London!!

Hello from London!

Me and Nicole have been here for about two and a half days, and I am falling in love with this beautiful city. 

This is the Natural History museum, located right across the street from our hotel. All of the national museums in London are free to the public.

The city of London has a great mix of old and new. Politicians work in Gothic style buildings, across from street signals that feature LGBTQ+ walking signs (See more about that here). Our days have been spent in museums looking at ancient Greek sculpture, and then at a quick modern restaurant where Miso soup was ready in a carton in about a minute. 

We started off a bit rocky. Coming out of the tube we got turned around in Kensington. With luggage in hand, we must have walked around the same block several times before finally getting our bearings. It took us nearly 45 minutes to walk about should have been about four blocks! Luckily it was a gorgeous day, and the area around our hotel is really very nice. It has plenty of shops, restaurants and eventually we stumbled into where we needed to be. 

South Kensington

The first evening we ventured out to a fantastic Chinese Restaurant, which offered the absolute best dessert, it was mango and this rice pudding. We basically licked the bowl clean and we've been thinking about going back since we left! We also saw the Churchill Arms, a pub famous for the decoration. 

Featuring the best travel buddy and dessert in the world.

The most festive pub in London.

The next morning we woke up and took a free walking tour of all of the major attractions in west London. We saw Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, 10 Baker Street, Big Ben, the Parliament buildings and even a bit of the changing of the Guard ceremony. Again, the weather was beautiful and the city was bustling with people. Tourists were mixed in with professionals, and overall the city has a very welcoming atmosphere. 

The changing of the guard ceremony finished down the street from Buckingham palace, just down the street from Buckingham.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was hearing the history of the many monuments and statues that are placed around London. Pictured below is the Duke of York, he died in debt after finishing only half a memorial to himself. The soldiers of England finished the monument, as he was beloved by the men in his command. He was a horrible commander, but he did require that part of every paycheck include money set aside for beer! He was also known for getting horribly lost, after wandering around the previous day, I really felt a connection to this old statue.

Wednesday afternoon we wandered around a bit, and ended up at the British Museum! It was such a surprise to see their fantastic collection, which included the Rosetta Stone, and sculpture from Egypt and Greece. 

Our evening ended at the Lion King on the West End! It was absolutely fantastic, and the sound track has been stuck in my head ever since. (They live in you  is a fantastic song). 

We started our day on Thursday at the Imperial War Museum, which was stunning. We went there as a cheaper alternative to the Churchill War Rooms, and we were not disappointed!! The exhibits on the world wars and especially the Holocaust exhibit was incredibly powerful. 

Then we headed to the Westminster Abbey, and took in the fabulous Gothic architecture. It was especially interesting to see the tombs of the monarchs, as it was really quite a soap opera. People have been decapitated, removed, reburied and memorialized. In one case, Mary Queen of Scots, the rival of Queen Elizabeth the First, was honored by her son building her a memorial just to out do Elizabeth. 

That afternoon we went on a Harry Potter Landmarks Tour, and saw inspirations for the Ministry of Magic, Gringotts, and Diagon Alley.  The real highlight was running into my old friend from camp!! Katie!!

It has been a fantastic trip so far! I cannot wait to see what else is in store for me here in the UK! Today me and Nicole headed outside the city to Windsor and Bath. I can't wait to share some of those moments here!