Rants and Raves from the Allgäu: London

At the end of May Sarah, Grace and I took a trip to London. Tommy and the little ones stayed at home, so we had two and a half days to see as much of London as possible. We really did just scratch the surface, you could spend an entire week there and still not see everything. Regardless we had a blast. We rode the London Eye (giant ferris wheel), saw Big Ben, the Houses of Parliment, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. We rode on a double decker bus and ate at Hard Rock Cafe (we were so happy to have American style food!). We toured the Tower of London, took a cruise on the Thames River and saw a show in the West End. Alex met us for one day, and it was fun to see her again.

Here are a few pictures that we took...

Westminster Bridge and Big Ben

Big Ben

On the Westminster Bridge with The London Eye in the background.

One of the capsules on the London Eye.
Each capsule holds 25 people. There are 32 capsules. The ride lasts about 30 minutes. 25 new people are loaded on every couple of minutes at 18 pounds (about $27) per person...you do the math. Someone is making a killing with this thing!
But it was well worth it. The view from the top was magnificent!

Buckingham Palace from the London Eye

House of Parliment

Big Ben with Westminster Abbey behind it.

Tower Bridge...probably my favorite sight in London. I think I took about 50 pictures of it. We did not get to cross it or take a tour of it:(...Oh well guess we have to go back next year!

The Tower of London

It has such an interesting history. It began as a royal palace and fortress and later was used as a prison. Now it is opened for tourists to see. Read more about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London

Both girls said this was their favorite place.

Small chapel inside Tower of London

Chapel

There are still some residences on the property. Some of the Yeoman Warders and their families still live with in the walls of the tower.

We kept hearing about this room in the Tower where prisoners had carved their names and or messages into the stone walls. I think I was expecting names and dates crudely carved into the stone, but I was amazed at what we saw. The detail and exactness was unbelievable. This is just one example of a room full of detailed carvings made by prisoners in the Tower.

Sarah reading about some of the Tower's most famous prisoners.

The Crown Jewels are on display here as well. Sadly we were running short on time and could not wait in the long line to see them. Another reason to go back.

Replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

Our last full day we tried to go and see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. Notice I said tried.

The "Bobbies" in front of Buckingham Palace.

Grace, tired of waiting. We arrived an hour and a half early hoping we could get a place where we could see. No way!

When the parade came by in front of the gates a very nice German family allowed Sarah and Grace to step in front with their children so they could see. This picture was taken while I held the camera up over my head and just snapped away, hoping I would get something. Not bad, I think.

After the parade went by, we decided to walk to the other side to get away from the crowd. I was able to get a small glimpse of what was happening inside the gates thanks to the zoom lens.

Green Park in front of Buckingham Palace