London, England - Part 2

What a busy day today!  We realized that we really had only one full day in London, so we crammed in as much as we could.  

We first went to see Big Ben and the Parliament buildings.  What a stunning building!  We went down the street to Westminster Abbey.  Since both of us had been inside before, we decided to just take in it's beauty from the outside.  Another incredible piece of architecture and art.

We walked to Buckingham Palace and happened upon the Changing of the Guard.  We weren't too pleased about this, since it means the crowds in front of the Palace are insane.  We had both seen the Changing of the Guard before, so we were really just interested in seeing the Palace!  We fought the crowds and spent a few minutes there.

We then walked down The Mall to Trafalgar Square, where we had lunch at a great pub.  We then walked back to the Thames and walked along the South Bank until we reached the Millennium Bridge.  We walked across this fascinating structure toward St. Paul's Cathedral on the other side of the river.  We went inside the Cathedral and toured around with an audio guide.  While mom was wandering around in the crypt (I had finished touring and was waiting at Starbucks), a group of people all wearing purple choir robes walked by and she followed them upstairs to the Cathedral floor.  The choir was preparing for a service and had a practice right then.  It was a mixed choir of about 60 people.  She said it was absolutely gorgeous.  Food for the soul.  Kinda regret my Starbucks.  :-)

We made a quick trip to Kensington Palace, but were disappointed in the amount of construction / restoration happening to the building.  It was hard to see the Palace itself.  

We rushed back to our apartment, changed, and rushed to the Piccadilly Circus area for our Broadway show!  We went to see The Book of Mormon.  While it would certainly not be for everyone (incredibly irreverent and probably offensive), we loved it!  It was hysterically funny and the singing and dancing were phenomenal.  We are Broadway fanatics, so this was the perfect way to end our trip!

Mom flies home tomorrow.  I am heading to the Norfolk area to spend some time with my dad and step-mom.  I fly home on August 16.  I may do a couple of more blog posts, but most of our time will be pretty low-key.

At the beginning of the trip it seemed that 5 weeks was so long.  But it has flew by and we have had the time of our lives!  There are so many more stories to tell, but we'll save those to tell in person.

Thanks for all of your well-wishes, prayers and encouragement for us during this time!  And thanks for 'coming along' with us during our Summer in Europe!