London day 2

Today, Sunday August 18th was amazing! Each day brings more things that I never dreamed I could experience.  God blessed us with a beautiful day!

We met for breakfast at 8 am that is included with our room. Different foods on a British breakfast buffet; i.e., pork and beans, awesome fruit, fried smoked mackerel, and bangers (sausage) and mushrooms and many more things.

After breakfast we were headed to the tube to take us to Westminster Abbey for church. Can I just say that was an awesome experience.  I can't believe I was able to see it. The Abby started being built in 1042 by Edward the Confessor. The present church was started 1245 by King Henry III now known as Westminster Abbey!  After the service we were looking around and a nice gentleman showed us some stained glass that was significant for us Americans. It was a gift from Harvard college.  There was one showing the Pilgrims from the state of Massachusetts!

 The grounds of Westminster Abbey

 The one donated from Harvard is the top one here!

Short doors...

 Outside of Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

After that we headed towards Big Ben for some pictures and walked by a statue of Abraham Lincoln in front of the British Supreme Court. Then we found a British phone both and got a picture. Then it was back to hotel to change for an afternoon of more sightseeing.

All of us in with Big Ben in the background!

 

 Abraham Lincoln 

Big Ben Striking 12 Noon

Grace, Freida and I

We are close to the Westfield Mall so we had lunch at Bryon The Proper Hamburger! Not sure what made it more proper but the food was great. I was the odd person and had a veggie sandwich which was awesome.

Off to the Tower of London to see the Crown Jewels.  No pictures there cause it is not allowed!  While we were waiting in line We saw the London Bridge too.  Then a mad dash to St Paul's for the Eucharist service.  A beautiful building very opulent!

 The Tower of London

 The prisoners were transported and dropped off at the Tower of London by the Thames river

 Yes there is a story behind this picture and it all had to do with ice cream and cake cones or sugar cones! :)

 London Bridge

 St Paul's

Michael standing in front of St. Paul's after the service.  

After that it was back to The Tower of London because Freida was so awesome and got us tickets for The Ceremony of the Keys- the locking up of the gates of the Tower of London.  We ate dinner first at a pub called Witherspoons. Yummy authentic British Pub fare. Then over to the Tower.  Again no pictures allowed and one silly man thought he would sneak one and almost got removed. That was not the only excitement down on the Thames river there were many people dressed up for something (some of the ladies I might add weren't very dressed) and as we went back to await the time we would attend the ceremony we could hear sirens and police started arriving not just one or two or three but by the time we did our ceremony tour there were probably 25+ along with wagons brought into remove   people. We never figured out what was going on down there but we sure made up several of our own theories.  LOL Needless to say we are watching the news to find out.

 London Bridge all lite up

 More London Bridge

 Thames River

 More Thames River

A great shot of London Bridge....not falling down either!!

We walked 5  miles on Saturday without sleep! Today we walked 8.81 miles, 20,159 steps, and 40 flights of stairs! Plus we have mattered the tube thanks to David!

Stay tuned for an exciting day 3 in London tomorrow or should I just say today for me.