Playing tour guide...

The day after returning from Paris, Trish and I left Josh at home to watch basketball while we rented some Barclay bikes for a ride along Regent's Canal.  Our first stop was to Primrose Hill, to take in a view of London.  We then moved on to Regent's Park and took in the views from the Queen's Garden.  Our main goal for the day was to explore the Portobello Market in Notting Hill.  Trish and I had a great time slowly taking in all that the market had to offer.  We both bought a few things to bring back home.  I bought a few scarves and a new Oyster card holder and Trish got a pretty scarf and some magnets to bring back home to her family.  We enjoyed a really tasty African meal from one of the vendors.  Trish and I needed a break after walking around most of the day, so we found a pub and relaxed with some beer until Josh came to meet us for dinner.  We ended up eating at an Italian place off of Kensington High Street.  It was really good, especially the bruschetta!  We finally headed home and prepared for our early bus ride to Stonehenge the next day.  (Sorry I don't have any pics of our day!  I think Trish took them all!)

We had to leave our house pretty early on Sunday morning to make it to the bus station for our trip to Stonehenge.  There was a bit of confusion too, when we got there, but we finally found the spot we were suppose to be and made it on the bus on time.  The bus ride took about 90 minutes and the guy leading the group (Mark) gave us some good commentary of the sights we passed on the way there.  The English countryside was very pretty, with rolling hills and cows and sheep grazing in the fields.  Then all of a sudden, we could see it!  Stonehenge!

Waiting in line to get our tickets for Stonehenge

Countryside near Stonehenge.

Stonehenge.

Stonehenge was amazing in person.  The stones are massive and it is easy to see how they have taken on a magical quality throughout the years.  The area surrounding Stonehenge is undeveloped, mostly farmland.  The lack of buildings around it adds to the mystery and feelings of awe.  I am so glad that we were able to make Stonehenge part of Trisha's trip.  It was a highlight!

Josh and I at Stonehenge.

Bath, England

The next stop on our bus tour was Bath, England.  The city of about 80,000 residents is beautiful.  It is set in rolling hills with a pretty river running through it.  The city is named for the Roman baths that are still available to visit within the city.  The baths are fed by hot springs.

The Bath Abbey

The Royal Crescent.

We enjoyed walking around and taking in the scenery.  We stopped to have lunch and ended up waiting for our food forever!  I'm sad that we wasted so much time on lunch!  After lunch, Josh and I explored some of the local chocolate shops while Trisha went to tour one of the Roman Baths.  The chocolate was amazing!  We finally had to head back to London, but I think that we all had a fantastic Sunday in England!

On Monday, Trish and I were once again on our own.  We purchase a London Pass so that we could get into many of the London attractions at a bit of a discount.  Our first stop was Westminster Abbey.  Josh and I have been outside of it before, but never inside, so it was fun to take an audio guided tour.  The abbey was very ornate, there were a lot of statues and tombs all over the place.  We weren't allowed to take pictures on the inside, but here are a few of the building...

The outside of Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey

We would definitely recommend a visit to Westminster Abbey if you ever come to London!  It was a highlight of our day!

After leaving Westminster, Trish and I took a little river cruise to our next destination.  The river cruise was a fun way to get around some of the major London attractions.  Luckily, the weather was beautiful and it was nice to stand out on the deck and see everything go by.

Trisha on the river cruise...Big Ben in the background!

Big Ben and Parliament from the river cruise.

Our plan was to go grab lunch at the Borough market and then head to the London Eye, but our plans were derailed a little.  The Borough market was closed (now I know it is only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday!) and the London Eye wasn't included in our pass, so we skipped it.  Instead we headed to Tower Bridge for the "Tower Bridge Exhibition"...it was probably one of the most boring things we did all week, and I wouldn't recommend spending money to see it!  Basically you go up in an elevator inside one of the towers and then you can walk along the inside of the upper part of the bridge.  Yes, it sounds cool, but it wasn't.  You would think that the views from there would be amazing, but actually there really weren't any views because of the girders and plexiglass.  The upper part was also like a museum with pictures and stories about bridges around the world.  We also could have visited the mechanics room, but Trish and I ditched it and headed off to the Tower of London. 

