Welcome to London!

We started our time in London with a bus tour around the city to see some sights and get the lay of the land. The reality that we really were in London set in when we got our first glimpse of Big Ben! The London Eye is a huge ferris wheel that offers panoramic views of the city. We didn't ride it, but it's impressive just to look at! We spent the afternoon relaxing in Trafalgar Square and trying to recover from jet lag. The next day was spent at the Tower of London where we saw Tower Bridge (not London Bridge as it's often called...there is a London Bridge, but it's not very pretty).

London - Windsor and Eton

Windsor Castle was one of the most beautiful places we'd ever seen! The grounds were immaculate and the castle itself was very homey and welcoming (we took a tour of the inside, but weren't allowed to take pictures). The Queen still spends her weekends in Windsor and the building you see behind the guard below is the Queen's private residence. In the picture where I'm on the sidewalk, you can see just how centrally the castle is located...I'm standing between the castle wall and the little shops on the High Street. The village has literally sprung up just outside the castle walls!

We crossed the Windsor-Eton bridge to see the small town of Eton and Eton College where Prince William attended. Unfortunately, we were there very late in the afternoon and most shops and the campus were closed. If you're ever in need of antiques, Eton is the place to go!

London - Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

One of our favorite things we did was see "The Tempest" at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. The theatre is an exact replica of the original Globe and sits along the shore of the Thames.

Back in the day, they wanted everyone, even peasants to be able to see the plays, so they offered extremely cheap tickets for the floor area. You had to stand during the performance, but you still got to enjoy the play. We bought our tickets the day of the performance, and all that was left was standing room. It was a wonderful experience, but the standing was dreadful. We saw the play on Sunday, after we had been walking and walking and walking and walking for an entire week! Our poor feet were not very happy about it, but the quality of the performance made up for it. If you've never seen "The Tempest," we highly recommend it, and if you're ever in London, make sure and go to the Globe!

London - St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millenium Bridge

One of the most popular sights in London is St. Paul's Cathedral where Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married. In preparation for the upcoming anniversary of the church, the building is receiving a thorough cleaning. In the picture below, you can see all three parts of the cleaning process...the darkest is the part that has yet to be cleaned (that's what the entire church looked like several months ago), the top section is in the process of being cleaned, and the section on the right, the white section, has gone through the entire cleaning process (that's what the entire building will look like when they're finished).



The Millenium Bridge is a fairly new pedestrian bridge that goes across the Thames. It led from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre straight over to St. Paul's Cathedral.