london – AK In Wanderland

Day 20 – Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Alex

Well, this is it.

The 20th and final day of our whirl wind tour around the main British isle. We’ve seen so much and traveled so many miles. Our feet hurt but our minds have been massaged with beautiful country side, history and culture.

Today we set out to see the last of the major London attractions. We started with a stroll to Trafalgar Square for a little photography and people watching.

We then walked through Admiralty Arch and marched down The Mall to Buckingham Palace. The thing that stuck out to me was how the gates are the most luxurious thing surrounding an otherwise vanilla building.

It’s the history that matters, though. We got in position for the changing of the guard. There were so many people nudging and pushing and positioning themselves to squeeze into any opening to the front.

The ceremony itself was quite long and drawn out. As the incoming guards passed by, I got some nice unobstructed video. Once inside the gates, though, the sea of people and the gates themselves blocked the view mostly.

It was still neat to watch. Those black furry hats have got to be heavy and hot!

After the guard change, we strolled through Hyde Park. Included was a stop at the Diana, Princess of Wales memorial fountain.

A tube ride later and we had lunch in the Notting Hill area. It’s a cute little part of town. A little quieter with more shops and restaurants than historic sights.

Our final stop was St. Paul’s Cathedral. The outside of this place looks really plain. Actually, it looks more like a government building than a cathedral.

Inside, though? Magnificent.

Pictures aren’t allowed so that’s all I’ve got. The rest was magnificent, though. It rivals the inside of many others I’ve been into, and I thought it was nicer (inside only) that Westminster.

We’re ready to come home I think. Three weeks of walking takes a toll. Three weeks of washing clothes in sinks gets tired. Three weeks of sleeping in a foreign bed gets uncomfortable.

But this is what I label as a first world problem. I expect no pity and feel blessed to have been able to experience this.

We’re on our way back, America.

TOTAL STEPS WALKED 26,714
TOTAL MILES 10.54

Day – 19 London Tower, Tower Bridge and Abbey Road

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Kari

We had a lot of walking to do yesterday… So much in fact that we were too tired to post last night.
11 miles of walking over about 11 hours of being on our feet = sore everything!!

We got to see some really neat stuff though so we can’t complain too much.

First stop was at London Tower to see the Crown Jewels. Unbelievably sparkly! Pretty awesome to see up close.
Next stop was right next door to see the Tower Bridge. We got to go up top and see the view of the city up high. It was a gorgeous crisp end of summer day. A few clouds hovering above and a lot of sunshine.

Then we headed off towards the Globe Theatre. We used our London Pass to go on a tour inside. The theatre has the only thatched roof in London. It is not the original one but an excellent replica all the same.

And to top off our long day of walking we headed to the underground subway and headed out towards Abbey Road.

Although it is technically just a crosswalk, it is the most famous crosswalk in the world. There were many Beatles fans there trying to replicate the famous Abbey Road album cover. There were also many cars just trying to go about their day passing through that intersection frustrated by the Beatlemaniacs in the road taking pictures.

I would hate to live near by with all of the car honking happening everyday. And of course Abbey Road Studios is right next door so we added our names to the wall along with thousands of others.

After Abbey Road we went out to do some night photography by the London Eye and get a bite to eat. Long day and 1 more to go!

TOTAL STEPS WALKED 28,026
TOTAL MILES 11.05

Day – 18 London Baby!

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Kari

Here’s a few more pictures from today. London is pretty big and we only have two more days to conquer it.

Day 18 – London (AC)

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Alex

Travel days are quite crazy. Not just the hustle and bustle of going from a place that you’ve just finally mastered to a new, unknown animal. At the end of the day, the place you left seems like a dream you just remember bits and pieces of.

We hopped on the train in York at 10:25 – which was a bit later than we’d like, but that express train to London was literally half price (£50 vs £100 each).

Once in London, there was a sense of “making it.” We purchased our London Passes (multi-attraction discount card) and Oyster Cards (tube/bus pre-loaded fares), then hopped on the Tube for a 15 minute ride to our hotel in the Westminster area.

After checking in, we shot out and like little ball beatings got sucked in by the magnets that are historical and iconic sights.

Westminster Abbey.

I wasn’t supposed to take these and even feel a little guilty.

We toured the Churchill War Rooms and Churchill Museum. Both are amazing exhibits. The history of WWII just never gets less staggering. This was just one piece of that time in history.

The museum was phenomenal. So many pieces of information, artifacts and interactive displays on the man’s life.

Seeing Big Ben was similar to The David or the Statue of Liberty. These are places you learn about from a young age. When you see them up close, they consume you. It’s hard to stop taking photos. You just stare at the detail, soaking in the fact that you’re actually seeing it.

On the other side of the south bank, we poked around the London Eye. We bumped into an arcade that was part of our London Pass. £3 in free tokens each was enough for us to play a giant PacMan game and some air (hockey) soccer.

I won three games in a row. I played the fourth left-handed. After taking a 4-2 lead, Kari tied it up 4-4. Then I went up 6-4. She again tied it up. The machine’s air turned off and we had to play the final point without air. Lame. Left-handed and without air, I finally lost. May as well have used my foot!

And one more pic of Big Ben!

TOTAL STEPS WALKED 17,954
TOTAL MILES 7.08