Touring London

We woke up Thursday morning feeling good and ready to London full speed ahead!  Shannon graciously took Chad and me on a personal guided tour of the city.  Chad has actually already been on Shannon's blitz tour of London, but this was a first for me!  I was excited to see the sights.  I put my boots on, grabbed my coat, scarf and camera and we headed out the door to the train station down the street.  One of our first stops was Waterloo Station.  It is an impressive station.  The boys would have loved to see all the trains!  I was amazed by all the people rushing everywhere.

Shannon Ashton Photography

Just minutes away from the station, we came to our first tourist hot spot - the London Eye.

It is a grand sight sitting on the shore of the river Thames.

It was a fun way to see start off our London experience.  Shannon pointed out all the notable sites so we could get the lay of the land.  I, of course, remembered everything she said, so I never got turned around the rest of the trip ;).

Shannon Ashton Photography - both

The views on top of the Eye are amazing!

As we made our way around the Eye I kept seeing views I had to take a picture of! Yep, I took way too many pictures, but I love looking at them!

The whole ride takes about 30 minutes.  It definitely doesn't feel that long.  You are so busy looking around and taking pictures that time just speeds by and before you know it, you are on the ground again!  Fun ride!

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From there we walked over the Westminster Bridge and into the shadow of the Houses of Parliament  and Big Ben.

Shannon Ashton Photography

Shannon Ashton Photography

I love the architecture all over London.  It has been so well preserved!

As we were walking we spotted an empty phone booth, so we had to stop and get our picture taken!  Shannon was so sweet to be our personal photographer the entire trip! She does an amazing job and has  given us a priceless memory of our trip to London!  Thanks Shannon!

Shannon Ashton Photography

A little further up the street we saw some mounted guards, so we did what any tourist would do - we had our picture taken by them!  We have such big smiles because right before the picture was taken, the horse was right up on Chad.  He wouldn't leave Chad alone - Chad does smell good!

Shannon Ashton Photography

As we continued up the street, we saw many neat buildings,

but the thing that stuck out to me was the memorial for the women in WWII.  It was out in the middle of the street, standing tall for all to see.  Besides being a very cool sculpture, I thought it was a nice tribute to the women who sometimes get overlooked.

Next, we made our way up to Trafalgar square and the National Gallery.  We were in somewhat of a hurry (and kind of hungry), so we didn't visit the National Gallery on this day.

Shannon Ashton Photography- bottom two

Instead, we walked through charming city streets as we made our way to Covent Garden and the West End.  I loved looking into all the fun shops along the way.

Covent Garden is a fun shopping area with lots of little outdoor cafes.  There are also street performers to stop and watch.

Shannon Ashton Photography - bottom two

We stopped for lunch at Union Jacks.  We wanted a classic british meal, so Shannon suggested this restaurant.  Chad had Scottish Salmon and I had Hampshire Roast Pork Belly.  Wow, I was not prepared for what I got.  There was about 1/4 mm of meat and the rest was fat.  Needless to say, it was not one of my favorite meals of the trip, but I did really enjoy the potatoes - delish!

After lunch we continued to walk around the West End.  Shannon introduced us to a delicious shop called Paul's.  Walking in was like walking into heaven!  So many delectable foods!

It took us a while to make our selection, but boy were they worth the wait!  We walked over to Lelcester Square and sunk our teeth into our sweet treats!

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This treat was definitely not for the birds, but that didn't stop them from trying!

We continued walking, up through Piccadilly Circus.  It is kind of like New York's Time Square.  Lots of people and big bright adds.

Shortly after passing Picadilly we stopped in at one of Shannon's favorite macaroon shops.  She said we had to try some!  We were happy to oblige.  It was interesting that the place where the store is located has security guards stationed at the front.  Part of the reason for the guards is to make sure the customers keep all the rules, like no gum chewing.  A silly rule they have is no whistling (can you believe that)!  Shannon said the only time they have made an exception was when Sir Paul McCartney came into the shopping center whistling - they let him whistle!   Funny!!

Inside the store there were many flavors and colors to choose from.  I was excited to try a macaroon.  I have seen them a lot in photographs, but I had never tried one.  We made our selections and then walked over to Green Park to sit down and try this new treat.

Green Park is a beautiful small park next to Buckingham Palace.  It's was amazing to me that once we stepped into the park, it was quiet and serene.  I was unaware of traffic noise.  It was lovely!  We saw some nice green and white lawn chairs all over one section of the park and we commented on how nice they were.  Shannon told us that those chairs are for rent!  You can rent them by the hour.  They actually have someone going around and policing people to make sure they have paid - funny!  We bypassed the chairs and headed instead for the free park benches that lined a long path of trees!  It was beautiful!

Shannon Ashton Photography - all three

After enjoying a nice rest, we ventured over to Buckingham Palace.  It's a big beautiful building with lots of windows.  I kept looking at the windows expecting the queen, who was in residence at the time, to take a sneak peak outside, but alas, I never saw her!

Shannon Ashton Photography

Everything is very fancy and ornate.

We headed off for Shannon's old stomping ground.  This is the area she lived in the first time she lived in London.  It is a beautiful area!  She showed us the kids school, which was right across the street from their apartment (how nice is that)!  Then she took us over to the street made famous by the Beatles, Abbey Road.  I was surprised that it is actually a very busy street.  All the pictures I have seen make it look like a quiet street, but it isn't.  We, of course, had to have our picture taken crossing the same road - okay, maybe me more than Chad!

Shannon Ashton Photography

We ended our day by walking through Regents Park.  It is beautiful and huge.  I could have stayed there for a while.  I saw some row boats that would have been fun to go out in, but we will have to save that adventure for another trip!

Shannon Ashton Photography

What a wonderful first day in London!!  Can't wait to see more!