Touring London

London Skyline - as viewed from our double decker bus :)

Me in Trafalgar Square

Well, I've been in London for three days now, and I've been able to see a lot - Hyde Park, Oxford Circus, Trafalgar Square (including a lunchtime concert at St. Martin in the Fields), a double-decker bus tour of all the major sites, a river cruise on the Thames (including a stop at Greenwich), the British Museum (including the Rosetta Stone), and the Tower of London (including the crown jewels). The weather's been beautiful - cool, breezy, and sunny, and the city's been less crowded and chaotic than I'd expected. That being said, I can't claim to love London. I think it comes down to the fact that I'm just not a city person, though it is nice to feel like I can handle one and make my way around in it. And the history everywhere is pretty amazing.

A few favorite moments so far:

1. Hyde Park - We visited Speaker's Corner on Sunday, an area reserved for people to get up on their soapboxes - literally! - and yell and scream about their political and religious beliefs. It was pretty crazy. The guy with the biggest crowd was talking about the Lebanon situation, and the atmosphere was definitely tense.

2. The Coffee Cellar in Greenwich - This place advertises the best coffee in Greenwich, but we should have known better when they accosted me on the street, eagerly asking if we wanted coffee. When we decided we did, we were led downstairs into a musty basement with these crazy, multi-colored chairs and intense incense burning! The guy serving us, who had creamer drops on his mustache, couldn't remember what cakes they had, so he literally brought down these boxes from the freezer and laid them all out in front of us so we could choose. We were laughing to the point of tears.

3. The Tower of London - Amazing to see this place I've heard so much about - and to think of all the history that has happened there. The buildings were beautiful too.

Tomorrow a group of us is taking a day trip to Canterbury, and then on Thursday, we're going to Bath, and then Friday, Stacie and Becca arrive...I'm excited!