A View From the Top

Today we started the day with a fun walk to the area near Westminster Abby where we went on the London Eye.  It was a really fun way to see everything that we had visited during our stay here.  The London Eye takes half an hour to go around and allows you views on both sides of the river Thames.  Tim got a lot of pictures and we then went on to Westminster Abby.

I was not sure what to expect from the Abby.  The outside is beautiful and awe inspiring.  There was a long line so we had time to really look at the architecture and neat embellishments of the Abby.  There is no picture taking inside the Abby and it is so hard to explain what you see.  All around you are memorials and burial sights of people.  We saw where Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I were entombed and memorials for Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and other poets.  The part that is a little unsettling are the burial sights like those of the queens, they are above ground with their effigies on top.  We were also able to see the museum where they have other effigies and artifacts to look at.  The last thing we saw was the coronation chair that was of course last used during the current queens coronation.  This is a place where I can see people visiting many times as there is so much to take in.  You are walking along looking at everything that is right in front of you and forget to look up at the amazing ceilings.  If you look up you miss so much that is right around you.  Every place we have visited I could go back to and notice something different.  I am burnt out with the tours and am glad for a little break tomorrow.


Tomorrow morning we are boarding the train to travel under the English Channel and head into Paris, France.  We are hoping to get as much sight seeing in as possible during the first half day as we are planning on going to Disneyland Paris.  I know, go to Paris to visit Disney but it is on my list of things to do before I die and honestly being somewhere a little familiar will be nice.  We actually ran into our first American today from North Carolina.  He was amazed and overwhelmed with everything just starting his trip and it was fun to hear his opinion.  It was also nice for us to hear someone from home.


My London recap:  everyone should visit here.  The history and wonderful and is not something that you can put into words.  Every line, minute of stress, dollar spent was worth it.  Walking through such history is amazing.  There are times I felt the past right next to me as you listened to the stories through audio tours.  Some moment made you laugh while others made you cry.  I'm so glad that we bought the tour books from the various places we visited so we can read and remember everything we learned.  Every single place here has a history and pretty soon they all start melting into one long memory.  Plus, the English country side that we visited our first two days was also wonderful.  Yes, it was full of stress with the driving, but I highly suggest seeing it.  Beautiful green hills dotted with white sheep and stone walls are something else to see.  I will miss London when we leave.

We hope everyone back home is well, we are excited to catch up with everyone when we get home.  The only item on our list that did not get accomplished was the Hard Rock Cafe.  No matter when we tried to go there the line was so long that we would opt to get another historical sight done instead.  We did see the outside at least.  On to Paris!