London

Had a bumpy bus ride into London, and it was much hotter than we expected. But, we found the residence in downtown (Bankside to be specific) and we were able to settle in quickly. In looking over all the things we wanted to see, we quickly realized that we wouldn't have enough time to do it all. First on the list was St. Paul's Cathedral (it opened earliest), where we saw amazing architecture, the Duke of Wellington's tomb, and Lord Nelson's tomb. The whispering galleries were closed in the top, so we weren't able to experience that, but we headed off to the rebuilt Globe theatre. We had a very cool tour there, and then we went to a "London Bridge" experience. It was funny, and creepy, with actors that play out all the dead zombies stuck in the tombs of london's dungeon and bridge. Then we went to the Tower of London. It was really interesting, except there were 1 million other visitors and it was difficult to move about the grounds. We were able to view the Crown Jewels and various prisoner rooms where royalty lived when stuck in the tower. From there we headed to the National Portrait Gallery and Trafalgar Square. JR thought it was amazing and Nancy liked the royalty portraits. Our attempt in viewing the Canada House was thwarted because the common area was closed for some 3-day function. Too bad. We then headed out to get theatre tickets for the Tuesday night. We decided to see "Oliver". It was a fabulous show the next evening. We both loved it.
Back to Monday though... we met up with JR's friend, Ling, and were able to hang out for the evening at a restaurant on the Thames. Very nice. :)

Tuesday morning - Nancy slept in a bit and JR went off to view the British Museum. There was an exhibit of Renaissance master drawings which JR was able to see, as well as the Rosetta stone, an Easter Island head, and some Acropolis statues. That afternoon we headed to Buckingham Palace and went to the Queen's Mews (were her horses and carriages are kept). When we left, we saw many people dressed up in top hats and fancy dresses and Nancy thought the Queen could be having an afternoon tea party... and she WAS! Nancy loved it and JR had to take lots of pictures of all the bustle around the gates of Buckingham Palace. We left the gates of the palace and went to the Queen's gallery. Lots of amazing artwork, including the piano that Queen Victoria and Albert played, as well as original music that Mendelsohn wrote for them to perform together. (Nancy was thrilled!)

We walked back through St. James park and headed to the Parliment buildings and Big Ben. After the requisite pictures we headed back to change and rest before Oliver. Like we mentioned earlier, Oliver was superb. Definitely lived up to the hype of "West End London broadway". That was our last evening in London, but when we fly back on our way to Munich, we will meet up with Ling again, and maybe get some more sights and sounds of London.