LONDON!!!! Day 3

March 4, 2011

We slept in but got up and had a very busy day. Lots of sightseeing. First stop was Buckingham Palace. We walked through a park to get to it and as you approach they have these big statues for each of the colonies of the British Empire. I only took a picture of this one.


Here's a gate leading into the area.


Here's several pics of the outside. I don't think the royals live here. It's more for entertaining dignitaries and such.

This guy's job is to stand there at attention all day. They have "the changing of the guard" on some days where it's a big fancy process where someone basically takes his place. We didn't want to bother with the crowds for that.

This guy's job is to drop you like yesterday's news.


In front of the palace is this huge statue in honor of Queen Victoria. It was cool.


We took the tube over to another part of town. We got out of the station and saw the London Eye which is a big ferris wheel. I love this picture because the birds photobombed it. I would have fun doing that if I was a bird too.


Look what I found behind me. That's Big Ben, a tall clock tower of the Parliament building.


We were walking over to our next destination and ran into a familiar face. You may recognize him from such places as the penny or the $5 dollar bill. I didn't know why he was there but cool.


We made it to Westminster Abbey. This was one of the highlights for me. This church is beautiful inside and out. So much history here. We weren't allowed to take photos inside but there's lots of stone statues and graves of monarchs and other important people in their day from years gone by. Highly recommend touring this. Here's the exterior.


Was able to take a picture from the inside courtyard.


At 4:28pm...


...we stopped at a noodle place to eat. It wasn't great but it did the trick.


Then we crossed the river to go ride the London Eye. Here's a lion statue and a pic looking back at Parliament.


All aboard. Enjoy the ride and keep your arms inside the car at all times.


Nice views up there. We bumped into David Beckham on our way out. He was nice enough to let us take a picture with him.


Time to head home on the tube.


When we got back we watched British TV. Let me just warn you of this. They don't edit TV like we do. They cuss and show nudity so be careful. We flipped the channel on to this medical show and this guy was having bowel problems. Let's just say they left nothing to the imagination. We quickly changed the channel but that left a scar.

LONDON!!!! Day 2

March 3, 2011

Second day in London! Let's go sightseeing...As we were headed to our first destination the local executioner was nice enough to let me pose for a picture between some beheadings.

We made it to the Tower of London. This is a real old castle that is notorious for prisoners that stayed there and the executions that were performed there. As you can see we're bundled up because it was pretty cold.


This is the White Tower. It's the original castle. The surrounding walls were added over the years. There was plenty of access everywhere and lots of things to see...


...like armor and weapons...

...and spiral staircases in the towers...

...and old potties.


I made Jen take a picture with the potty because her stopping to go to the bathroom was a recurring theme everywhere we went. I thought she went often before she was pregnant but I swear our kid is using her bladder as a punching bag or something. The crown jewels are in the Tower of London as well and we got to see them up close but they don't allow photos. Let me just tell you that the royals have some serious bling.

Here was a photo op at one of the iconic red phone booths. Oddly enough this one didn't have a phone in it. Guess someone wanted a souvenir.


The Tower Bridge is close by and spans across the River Thames. This is Jen's favorite London landmark. By the way she's been to London before before but I haven't.


Later in the day we walked around the National Portrait Gallery. In the streets we walked by this guy all painted up and pretending to be a statue.

This was near Piccadilly Circus. Not like Ringling Bros. A circus in England means a open space where roads meet. This one is like Times Square with the neon signs.


Oh, looky what we stumbled on! A window full of pastries. There's two less now.


Jen and I went back to the hotel after a long day and enjoyed these. Yum!


We went to bed and Jen slept soundly but I woke up to one of the most memorable London moments of the whole trip. Some old lady in a nearby room opened her door and yelled out, "DAMN BRITISH PEOPLE! MAKE SO MUCH NOISE IN THE HALLWAY!" Then she slammed her door. This was followed by many murmurings in other rooms. Then the old lady came back out and yelled, "THAT'S RIGHT! DAMN BRITISH PEOPLE!!" and slammed her door again. Ha, ha! I was giggling in bed. That was so awesome!

LONDON!!!!

Sorry for the lack of recent posts, folks. Once we catch you up you'll see why we're so far behind. But more on that later because...

March 2, 2011

Whoa! The Ingram's have gone international! Jen and I decided we better take a big trip before the baby anchors us down so we jetted across the pond to hang out with the Brits. We flew Virgin Atlantic for the first time. We highly recommend them. Planes are so nice and new, plenty of food and drink, they encourage you to get up and stretch, there's a TV console in every seat with over 30 movies, tons of TV shows, games, and music all for free. They really try to make you feel comfortable. And the airfare is decent too. The flight was 11 hours but it went fast with all the entertainment options.


We arrived in the late afternoon. Here's our hotel room. That bed wasn't very comfortable but who cares! Let's hit the pavement...


This is our hotel. Lots of row houses like this everywhere.


You might think this is the subway but you'd be wrong. This is the tube. Why do they call it that? Because that's how they roll in Europe. They do things a little different. This is how to get around in London. It goes everywhere and it's the cheapest/fastest way. And if you ever get on the tube you better mind the gap because it can be a doozy. 'Mind the gap' translated into American is watch your step. ;)


This is not a casino. It is a department store. It's huge and they sell very, very expensive stuff. I bought a rubber ducky with the British flag on it for my niece.


We got hungry for dinner so we wandered around looking for a restaurant. We came upon this Italian place called Signor Sassi. After we walked in we realized we were a little underdressed for this place but we're on vacation so we don't care. This place was not cheap but it was worth every penny. They start you out with a bowl of big, plump olives, bread and butter, and thick slices of parmesan cheese that make you think you accidentally wandered into Italy. Mmmmm.

Jen had some fettuccine and I had some lobster and crab ravioli with mussels on the side. Mine was good but hers was "Dang!" I helped myself to several bites of hers.


We decided that if the food was this good we had to try dessert. Wise choice. We had some vanilla ice cream with chocolate caramel syrup and hazelnuts.

This is what we thought of it:


Here's a picture of the place. If you make it to London this place is definitely worth a stopping for.


That's day one but we've got 6 more days for you coming right up. Come back for the rest!