London, Part 1

I am dividing this one up, because I have so many photos to share of London.
What an amazing city!
Tons of history, and tradition.
Very proper it was.
We took the tube into London. We bought a day pass, so we could go everywhere we wanted, but we ended up walking most of it. There was plenty to see along the way, and we totally lucked out--this was our best weather day, the whole time we were there.

Our first stop was Buckingham Palace.
We got off the tube, and walked through Green Park, to get to the gates to Buckingham Palace. It was beautiful. Daffodils were just beginning to bloom.

 Our first view of the gates:

I am not sure if these are actually called palace gates. They are across the street from the palace itself. Buckingham Palace is ginormous.  Through these gates, there is an entire square around the palace.
More of the gates:

So across this cobblestone street was the Palace. It was hard to even get the whole thing into a photo. Heidi told us that the Queen was in the Palace the day we were there. They fly a flag so people know. I didn't get a picture of the flag.
Or the queen.
Crap.

The Royal Wadleys

A Beefeater

My kids thought it was hysterical that the guards were called "Beefeaters." Especially since there were hotdog stands by the Palace. My kids are warped.

Remember this? I do! I watched the whole thing on TV.

Photo Credit

Well, we saw the balcony with our own eyes. Granted the wedding was over and stuff, but it was still surreal to be there.

Walking away from Buckingham took us past St. James Park.
Like I said, the weather was beautiful. There were a lot of people in the park, with blankets spread, playing Frisbee, feeding the birds...

It also had views of other famous landmarks. It was our first look at Westminster Abbey, from a distance:

And if you look over Jayden's shoulder, you can see a little something:

Big Jayden and Little Big Ben

Here is another shot of Big Ben from a distance:

Isn't that crazy? Most of the major landmarks in London are really close together. I am not sure why I wasn't expecting that.

I got a kick out of the very traditional English Taxi's. They are the black ones in the photo. They also had these:

And of course they had the red double-decker buses.

I am not going to lie, I freaked out a little when I saw my first red phone booth.
I have seen them so much in postcards, and photos. They are such a London thing, in my mind. And I am afraid they are going to be extinct soon, as all public phones will be, now that we have cell-phones.
Sad.
I made the kids pose for photos, they weren't sure why I was so excited about the phone booths.

Call me!

Ma and Pa.

Photo by Jayden.

By this point in our walking tour we are at Trafalgar Square. It was packed! I am not sure if we hit it at lunchtime or if it is always this busy?

In the middle of the square they have an Olympic countdown clock. The Olympics are going to be in England this year. It was pretty cool to see the clock.

 

This was just a random street scene in London, by Trafalgar square. I loved the row of British flags.

We are moving on in the tour. Heading to the tube for the next stop. But first, we had to stop and pet the horse.
On the cobblestone street.
With the uniformed Beefeater dude.
We're not in Kansas anymore....
We are in the UK!
Sometimes on these trips I have to mentally pinch myself.

Coming out of the Underground with a little something in the background.

Photo by Mike

This might be one of my favorite photos of the trip. Whole family? Check. Underground sign? Check. Historical landmark? Check.
Big Ben was amazing.
And just for those of you who might not have listened in school when they talked about Big Ben, or are just culturally a dumb-crap like me-- "Big Ben" refers to the bell inside the bell-tower, not the giant clock.
I never knew that.
Whatever you want to call it, it was massive. It was hard to get into a photo unless you were a couple of blocks away.

Here is is right under it:

More of the building that houses Big Ben.

I was glad we saw England in the early spring. I liked having bare branches in the photos. It made interesting lines, but didn't block any views.
Across from Big Ben was the London Eye.

 And the Thames:

And this lady, with a mystery rodent bun.

I can't imagine what her head weighs. And she was a little smelly.
This is probably a good place to stop for today.
With all the pretty pictures you needed a visual palate cleanser anyway, yes?
No?
Okay, one more pretty.
And a pre-view of tomorrow's post:

Our Family and That Guy.