Day 2 - London

So did you notice that I didn't mention anything about the weather we had yesterday? Well since I have never been to London, I'm not qualified to say that it was typical London weather. But it certainly fulfilled my preconceived notions of what typical London weather is like. The sky shifted from light to dark overcast and we had a few drizzles of rain accompanied by blustery wind. Today, our second day of the trip would not be the same! One would have thought we brought our Colorado sunshine tagging along with us. We woke early, but not incredibly so considering the time change. As the sun came up, it easy to tell that the sky was going to be clear and warm.

We bought bus passes for the day at Victoria Station and hopped the first bus to the London Eye. We placed ourselves in the fairly short queue (line) until I spied a small coffee pastry shop nearby. I fetched breakfast and drink while my wife held our place in line. It was a short wait and we had our tickets. Another short trip and we were ready to board our car. Each car holds 15-20(?) people. This is the largest ferris wheel in the world, at 100+ meters high, and the views are unbelievable. We had such an outstanding morning, we could clearly see across the entire city. We, "Oooo'd" and "Ahhh'd" with everyone else aboard and jockeyed for the best positions at the windows with our cameras and video.

After disembarking from the London Eye, we hopped the bus and headed up to the Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard. We were totally unprepared for the number of people that would be there so early on a week day! We enjoyed the pomp and ceremony with the rest of the crowd, but we didn't have the best view.

We again boarded the city bus to Kensington Palace. And today was the 5th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana. The crowds here made it clear why she was called the people's princess. There was a an obvious outpouring of love, respect and devotion. It was touching and one of the high points of our visit to London. From here we took our time walking through the park and down to Albert's Hall.

Again, we hopped the bus back down to Westminster Abbey. We purchased our admission and really enjoyed perusing the inside of this historical abbey. The famous names of the people interned here just go on and on and on.

We had one more stop before our day was over. My wife is a registered nurse and really wanted to check out the Florence Nightingale Museum. After all, she is considered the founder of her modern profession. This turned out to be one of those small gems that one occasionally finds while traveling. The exhibits are incredibly well done and the history of this amazing woman was very interesting. The curators were very friendly and the museum was not full of crowds like the larger tourist attractions. If you have an extra hour or two to spare, I highly recommend a visit!

We ended the evening with a Caffery's (beer) and fish and chips dinner at the Sherlock Holmes Pub. We discovered that whipped peas, seemingly a common English staple, are just what they sound like - green peas whipped up - think of mashed potatoes, only use green peas instead.