My Time Abroad: August 2011

Saturday we didn't get as early of a start, but we got in really late from the show on Friday so we decided to sleep in a little. I saw this sign posted in London and thought it was pretty funny! When we got there we were trying to find some tickets to Les Miserables on Wednesday, but couldn't get enough for everyone who wanted to go. So after that we went into the National Portrait Gallery. This has original portraits of important people in British history, going back to the Tudor period in the 1400s. So that was a really neat thing to see, especially when Britain and American history merged for a little bit.

That night we were going to a classical concert at St. Martin in the Fields church, which is right on Trafalgar Square. In the crypt of this church was a cafe, so that's where we ate. It was so so good! I had some chicken with a Brandy sauce, with potatoes and a vegetable stir fry. Some of the other girls got bread pudding for dessert, so I had to too! It was pretty good, but not that sweet. Compared to mom's, it is a 5 and Mom's is a 10, haha. I should've known, but that's ok. After we ate, we just went upstairs to the show. This is the look inside. It is a beautiful church!

The concert played Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Pachelbel Canon in D, some stuff by Mozart and more by Vivaldi. It was so good. I definitely wanted to go to a classical concert in London, and this one did not let me down! It is a highlight of my trip so far for sure!

The glass windows at the front of the church have this weird circular piece, that when light outside looks strange. But when the sun starts to go down, the circle glows! It looks so neat.

After the concert we walked just a little bit to see London at night. This is the London eye and County Hall lit up at night.

Big Ben!

It was exactly 10o'clock.

Then we went to Piccadilly Circus, which is London's Time Square. That was pretty neat to see, but also very crowded.

So that's all for London. Like I said earlier, I loved it! Today (Sunday) is a more relaxed day. It is raining and so I am just going to spend the day inside. I haven't had a day like this since I've been in Europe. At 6 tonight we are going to a church service in St. Aldates. I am looking forward to this, and our professor said it is so that we can appreciate the global kingdom of God. After today I have 3 full days before I will be home!! I must say I am ready.

Friday we spent all day in London. We got there about 10am, and the first thing we did was a Fat Tire Bike Tour of the City. The first place we went was Kensington Palace. Now Jenny, you will think this is awesome. This is where Queen Victoria lived until she was 18, and also where Princess Diana lived. But anyway, Jenny, remember on the Young Victoria at the very beginning when she is walking along sliding a stick along the fence? Well doesn't this fence look familiar!

And then this is what the palace looked like. It is sort of plain for a palace, but it was originally meant to be a family home. In that case, it's pretty dang nice.

Surrounding the palace was Kensington Gardens.

We rode through the gardens for a while, and came to this memorial for Prince Albert, Victoria's husband. Because Albert was German, he wasn't allowed to interfere with British politics, so he did a lot for the arts and sciences. Behind this memorial there are a lot of museums. Apparently Albert died in his forties. Well, Victoria lived 40 more years after that, and mourned every day of her life. She wore black, and laid his clothes out every day. The tour guide said that when they first met, Victoria wrote in her diary, "I have finally found my greek god with brains." And Albert wrote, "Victoria is a little plainer than I had hoped."

There were so many pretty gardens everywhere that we passed by as we rode along. There will be several pictures of pretty gardens throughout this blog.

The horse guard passed us. They escort the Queen when she goes out, so that was really neat. We didn't see the Queen, they were just doing a daily march I guess.

Buckingham Palace! It is so pretty, especially with the flowers. This was actually built to be a family home as well, then a man bought it because his wife wanted a weekend home. Unbelievable! It has over 600 rooms and 98 bathrooms. It is currently open for the public, but the line was so long, and typically you would need to make an appointment. It was booked for this weekend, so I didn't get to go in..

Kind of funny to see the spelling of Tire.

The famous guards that you see on movies. You can try to make them laugh or whatever, but they don't acknowledge you. They have 4 hour shifts of just standing there.

The street leading up to Buckingham Palace.

Then the royal band marched by with some royal guards.

A street sign in the park.

The weather was so nice, and Hyde Park was full of people. I think a lot of times in the U.S. our parks are kind of shady, and not as nice. These parks are huge, and beautiful and everyone goes to hang out. You can see people everywhere, just enjoying the weather.

And more beautiful flowers.

The streets of London.

Westminster Abbey. This is where all the royals get married, or crowned, and where they are buried along with many other famous Brits. There are over 3000 bodies buried there! This is where William and Kate recently were married.

The House of the Senate.

There was a statue of Abraham Lincoln in the middle of Parliament Square, along with Winston Churchill, and Nelson Mandela.

Big Ben

Just another pretty view through the park.

I think this is where the Horse Guards are stabled and also just behind this building is the dividing point between Royal London, and Common London.

The British Navy Headquarters.

Pretty garden.

Pretty Garden as you enter the Princess Diana memorial fountain.

This is the fountain. It is a round pool that flows up and down some hills. It is pretty, but children are playing in the water even though that was not the intention of the fountain. Our guide said a lot of Brits are disappointed with how this memorial was done. Many people don't even know that it is a memorial.

The London Eye. You can go up on this and see the whole city.

The Thames River.

Big Ben and the House of Parliament.

This is being guarded because it is where the Prime Minister lives. This is where he would come outside and address the nation.

The address for his house.

The Cabinet Office

The guard for the Horse Guard Stables.

Trafalgar Square

There were a lot of neat things in Trafalgar square.

The London Olympic countdown

This awesome piece of art made of different plants.

A huge ship in a bottle

That was all of our sight seeing for the day. Then we went to eat at the Texas Embassy. When Texas was it's own nation it had an embassy in London. Today it is a Tex-Mex restaurant.