Day 16: London, United Kingdom

June 19, 2013

Today we hit some of the main London sights. We showered and had breakfast at the hostel. It was simple: fruit, toast and cereal, but it was so good! The toast wasn't made from hard bread, the cereal was rice krispies or corn flakes and there was normal tasting orange juice! We had been so used to Germanic style breakfasts with hard bread, ham and cheese that we were really excited about breakfast this morning.

After breakfast we walked to Buckingham Palace to try to get a good spot to watch the changing of the guards. We got there half an our early, but it wasn't early enough to get  prime spot. we could still see though. There were guards and bands that marched in, but it seemed that some group would march into the circle and go either behind the palace in behind the gate and then nothing would happen for about 10 minutes. You either saw what was happening in the square or you saw what was happening behind the gate, but there were so many people that you couldn't see both. Clayton said there was more when he saw it almost 3 years ago. It was slightly disappointing. We may try to go back another day and get the view on the fence so we can see the other half.

Their trees are odd looking. Clayton says they look like they have warts.

Buckingham Palace

Some guards marching. Look at the crowds of people!

They had some beautiful horses

After the palace we walked to Westminster Abbey to go inside and tour. I had never paid more than a few dollars to go into a church before, but this one was much more expensive: 18 Pounds <-- that is the UK's currency-- for each of us ($56 together)! Once we were inside I could see why they had to charge more than other churches. There is a massive area that they have to continually clean and restore from people touching, everyone gets an audio guide, there is the church, the gardens, a small museum, and several other chapels or rooms. The size was impressive and was gothic in nature, but what made this different than the other cathedrals we have been in was its long and rich history. It has been the location of all the England coronations since 1066, it holds the coronation chair that all monarchs have sat in since the 1300s, it has the tombs of the past queens and kings (including Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Mary "Bloody Mary"), it has tombs of famous people such as Isaac Newton, William Shakespeare, and Geoffrey Chaucer, and it is used for all major events such as Princess Diana's funeral and most recently William and Kate Middleton's wedding. We spent about three hours looking around; it was a neat place full of history (and dead people). Pictures were not allowed inside, but you can see some on Google Images (Click Here for Pictures of the Interior).

Once we finished touring Westminster Abbey we headed to a nearby train station (London has many) and booked a train ticket to Grantham tomorrow and our tickets for Bath on Sunday. We are going to take an excursion up to Harlaxton tomorrow so I can see where Clayton studied for four months before we were engaged. We then hopped on the subway and went out of the main area to find an Italian restaurant that our hostel map highly recommended. I am sure you are not surprised to hear that we both had Spaghetti Carbonara and that it was delicious. After dinner we moseyed back toward our hostel. We have an early morning tomorrow so we decided to turn in early for the night (and we were both very sore and very tired).

Big Ben, the Parliament Building and The Eye from another bridge

Although they speak the same language here, there are some things that are still different and take getting used to. I mentioned yesterday that they drive on the opposite side of the road than we do, well they also walk oppositely. I keep trying to take the inside path or move to the right to stay out of the way, but then I just end up running into people because they are walking towards me on that side. It is hard to get used to going down the left side of the stairs or walking on the left side of the sidewalk.