London

I took my first trip to London in March. My mom and I flew over for a week. We had a great time and got to see many great things. We also took a day trip down to Paris, which was fabulous as always. The first night we were in London we got to see Wicked. I was really excited to go to the theater while we were there. I really enjoyed the show too. I only regret I didn't see more while I was there.
The next day was our first full day in London. Here are some of the things we did:On our way to Buckingham Palace I met this nice officer. He let me take a picture with him. How nice.
This is me in St. James Park. We were walking through the park to get to Buckingham Palace for the grand changing of the guard ceremony. All the daffodils were in bloom since the weather had started to warm up a bit. The park was covered in green and yellow. It was very pretty.
Me laughing (what else) at the giant bird that just flew over my head.

This little Italian boy was the cutest. On the other side of the fence is the water and all the swans and ducks. He wanted to go play with them. He started to crawl underneath the fence, stopped, looked up as his dad and said "Ciao Papa!". Then he continued to try to wiggle underneath the fence. It was the cutest thing.

Here is Buckingham Palace behind me. After all our efforts to see the changing of the guard, we just barely missed it. We were able to catch the end of it however. This poor old man had no clue why we wanted our picture taken with him. He looks bewildered.

Westminster Abbey! This was very fun to see. The Abbey has been around for almost a thousand years. Almost every monarch since William the Conqueror has been crowned there and there are over 17 monarchs buried there including Elizabeth I. Many other famous people buried here too like Charles Dickens, Oliver Cromwell, Winston Churchill, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Issac Newton, and William Shakespeare just to name a few. Actually there are over 3,000 people buried here. Not all of them have head stones or monuments. It was very fun to walk around recognizing peoples names carved in stone on the floor. The Abbey was very beautiful too. I am really glad I got to see it.

After viewing the Abbey we walked over to Parliament. It was right next door. After going through a rigorous screening process they let us inside. It must not have been a big debate day because it wasn't very exciting and there was hardly anyone there. But it was fun to sit in the gallery and watch what I see on CSPAN live. I don't have my pictures of Parliament to post. I will have to find them. This is what Parliament looks like on the outside.

Right around the corner from Westminster Abbey and Parliament is Big Ben. This was another impressive landmark. It was more impressive than I thought it would have been.




I loved all the red phone booths on the streets. I figured I had to have my picture taken with one. I did look a little ridiculous on the street taking my picture in a phone booth however.








After viewing Big Ben we then headed over the West End to see Harrod's. Harrod's was huge! I couldn't believe how big it was. I wish we had a store like that in Phoenix. Then again, I don't need another place to shop!
The next day we headed to Paris.