London!

Our adventure in Scotland quickly came to a close - and I mean quickly! We decided to take the bus to the train station in Edinburgh to save us from lugging our bags about a mile. We were there plenty earlier and in line and all of the sudden the door shut and off the bus goes. We will never know exactly why we missed the bus but I've come to the conclusion it's because we were tourists. So with 25 minutes before our train was to depart, we made a very quick walk of the mile (uphill nonetheless) to the station and thankfully had a few minutes to spare. We had a great 4 hours on the train and we had 2 college age girls sitting across from us. Our love of music was evident as we spent some time talking about the difference festivals we had been to and the differences between the UK and US festivals. Once we dropped everything off (we stayed by the London Eye) we headed up towards Trafalager Square and found our way to an Indian restaurant (thanks to Katherine's recommendation) and wandered our way home. We stopped at the local pub by our place and well we were quickly identified as tourists but a love for beer was quite evident so I got to sample the IPA (yes another one!) before I decided on a pint. Alas, I still miss the PNW IPAs but I think I'll survive a few more weeks.

London!

With Friday being our only full day in London, I planned to make the most of it. We started with a visit to Starbucks so I could get some breakfast (side note - a double tall soy latte must not be a common theme because for some reason I could only get a single shot). First we went to Westminster Abbey (most famous recent years as the royal wedding was here a few years back). It was gorgeous. Unfortunately they did not allow photos instead but had a great audio tour that we were able to follow. After the Abbey, Rachel and I separated - she went to visit relatives and I went on my way throughout London. First up on my solo trip was to the Churchill War Rooms. This was on my wish list when we first started trip planning and it definitely didn't disappoint. They kept a lot of the rooms in similar condition to how they were during the WWII. I took a few pictures which you can find on my iCloud album. The War Rooms also had a museum to the life of Churchill which could have taken at least 3 hours to get through. It was incredible all the snippets and facts they accumulated and I all know is that my history-buff Dad would have stayed here all day :)

Next up I grabbed a sandwich and snack and took the a river cruise down the Thames to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. I can't lie, it was a bit chilly on the boat but as I wasn't shaking, I figured it was probably about 50 degrees out, somewhere in the 40s with windchill. The 30 minute ride was great, we got a brief overview of some of the buildings and funny stories. Next up was the Tower Bridge, I mainly decided to do this as Rachel and I were meeting about an hour later at the Tower of London and since this was included on my London Pass, why not? The bridge was cool and gave a great description of how it was built and how it combined two different styles of bridges for the time into one.

After the Tower Bridge, I went right next door and walked into the Tower of London right as a Warden was starting a 45 minute tour -great timing! We learned about he history and the story that sticks out in my mind the most is one where one King (sorry can't remember who) passed away and the eldest son who was 12 was King, his uncle said he would help him rule until he became old enough and took him and his younger brother to the Tower of London. He said that they'd be safer in one of the towers and they were never seen again. One hundred years later (or so) they found the bones of two children holding each other at one of the entrances, and this is believed to be the two brothers - sad. On a happier note, the Crown Jewels were as massive and elegant as ever. After seeing the thickness of the doors going in, I can only imagine how valuable that collection is worth!

After a stop for dinner we walked down the Thames to the National Gallery which was open until 9pm on Friday - lucky us! We only went through the Impressionist pieces as those were the most intriguing to both Rachel and I. After getting our fix of Monet, Degas, Van Gogh and more we walked back home to get packed for our journey the next morning to Brussels.

Again you can see my photos here https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0IJtdOXmJuFtyh