Monday in London

Monday was our last full day in London.  Justin had to work, but he kids and I still had LOTS that we wanted to see.  Since we were worn out from three full days of touring we decided to hop on one of those open topped double-decker tourist buses.  We loved it! 

We saw EVERYTHING and didn't have to walk a single step.  Also, they had headphones that plugged into a commentary about the things we were seeing.  We learned a lot!

This is the view down the road from the top of the bus.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Noah was really intent on the commentary.  He loved learning all about the things we were seeing.

I think Lucy was just happy not to have to walk!  Her little legs were worn out!

I love this picture because it you can see three faces of London:

In the front is the very old building, followed by the modern squared-off office building, and then in the back is the "Gerkin."  A futuristic building named for its pickle shape.

Looking down the Thames towards the Tower Bridge.

While crossing over London Bridge...

which isn't impressive at all!

London city skyline

Looking back down the Thames while crossing the Tower Bridge.

The plain-looking bride in the background is London Bridge.

The Tower Bridge from the fortress wall of the Tower of London.

The only time we got off the bus was at the Tower of London.  Everyone included this in their "must-see" list for us.  And they were right!  We got to go up in tiny rooms where prisoners were kept, see the crown jewels, walk the fortress walls, see all sorts of armor and battle implements, and meet Prince Edward II.

Another old vs. new picture.

The kids LOVED hearing from the characters.

This is Prince Edward II telling them some history of the Tower and about different types of weapons used in battle.

The Queen's quarters inside the Tower walls.

A little princess I found in the prisoners' tower.

I LOVE old bricks, old windows, and old staircases.

This is the only changing of the guard that we really got to see.

These guards were guarding the crown jewels.

Of course, there were no pictures allowed in the jewel vault.  

But, take if from me, they were amazing!!

After thoroughly touring the Tower, we ate a quick lunch at the little cafe and headed out to catch our bus.

Look!  A blue sky in London!

It a Festivus miracle!!

Looking up the Thames towards Big Ben and Parliament on the left and the London Eye on the right.

The Marble Arch.

The famous Harrod's Department Store.

Our bus did a huge loop and even wove in and out of some streets.  So, I feel like I've at least seen a lot of London.  We saw Margaret Thatcher's house (with the guard out front), Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, Green Park, The Princess Diana Memorial Playground, J.M. Barrie's (the writer of Peter Pan) home and the statue of Peter Pan across the street in Hyde Park, the first Hard Rock Cafe, foreign consulates, and so much more.  It was a great way to relax and see a lot of things in a short time.

Like I wrote before, things close surprisingly early in London.  We were happy as can be, oblivious to the time, when the bus driver came upstairs and told us that the buses were stopping for the night.  There were only a few people on it.  They decided to go ahead and get off.  So he asked me where we were headed and then took us as close as he could.  I thought that was really nice.

We were freezing so we stopped at Starbuck's to get some hot chocolate.  Did you know that I have now had Starbuck's on three continents?  And, I don't really even give a rip about Starbucks!

Anyhow we warmed up a bit and then hopped into a taxi to the train station.  We could have walked, but we wanted to catch a train before the rush.

Um... strike out!  But, we're used to crowded transportation.  And there they let us sit down.  While we were riding the train out to Kingston, the lady across from Noah looked at us and said, "Do you mind if I tell your children a paper story?"  

I had no clue what that was but I said ok.  She pulled out a piece of paper and folded it all up into a small square.  As she told the story, she folded the paper into different shapes of things in the story.  It was quite entertaining and made the time go by fast.

We met Justin at the train station and went to dinner together.  After one last stop at the grocery store we headed back to the inn.  

Time to pack and feel sad about leaving.

Tuesday we got up and had breakfast together.  Justin left for work and the kids and I finished getting ready and packing.  We walked downtown a little bit more and then met Justin for lunch.  He took us up to meet his coworkers and tour the office.

They are all so young!!

We ate a quick lunch at Subway and then took a taxi back to the inn.  We said our goodbyes and got in the car that Justin had arranged to take us to the airport.

Funny thing was that we couldn't check in.  We went to the customer help desk and learned that Justin had accidently booked our return flight for March 8th instead of February 8th!!!

OOPS!!!

They sent us to the booking agent to get it sorted out.  The charges to change our tickets plus the difference of the new ticket price was sky high.  Plus, there were no seats on that days' flight.  The agent was so nice and found us a flight at about the same time on a different airline, and I just had to buy new tickets out right.

OUCH!  Expensive mistake.

But, actually it wasn't nearly as expensive as I thought it would be.  And the booking agent said that we could get all of the taxes back from the un-used tickets, which is a hefty portion of the ticket anyway.

And away we flew.

I wish we had stayed another month!

On the plane Lucy was sitting next to a grumpy old man.  He went to sleep almost immediately.  Lucy was playing with a little lip gloss on a keychain.  She started whining that she couldn't find it.  I looked over, and she had somehow managed to toss it onto the man's collar!  It was just balanced there.  And, he was just snoring away.

Major moral dilema.  Should I try to grab it real fast without waking him up and hope for the best.  Or, should I wake him and ask for it.

I'll let you guess what I did!