London

A little over 10 years ago a beautiful young lady made me the happiest man by becoming my wife. To celebrate this momentous occasion we decided to go on a vacation, just the two of us. After debating for a while we finally picked the locations of London and Paris. I hate the planning part of a trip so I left most of the decisions up to Jennifer. I would on occasion offer up my opinion on where I would like to go in both the cities. London seemed like it was going to be very easy to get around and navigate because they speak the same language. We found more things that we wanted to do in London, so we chose to spend 6 days there and 4 in Paris. Thankfully my parents are both retired so they were the best choice for babysitters while we were gone. So, we said goodbye to the kids and headed out on the first part of our journey, a five hour drive to Chicago. This was the cheapest ticket I found and it was a direct flight too!

Best part about driving to Chicago was getting to eat at my favorite restaurant, Giordano's! We also got to witness a pretty awesome double rainbow when we got to the airport. 

After the overnight flight we arrived at Heathrow Airport where we went through customs and then boarded the underground (subway) for about an hour ride into London. Our first stop was the hotel because we didn't want to carry our luggage all around town with us. Thankfully they let us check in early! Then we went out to begin sightseeing. We walked down towards the river Thames.

Our first ride on the Underground and then the first historical buildings we saw in London were Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. Come to find out most churches do not allow pictures to be taken in them. So you are just going to have to go see inside for yourself.

Next we crossed over the Thames on a bridge and experienced the London Eye - which is a huge ferris wheel. It had some pretty awesome views of the city. My only regret might have been that we didn't do it at night and see the whole city lit up. 

After the London Eye we hiked over to Trafalgar Square where we got a picture with the famous lions statues that sit out front. I tried to climb up on top of them, but was not able to do it. A few minutes later a police officer yelled at some children to get down. So, maybe I am glad that I couldn't get up there.

Piccadilly Circus was our next stop. This is supposed to be the Times Square of London, but it was no where close to the real thing. We couldn't decide on dinner so we stopped in at Shake Shack, which is one of our favorite stops in NYC. It is kind of funny that we now have one in Lexington and we haven't been there yet, but decided to stop on our trip.

We had no real plans for the rest of the night, but we happened to find the TKTS office in Piccadilly Circus and they had nosebleed tickets left for our favorite Broadway show, Wicked. We really enjoyed it, but were awful tired since we hadn't slept well on the plane. Jennifer even took a nap before it started. If you have never seen Wicked then you are really missing out!

Our second day started out early with a hour bus trip to the Warner Bros Studio. This is the studio where the Harry Potter films were made. It was really interesting to see all of the props, costumes, and sets. We spent a good 3 hours looking around and even stopped for a glass of Butterbeer.

This picture doesn't do this justice, but the Great Hall, where students at Hogwarts ate all of their meal, was amazing!

When we returned from the Warner Bros Studio we decided to get in some more sightseeing. Our first stop was the Tower of London. There was so much to see here. The biggest highlight was seeing all of the crown jewels from all of the previous kings and queens. They also had a display of the old armor and weapons. The dragon in the picture was made entirely of weapons and armor. The bottom right picture was a torture device in which they would stretch a person's body by pulling their arms and legs. The ravens in the picture are a staple at the Tower of London. There was an old superstition that if all the ravens left the Tower of London then England would fall. So, today they have a few that roam freely on the property and a few remain in cages. 

Since we were already next to it we decided to tour the Tower Bridge. The highlight of this tour was the glass walkway at the top of the bridge. It was a little scary to be walking around on a big piece of glass, but the only thing that made me feel OK about it was that it was over top of water. I figured that if it broke that I would at least have a shot at survival since I can swim.

We grabbed another picture with Big Ben before heading back to see where the Queen lives at Buckingham Palace. It turns out that this is the only day that we came by in which she was actually present, at least according to the flag. If the Union Jack is flying then she isn't there, and on this day it was the Royal Standard flying at the top, which means she is.

Nando's came highly recommended by a few locals and my brother-in-law. This ended up being Jennifer's favorite meal. It was a spicy grilled chicken and sides. Turns out that they are a chain and even have some stores in the US. So, if you are ever near one, then Jennifer would recommend it!

