Living A Dream..........

My mom and I have always dreamed of going to England. For years we have joked about our "dream trip". We usually go to see every movie having to do with England's history, romantic comedies set in England, and Jane Austen films. We LOVE England!! So, for my mom's 60th birthday, I surprised her with 2 Plane tickets for us to "Live our Dream"! Luckily I have a very supportive husband who was able to be home with the kids and agreed to let me spend a bunch of money- so off we went!

March 11-12, 2010 Thursday-Friday

This was our travel day. We had a non-stop overnight flight on British Airways from Phoenix to Heathrow that left at 9PM on Thursday night. We enjoyed the flight, watched movies, talked, and slept a bit. We arrived Friday afternoon and made our way through customs.

We bought single-ride tickets and took the underground into London. We got off near our B & B at Victoria Station. We got a little lost and had to wander around pulling our luggage until we found our bearings and located our B & B. We stayed at the Morgan House in a twin room...It was VERY tiny!

But we had our own bathroom and everything we needed! We got settled in and walked around the neighborhood until we decided to eat at a local pub called "The Travelers Tavern". OK food- nothing really special. Lots of tourists. We were pretty tired, so we headed back to the room and off to sleep.

March 13, 2010 Saturday

We were up early today and ready to go see some sights! We had breakfast at our B & B. Eggs, toast, meat, tomatoes, beans, tea. Yummy!

We walked down near Victoria Station and caught the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus. We rode around the whole city of London for about 1 1/2 hours seeing the sites from the top-deck of the bus and listening to a very nice tour guide. It was a great chance to see the city and get our bearings. We decided to get off near Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. The HO-HO bus had a guided tour of this, so we joined up with them. We saw the various stages of the whole process of the event, including the Horse Guard Change, the Marching Band processional up the Mall from St. James Palace, to the actual guard change at Buckingham. It was crazy to see so many people in one place at one time!

After this, we spent some time walking through St. James Park and had a Hot Dog there!

These Crocus were popping up all over.  It was so beautiful!!

We walked down near Parlaiment and Big Ben and saw some of the area. We were planning to see Westminster Abbey, but they were closing as we arrived, so we took the HO-HO bus over to St. Paul's Cathedral and spent the afternoon there. We explored the Cathedral- saw the Crypt and the beautiful church. I climbed up the Dome and took in some amazing views of London! It was glorious!

The view from the top dome of St. Paul's Cathedral!

We decided to stay for Evensong. We were part of the choir and were able to sit in the choir nave. What a great experience!

After this we attempted to take the tube back near Victoria. It was a mess! The District and Central lines were down and we had to get really creative to figure out how to get back! This was pretty hard on mom- she does not do stairs very well. We finally made it back and ate dinner at an Italian restaurant near our B & B. It was delicious!

March 14, 2010 Sunday

Today we were up and decided to use the bus system to get around as the Underground was still down. This was a great decision! Much easier for mom to get around.

We headed off to the Tower of London. We spent the whole day here! It was such an awesome place with so much history. Mom and I love Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, so this place had alot of meaning. We did the Beefeaters tour, saw the crown jewels, explored the towers, and had tea/lunch in the cafe there. This was one of our favorites!

The Ravens at the Tower of London

Looking over the Wall

Walking the Wall

Mom with a Yeoman Warder aka "Beef-Eater"

This is a monument constructed at the site where there used to be a scaffolding built when someone was executed.  Supposedly only 6 people were executed here inside the walls of the Tower.

The famous "graffiti" of Jane inside the tower- supposedly done by Lady Jane Gray's husband.

This is where the Crown Jewels are housed.  We were not allowed to take pictures of those!

After this, we headed over to ride the London Eye. It was dark when we went up, so we were able to see London all light up! It was so beautiful! We loved looking out over the city, finding landmarks, and enjoying the view!

March 15, 2010 Monday

Today we were up early and had our last breakfast at our B & B. It has been nice to have such a filling meal in the morning and not have to go anywhere! We hopped on the bus and off we went to Westminster Abbey. What a gorgeous Cathedral with so much history! It is hard to imagine that this church is over 1000 years old!

We did the self guided tour and explored on our own. We saw all the various chapels, (our favorite was the Lady Chapel) monuments and shrines. We saw the tomb of Elizabeth I, and many other kings that are buried here. We also saw the Coronation chair that has been used for every king and queen sice the 1300's. Absolutely amazing!   We couldn't take pictures in here.....

We left the Abbey and headed over to the British Museum. We stopped at a little cafe and had lunch outside. This is where we had our first "Bacon and Brie" sadwich with tea and cakes. Yummy!

Onto the British Museum!  We were attempting to do a quickie tour as we didn't have much time and had certain things we wanted to see.

 We explored the Egyptian rooms, saw the Rosetta Stone, and checked out some of the Greek rooms. We saw statues taken from the Parthenon, and the gum-gum guy from Easter Islands. Very cool!

After this we headed back to the B & B to pack. We ended up laying down for an hour as we were beat! Then back up, grabbed some quick sandwiches and M & S and off to see WICKED!!

 Chris had bought these tickets online for us in the cheap seats. Before the show started, the usher announced that if anyone wanted to move forward- they could. So we ended up in the balcony seating, 2nd row. Perfect view! Loved, loved, loved Wicked! It was such a great show! We laughed and cried! I was so glad we went to the theater in London! We headed back to the B & B and stayed up very late packing to leave early in the morning.