Tower Bridge

Inside the Tower of London, looking over to Tower Bridge

Our very funny tour guide

Trisha and I waited a few minutes to join a tour at the Tower.  I'm glad we did because I learned so much more than when Josh and I just went on our own.  The added plus was that our guide was hilarious!  I'd highly recommend taking the tour if you ever go to the Tower! 

The spot were a couple of King Henry VIII's wives lost their heads!

We ended our day with another river cruise on the Thames back to Westminster Pier.  We relaxed at home that night and got ready for Trisha's last full day in London.

On Tuesday, the plan was to visit St. Paul's Cathedral, visit Buckingham and Kensington Palaces and go to Harrods if we had time.  So, off we went early on Tuesday morning, first to St. Paul's Cathedral.  I had not been inside the cathedral yet, and I am glad that we were able to go in.  Apparently, you can walk up to the top of the dome, but it was closed for repairs until May.  We were able to go into the Whispering gallery in the bottom part of the dome.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but trust me, you will want to visit the cathedral if you ever visit London, it was amazing!

St. Paul's Cathedral Dome

After St. Paul's, we headed over to the Buckingham Palace area.  They don't do a changing of the guards everyday, so I am glad Trish and I were able to catch it.  We first came across some guards at the Guard House, doing some soldiery things :)

The Guards getting ready for the changing of the guards in front of the guard house.

Seeing them all lined up like this reminded me of visiting Sam out at the Academy...such fun times!

The royal band marching to Buckingham Palace.

It was very busy at the palace, there were tons of people waiting along the sides of the road to watch the guards marching.  I can't even fathom how many people are here when the Queen comes out or something else royal happens. 

The guards marching into the Buckingham palace gates.

We didn't really get to see too much after they marched into the gates.  There were too many people around to get through to see the actual changing of the guard.  But I am glad we got to see what we did!  It was also funny to watch people get yelled at by the police for clogging up the walkways. 

Trisha in front of Buckingham Palace

Cupcake selection at Harrod's

After Buckingham Palace, Trish and took a bus over towards Harrod's.  We ate a quick lunch and then went in to explore the wonders of Harrod's food hall.  We bought cupcakes to have later on that day and Trish bought a few pastries for her plane ride the next day.  She also bought some coffee beans for Ethan.  We had a good time exploring the food hall, almost everything looked yummy!  We decided to use the restrooms before we left and it probably took us about 20 minutes to find them.  We asked no less than 5 employees where they were and we still had trouble!  That place is a maze! 

We still had a little time left so we stopped at Oxford Circus to do a little window shopping.  Josh and I were here over Christmas and it was really overwhelming with all the people.  It was still very busy this day.  I never realized it before, but they have the same stores multiple times within a miles of each other.  It was really weird to see two or three of the same stores over and over again.  I had been wanting to visit Primark for a while to get a few plain t-shirts and Trish let me look really quick.  That place was a madhouse!  In fact, Trisha left to go wait outside because of all the people!  I quickly found a few shirts and we left. 

That night, we decided that Trish should have a proper pub meal, so we went to a pub on Essex street called the Lord Clyde.  The food was amazing, more of a gastropub than just plain pub food.  Trish and I had Bubble and Squeak, a traditional English meal of sausages and gravy and a pancake like bread on top.  It was very rich and yummy and the service was the best we have had in London so far!  I think it will be a favorite for Josh and I. 

Sadly, Wednesday came too soon :(  It was sad to see Trisha leave.  I hope that she had a great time, I know that I did!  Our next planned visitors are my parents, who will be coming in October.  I really hope that more people plan to visit us while we are here.  London is such an interesting and vibrant city, there is so much to share!

I hope everyone has a happy Easter.  Josh and I will be off on our European adventure :)  We will catch up with you when we get back! 
Rachel