Our anniversary started with a trip to see the changing of the guard. We had heard that it was very crowded for this everyday, but we had no idea that there would be this many people. I asked one of the policemen where the best place to stand was and he told us that their was a parade that came by and then they did the changing of the guard. Somewhere I didn't comprehend that they just marched by and then headed into the gates to do the ceremonial changing of the guard. So, we ended up having great seats for the parade and then couldn't see the ceremony at all. We would have had to get there 2 hours early to get a spot up by the gate and we only showed up an hour early. We were satisfied with what we saw and decided that it wasn't something that we needed to come back a different day to watch. While the ceremony was taking place many tourist were trying to go in unauthorized areas to get a picture. Jennifer and I enjoyed watching the police yell at them and once an officer even took the lady's camera because he told her 3 separate times that she wasn't allowed in that area. Quite entertaining, while we couldn't see the actual changing of the guard.

Next we headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral. We couldn't find anywhere we wanted to go for lunch in the area so we just stopped in a little store and grabbed a bite to eat. Jennifer got a sandwich and I picked up some sour gummy treats. Not the ideal anniversary lunch, but we were ready to start climbing up to the top of the dome. The only problem was that we were just getting into the door when a downpour started. Since the dome was set to close in a few hours we headed up to the top. After 528 steps of swirling staircases we finally made it to the top of the dome. The rain let up for a few minutes so we snapped a few pictures and then decided that it was time for us to start the descent back down. In the bottom picture you can see the tight quarters that we were walking back down through. You can also see the wrap that I had on my leg. About a week before our trip I hurt myself playing basketball and actually couldn't walk for a couple of days because the pain was so bad. Jennifer was upset with me because I got hurt right before this big trip. I rested as much as possible before the trip and wore the ace bandage to help with swelling, but otherwise it didn't hinder me at all. The only thing it stopped us from doing was going on runs while we were there.

We then took a walk across the Millennial Bridge that crosses over the Thames River. On that side of the river we went in the Tate Modern which is a modern art museum. Most of the art that we saw in the museum was not understandable to Jennifer or myself. At one point I actually got too close to an exhibit and the alarm system started going off.

For dinner we went to Poppie's, which was highly recommended on the internet as the best fish and chips place in town. This was the meal that I was the most excited about and it lived up to my expectations. It was delicious! 

We stopped at a pastry shop on the way back to the hotel to pick up a treat to celebrate our anniversary. There is no body else in this world that I would like to experience life with and all of our journeys. I have been lucky enough to have her as my wife for 10 years! Here is to many more years with the love of my life.

Our next adventure came in the form of a hop-on hop-off bus tour. We got to see all kinds of landmarks around town and it included a informative audio guide. It was a quick way to get around town and see all kinds of stuff. I had only wished that it would have been an actual person as the guide.

We initially got off the bus to go and see the London Zoo. However, we got turned around a little bit and ended up at the Queen's Garden in Regent's Park. I am so thankful that we got turned around because this place ended up being an awesome garden. We toured the grounds and really enjoyed the roses. Then we decided to skip the zoo and head out to find something else. 

Next stop was at the Natural History Museum. We decided to grab a bite to eat right across the street and it ended up being pretty good. Jennifer got a Shepard's pie and I went with my favorite fish and chips.

My mother had told me numerous times before our trip that we needed to go to the British Museum and that we had to see the Elgin Marbles, Rosetta Stone, and the mummies. So, immediately after entering the building I asked a worker where we could find the Elgin Marbles. She pointed me in the direction and told me the room number. We headed straight back that way and entered the room number she said. I looked all around for a collection of marbles (like the little toys kids play with) and I couldn't find any. Then I asked another worker to point me in the direction of the marbles and she opened her arms up and said they are all around you (I am not sure how she kept a straight face). Then I realized that they are a collection of marble carvings that were once a part of the Parthenon. How hilarious! Next we spotted the Rosetta Stone which was pretty amazing. We also walked around the different levels looking at all different artifacts from around the world. The mummy exhibit was fascinating. If you ever get a chance then I would highly recommend this place so that you could see some of the pieces that you grow up learning about.

