London

December 14-19

Nathan and I left home at 8:30 on Thursday morning after dropping off Mason at preschool.  We flew from Sioux Falls to Chicago and then from there to London!  Neither of us slept too much on the flight.

When we arrived it was Friday morning local time!  We went through customs, found our checked luggage and then took a cab to our hotel.

Passports are stamped!

This was our hotel!  A beautiful building with the iconic telephone booth right out front!

Since it still felt like the middle of the night to us, we were super thankful that we were able to check into our hotel at 9:00 in the morning!  After naps and showers, we were ready to head out and explore.

Trafalgar Square was only a few blocks away.

Our first sighting of Big Ben, which is where we walked to next!

The streets were lined with beautiful buildings everywhere!

Big Ben was under construction so that was a little disappointing.

The parliament building.

We walked across the Thames River to see the London Eye and eat lunch.

Because we kept more to our time zone, after we ate our lunch it was already dark outside!  Big Ben and the parliament building were lit up and looked really neat.

Nathan figured out the underground subway system so we took that to find the London Bridge.  It was a nice break from walking outside since it was so cold out.  We were surprised to find out the it had been reconstructed a couple of times and looked much like an ordinary bridge!

 The Tower Bridge was a much more spectacular sight!

We walked along the river from the London Bridge to the Tower Bridge and found outdoor Christmas markets and many lit Christmas trees.  It felt very festive!

We also found a ship used in World War 2.

Pete Tong presents Ibiza Classics at The O2 on Friday night.
Nathan surprised me with tickets to a unique concert with was really fun to watch.  It was a full orchestra and a DJ which felt very much like dance music.  In fact, we guessed there were 20,000 people there and the majority of them were dancing!

After the concert we walked through Picadilly Circus where there were more beautiful Christmas lights and decorations.  The streets were filled with red double decker buses and black taxis.

It felt much like Times Square with the huge billboard of lights.

Nathan found a restaurant to eat supper at and by the time we were finished eating it was midnight (which meant 6:00 at home)!

Saturday we slept in, skipped breakfast and went right out for pizza!

We walked to The National Gallery and enjoyed a walk through to see some famous paintings!  It was pretty amazing to think about how many decades ago they were painted!
The Water-Lily Pond by Monet

Van Gogh

Sunflowers by Van Gogh

We exchanged some of our money into pounds.

Then Nathan gave a presentation at a conference while I shopped!  I was thankful that there were so many good places to shop right outside of our hotel so I didn't have to worry about getting lost!

M&M World was fun to walk through, but very busy!  I found a couple of gifts for the boys there.

The streets were crowded with people and it felt very much like New York City.

I liked this street performer!

There was a line out the door to get in at the Lego Store but I was excited to go in hoping to find something fun to take home for the boys.  The following 3 pictures are of things made entirely out of Legos!

This was the front of our hotel lit up!

Nathan's presentation went well and we had reservations that night at 9:00 at Benihana.  Yum!  Japanese food is our all time favorite!

We enjoyed watching them cook in front of us as well!

Sunday morning we walked to Buckingham Palace and watched the changing of the guard.

Then we ate lunch and started walking toward Hyde Park.  Along the way we saw The Wellington Arch.

Hyde Park would have been more fun if it hadn't been raining but we were thankful for coats and umbrellas so we could still explore!

Nathan was interested in seeing a castle and the Tower of London was the perfect place to see.

The Crown Jewels are still stored here and guarded.  It was pretty neat to see the crowns worn by the Kings and Queens.  We also enjoyed watching the changing of the guard here as well.

Then we went to the Westminster Abbey and watched a service there on the 3rd Sunday of Advent.  The Westminster boys choir sang Christmas carols which were written in the 1500's!  It was a combination of a service and a performance.

Nathan found the perfect spot for supper!  The steak was served on a heated stone so you could finish cooking each bite to your preference.  I loved the concept and it was delicious!  Plus, it was nice and warm which was great after a cold, rainy day.

We stayed up to watch the boys online in their church Christmas program!  I was sad to miss it in person, but very thankful that we could see it so well online.

Monday started out well with a Gingerbread coffee from Costa (which is the equivalent to Starbucks) and a muffin.

The Shard is a building similar to the Empire State Building but not quite as tall.  The views were pretty spectacular and we found seats to just sit and relax.

Views of the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

It was funny to discover that the bathrooms also had a view!

We ate lunch at The George Inn which was established in 1542!  Pretty crazy to think that Dickens and Shakespeare ate there!

Trafalgar Square at night.

Christmas caroling by the tree.

We enjoyed listening to this group of Jamaican street performers playing the 12 Days of Christmas on steel drums.

After looking online, we found that Fortnum and Mason Est. 1707 was the perfect place to get a few gifts!  It was impressive!  There were six floors decked out for Christmas and was completely packed with people getting chocolates, coffee, tea, etc!

The window displays were equally impressive.

We purchased tickets earlier in the day to see the Broadway show Mamma Mia!  It was a fun show even though we had the very back row in the theater and we had to lean forward to see the whole stage!

After the show we walked past more impressive Christmas light displays and found an Italian restaurant for supper.

Tuesday morning we had to get up early to head over to the airport.

Flying over Greenland!  We each read for nearly the whole 7 hour flight so it went very quickly.  Plus, I was ready and excited to see the boys again!

We arrived around 6:00 our time to Sioux Falls and made it back just in time to watch Levi's SCCS Christmas program.

I'm thankful for parents who were able to care for Dorian, Levi and Mason.
I'm thankful for Nathan.
I'm thankful that he encouraged me to come along and enjoy a week with him.
I'm thankful for safety and photos to recall our adventures.