The last of London

Our third and final day in London might have been my favorite. 

We started the day doing the tour of the Houses of Parliament. This was such a fascinating lesson on the political side of things, and such a beautiful building, we loved it.  Although I did start feeling kind of sick in the middle of the tour, so that made it less enjoyable, but we managed to press forward. You weren't allowed to take pictures inside, and they have guards everywhere, so I didn't even try. But the outside is stunning. 

Our next stop, I think was my favorite.  Westminster Abbey.  It was just such a beautiful place and I truly felt a closeness to God there.  So many people who shaped so much of what the UK is today worshiped there and are buried there, and there is a special reverence there, it really was so fascinating to me.  We weren't there to see any of the choirs singing, but if we had more time I would have tried to make it back and see that. Again, no pictures inside here were allowed, they're pretty strict about that stuff in England. 

Next up, while maybe not my favorite thing, probably because it was so expensive, was the London Eye.  Several people I talked to during my conference in Bristol earlier in the week recommended that we do the London Eye.  And I don't know that I'll ever be back in London, so we figured, why not?  It did cost a pretty penny and the wait was fairly long, and I started to get really hungry, so those factors probably made the whole thing a little less enjoyable, but the London Eye did offer some great views of a pretty spectacular city.  I think if I could do it again I would do it at night, people told us to do it in the daytime, but I don't know, something about a city all lit up at night just makes it feel more romantic. That said, I don't know that I'd recommend anyone really pay the price, it was about $30 each to do it!

View of St. Paul's

We were both starving at this point and just needed some fuel, so we paid way too much for one of the worst hot dogs I've ever had, but the area over by the London Eye was just so crowded people were everywhere and I just wanted to get out of there.  I can't even imagine what this place is like in the summer, a cold Saturday in February and the place was just packed!

We had yet to visit Buckingham Palace and so made our way over to her majesty's residence.  The don't do tours in the winter so that was kind of a bummer and the changing of the guard doesn't happen every day in the winter either, so we didn't get to experience that.  But still the palace is a site to see and there are parks surrounding it that are great to stroll through and enjoy.

We still had a couple hours of daylight and wanted to take full advantage of our last day in London so we hopped on the tube and headed up to Notting Hill.  We experience the Portobello Road Market and this charming little are of England.  So many great little shops, lots of street food vendors and the farmers market, it was a fun little stop.

I thought this was a pretty neat shop, lots of old sewing machines

Pretty little row houses!

The sun had gone down and our time in London was winding down as well.  But there was one more thing we had to experience before packing it in.  Fish n Chips of course.  We had looked up on yelp a place that had good ratings and was close to our hotel and ended up at The Golden Hind.  We really should have shared, but we had no idea how massive the fish would be! 

It was very tasty though, certainly did not disappoint and a great way to end our adventures in London.

We really had such a great time and so many great experiences!  Every time I am any place in the world other that California I tend to just soak it all up.  I'm not one who ever really thought or planned on having so many opportunities to see so much of this fascinating world we live in, and honestly if it weren't for the incredible job I have, my list would be a lot shorter.  I don't have a wish list of places I want to go or an expectation that someday I'll make it to (insert city/ country here), I just take what life hands me and enjoy the moments. 

England was everything I hoped it would be and more and I'm so glad Adam was able to join me to so we could experience it together.  As for my next adventure I leave for Mexico City in a week!