We took the bus tour over to Hyde Park where we went to explore Kensington Palace which is a home of the Royal Family. The house was pretty impressive with lots of artwork and displays about the Royal Family. Jennifer posed behind one of the dresses that one of the women would have worn a few centuries ago. The tour included a collection of Princess Diana gowns. The garden was pretty impressive too. Afterwards we decided to take a stroll by the lake and grab an ice cream treat. Surprisingly the most disappointing thing was the ice cream. It seemed like it was just missing some of the sugar because it didn't seem very sweet at all. I guess the English were used to it because the line to get ice cream was about 20 people deep.

We heard a lot of people talking about going to a place called Harrod's. We just knew that it was like the Macy's of London. However, it was so much more. The place had everything that you could possibly think of. We spent some time going around and looking at everything they had to offer. There were multiple restaurants inside as well as every type of food imaginable. The toy area was full of lego sculptures and Jennifer even got to take a picture inside a life size Barbie box. The only thing that we decided that we couldn't leave without was a couple of desserts. They just looked too good not to try. We got a slice of Nutella vs. Oreo cake and a Red Velvet vs. Oreo cupcake. If you are ever in London then you definately need to take a walk through this huge store!

When we got back to our hotel and started to get ready for bed, we got a message from my parents asking if we were OK. We had no idea what they were talking about so we gave them a call. Turns out that a group of men who were later confirmed as terrorists, drove into a crowd of people, running over some, and then got out and starting cutting people with knives. Seven people ended up dying and multiple others were injured. Jennifer then turned on the local news which was replaying the event and interviewing people that were near the event. Jennifer started getting super nervous and scared about going on with what we had planned for the upcoming days. I told her to turn off the TV and that we can't live our life scared of something possibly happening. Fear is what the terrorists want from all of us. I refuse to change my plans in life because of some evil people in this world. Jennifer agreed and we turned off the TV and went to bed.

Our last full day in London was spent mostly in a theatre and we couldn't have been more excited. You see these tickets are highly sought after and they sale out a year before the actual date of the play. The only way we were able to get tickets is that they give away 40 tickets at a discounted rate for the show just the week before. It is a lottery and apparently people try for multiple weeks to try and get tickets. We got online the week before we left and Jennifer got picked in the lottery and got the tickets. She was so excited and it made for a perfect anniversary gift. We got to the theatre and went to our seats which ended up being on the second row! How awesome is that! The play lived up to the hype and it was split into two different parts. There was about a two hour intermission that allowed us to go out and get a bite to eat. If you are a Harry Potter fan then you need to go see the play, Cursed Child. In fact it is actually coming to Broadway next year so it is even a lot closer. 

We got to eat at a couple of nice places for lunch and dinner on the night of the play. We went to Angus for brunch and you can see in the picture what a traditional English breakfast consisted of. It was actually delicious! During the intermission we were able to grab a quick bite to eat at Pizza Express. While we were traveling around I always enjoyed seeing what kinds of candy were available in the stores. My favorite candy was actually the double decker. It was made by Cadbury and contained two levels - a crispy bottom and nougat top and all covered in chocolate. We even brought some back home for the kids to try. Unfortunately it got a little too hot at some point and melted a little.

Our last morning in London consisted of getting up really early to make it to the train station for our trip to Paris. Before we left we placed a couple postcards in the mail for the kids and my parents. It is pretty funny that the postcards didn't arrive for another 2 months and the both apparently went through the Philippines. In just a few short hours we arrived in Paris and started on our next part of our adventure.

London is such an interesting city and full of historical sites. There are so many things that we were unable to see and do so we might just have to go back again someday. We enjoyed it because there was no language barrier and we utilized a pass called the London Pass, which got us into all the tourist places and even allowed us to bypass all the lines too. The London Pass was very useful and I would highly recommend it. Jennifer and I had a lot of fun and we were ready to get to Paris to continue our adventure. Thanks for reading and God bless!