the London Bridge, then took the Tube to Southwark, and then walked to Waterloo station and down to the London Eye. The lines were crazy long, so we decided to skip it.
We crossed the river again at Westminster and walked down to take a closer look at The Houses of Parliament. Then we walked up Whitehall and stopped at a pub called The Red Lion. The pub had been around since 1434 and apparently Charles Dickens used to go there. We had a pint and a rest, which was very nice, and then took the bus back to the hotel. Then we met up with Elisabeth for dinner.
Monday morning we stored our luggage at the hotel and made our way to Tower of London. We saw the Crown Jewels, and the Bloody Tower and the Ravens, and the torture devices and the armor and more. We touched the Roman wall remains. Then we rushed back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage and went to the airport, barely made our flight back.
There was a lot we didn't do. But it was a good intro to London. Now I feel like I know the place well enough that we can go again and get even more out of our trip. I hope we have the chance again soon. I've got family in Cambridge to visit, too! There was no time for so many things this time around. But it was awesome.
Yay London!
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