Days 2, and 3 the second installment of the London Trip.

The second day in London Sarah and I decided to try to pack as much sightseeing in as possible so that we could leave the last day open to see the Tower of London.

The British museum opens at 9am so there we were waiting for the doors to open and we asked a very nice security guard to take our picture...

Anyone who goes to London and does not take the time to the British museum is really missing out. It is just amazing to think that some of the artifacts they have there date back to Biblical times. Needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

After the museum we made a stop at Abbey road to pay homage to the Beatles. It was funny to watch the tourists getting honked at as they all tried to take pictures standing in the cross walk.

After that we got back on the subway, or the "tube" as they call it in England and headed for Westminster Abbey for a quick look and then back to the hotel to get ready for the main event of the day... WICKED!

Sarah and I were soooo excited to see Wicked the musical. To be completely honest, years ago when the show first came out Sarah bought the book and I can remember her telling me about this great new broadway musical that she couldn't wait to see. Well it took us a few years but with a very good deal on tickets that we found on the internet we were able to go see it at the Apollo Victoria. The sets were amazing and the cast did a really great job I can't imagine a more enjoyable way to spend an evening.

After the show we decided to take a quick walk by Buckingham Palace on the way back to the hotel. I have to say it is much more impressive during the changing of the guard in the middle of the day. Still, it was nice to get a good view without crowds of people everywhere.

DAY 3

We definitely saved the best for last, and we got the weather right too! The first two days were nice and sunny but the third turned out cold and sort of gloomy. It was just as well, though because visiting the Tower of London just isn't as gloomy when it's nice outside. If you are interested in history you just can't miss the Tower. It's gotten more expensive since the first time I went in '06 but it's one price for everything including seeing the crown jewels now so that was really nice. I think the 17 pounds we paid to get in was well worth it.

Our tour guide at the tower:

After seeing the tower it was time to go pick up our luggage and wait for the long ride back to leeds. We took a late bus so we wound up home at about 11:45pm completely exhausted. Overall it was a great trip that I'm sure we will both remember for a very long time.

A Great Visit!

We Love You Sarah!

Over the past few weeks Jed and I have been very happy to have my cousin Sarah Patty here in Morley to keep us company. Sarah had never been to England before; so, she and I took a typical whirlwind trip to London in 3 very short days. I thought I would share a little bit of what we saw.

Day 1:

To make the trip more cost effective we decided to take the coach (or relatively nice bus for you Americans). The reality of the thing is that here in England if you don't buy your train tickets way in advance they get very expensive. So I looked into National Express coaches which were much cheaper but took somewhere around 6 hours to get from Leeds to London (the train does it in 2 and a half). Obviously that wasn't going to work considering the fact that we only had 3 days to spend in the first place. Then a friend mentioned megabus.com to me. They offered a regular non-stop service from Leeds to London for 10 - 20 pounds round trip and the ride only took 4 hours. It was a much better option and pretty much made it possible for us to go.

We left the house at 7am to take the short train ride to Leeds and wait for the coach. The coach ride was pretty painless and considering the price I would willingly do it again. The funny part of it is that this is where all those road trips in the back seat with my brothers and hours spent on a bus during choir tour came in handy. Four hours on a bus would make some of my friends here really cringe... I on the other hand didn't think twice about it.

We got off the coach in London at 2pm and made a mad dash for our hotel. Well, we didn't mean for it to be a mad dash but the subway was so crowded it was a bit of a shock for Sarah who had never been on one before and to be honest was a crash refresher course for me. The hotel was fine. It wasn't the lap of luxury but we had our own room and bathroom for about the price of a shared hostel room. Hooray!

Kensington Gardens

One of the great things about England is that around this time of year it's light outside from about 5am until about 10pm or later. Not that I ever really want to see 5am but it does allow for lots of time in the evening for sight seeing. We left our hotel and before we knew it had walked all the way across Kensington Gardens and through Hyde park. Then we headed for St. Paul's Cathedral, one of my favorite cathedrals in all of my travels. We grabbed some supper and and a wonderful little picnic on the church steps along with about a hundred other people. Peter Pan in Hyde Park (above)

The View of Saint Paul's From Millennium Bridge

Shakespeare's New Globe Theater

After supper we crossed the Millennium Bridge and walked to the New Globe Theater. After that we spent quite a bit of time following the wonderful walking/running path along the Thames river crossing London Bridge and ending up at the Tower of London. Once we were throughly exhausted, and only then, we headed back for the Hotel and a good night sleep.

Tower Bridge