The one in London Baby!

Last week Greg had to visit a site in Bournemouth, UK, about 1 1/2 hrs south of London.  Instead of flying home Friday night, he flew me to London to meet him for the weekend! I got in Friday around 4pm.  Puffin picked me up in  baggage claim (ha ha - get it...I'm the baggage HE claimed hahahaha) and we took a train from Heathrow to Paddington Station.  YEAH! LIKE THE BEAR!!...forgot to take a picture :(  From Paddington, we took the Subway to our hotel.  My first EVER subway ride!  It was just as gross as they show in the movies, but less scary lol.

 

London as we know it is actually TWO cities.  The city of London is actually one of the smallest cities in the world....only 1square mile, I think?  The London that we think of is made up of Westminster (where all the Royal touristy stuff is), and London (the financial district downtown).  Our hotel was in the financial district, right across from the London Tower, the Tower Bridge, and the London Bridge.

 

After we checked, we moseyed out the front door to explore.  Our first stop was the Tower of London.

 

The Tower of London

Puffin admiring the Tower of London

The guards of the Tower of London

Tower of London gift shop

Me in front of the Tower of London

View of the Thames River and Tower Bridge from the Tower of London

 

After we saw the Tower of London, we walked over the Tower Bridge across the Thames River. - which is not the same as the London Bridge.  The Tower Bridge is a lot bigger and prettier.  The London Bridge runs parallel to it and it looks like just an ordinary bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, we did the Original Tour Bus all day long.  It was a hop on hop off service, so we were able to take pictures in front of the different places.  Since there is SO much to see in London, we didn't actually go into any of the different places.  We rode the tour bus all day so that we could look at everything and make a list of the places we want to tour next time we visit.

 

Waiting for the bus in front of an classic double decker

Puffin and I on the tour

I forgot what Palace this is....

The Marble Arch

The guard outside Buckingham Palace

The gate in front of Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace

At Buckingham Palace

The gates to Buckingham Palace

Parliament Building

Big Ben

Big Ben

Parliament and Big Ben from across the Thames River

The London Eye

 

This statue marks where Westminster ends and the City of London begins.  When the Queen enters the City of London, the head of the city meets her here to formally greet her.

Puffin and I in front of Big Ben

 

For lunch, Puffin took me to Bourough Market.  It was SO cool!  It's a street market under a railway bridge full of small stands. They sell all kinds of food- cheese, pastries, olives, fish, chocolates, herbs, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we left the market, we romped around the city to explore.  Here are some random pics from our adventure.

A London taxi

These are pretty cool.  It's like a bicycle candy machine!  I begged Puffin to let me do it, but he said no since I refuse to ride in the street.  hehe :)

A red London Taxi

Woo hoo a phone booth!

Lol Puffin didn't understand my excitement!

"I know, I have to step into the map!" - Joey from FRIENDS

Just a building

Pretty view

Shops in London

Puffin loves boats....and misses his

M&M's World London

The only guard we were able to take pictures next to

The only Queen we were allowed to take pictures next to!

 

It was an amazing trip and a great weekend!  Hopefully we will be going back to see everything we didn't have time for! So blessed to be able to have this experience!!!