Thursday April 25, 2013:
As we were planning this European trip we couldn't have a conversation without Nick begging to go to London. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't want to go there, but my vote was to spend the rest of our time in Paris. The more we talked about the trip, the more apparent it became that Nick was going to win this debate and it was off to London next, under one exception he had to plan this part of the trip :)
One big reason to go to London was to see one of Nick's old mission companions, Nathan Bowles. They served together as missionaries in the Salt Lake City mission and have not seen each other since-10 years ago! We flew from Zurich to London and arrived to this great sign from Elder Bowles. It made me laugh so hard. Look at the smile on Nick's face, he was happy to see this guy again.
Nathan was kind enough to have us stay at his house, about 45 minutes south of London, despite them having a new 3 week old baby!!! He insisted on taking off work and going sightseeing with us. In fact, most of the "touristy" things we did, he had never done despite living there his entire life!!! I was the only one feeling rested due to the fact that Nick and Nathan stayed up until nearly 6am talking the first night, but somehow they still manage to get up for the big day ahead.
The first day was all about packing it in!! We decided to do the hop on hop off double decker tour bus ride to see all the sights. Instead of getting off anywhere we stayed on the whole time to see everything so we knew what we wanted to go back and explore more. This was such a great idea as then we had a better idea where everything was and go to listen to suggestions from the tour guide. It was the perfect day to be on an open air bus. Just two weeks before it was snowing...and we were enjoying a 70 degree day!! Nathan reminded us that this was not normal for London of course :)
Nathan and I bright and early!
Riding the underground and studying the maps
Wow---literally the "ask a mormon" campaign is everywhere there. This was in one of the train stations.
I cannot even begin to tell you how much we walked!! I lost weight on this trip if you can believe it.
The Queen and I
First thing we headed to see was the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Again, Nathan, has never seen this!! We got down there and people were lined up and crowds were overflowing, it was crazy. It is hard to believe that so many people come to watch this happen when it is a daily thing! Nathan, couldn't get over why Americans thought this was a big deal. It was pretty funny seeing his reaction to it all.
The beautiful grounds at Buckingham Palace
We went to Borough Market for lunch. It was incredible. Every type of food from a street vendor you could imagine. The smell was out of this world. It was so hard to pick just one thing to eat!!...so we had to try a few things :)
Look at these treats
This was the company that we did our open air double decker bus tour with. It was great and again worth the money! FYI-having a local buy your tickets, not from online, was so much cheaper.
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
London Eye
Big Ben..now called the Elizabeth Tower in tribute to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee
Westminster Abbey-where Prince William and Kate were married
The boys with the houses of Parliament behind them
We had this bus practically to ourselves. It was great. We were definitely being a rowdy bunch of kids!
After the tour, we got off and went to what Nathan calls the best kept secret right in the middle of London. St. Katharine Docks is where big yachts are parked and has a gorgeous water view. You didn't see any tourists in this area-just locals enjoying the view and some tea.
The Dicken's Inn
This is right before a security guard came and kicked them out!! I can only imagine how wild these two were as missionaries together.
The bus tour was such a great idea to see everything first. We decided from that what we had to go back and see and those adventures are up next!
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