Anyways, Day 1 was a pretty low-key day since they were all jet-lagged and what not. First I took them to Hyde Park. We were going to tour Kensington Palace, but we got there like 5 minutes late. Here is me and the bro in front of it.
At the pond in the park we fed the swans, pigeon, and geese with bread :)
Took a small break to play in the leaves.....
Clearly we have problems with all looking at one camera......
I also took them to the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. You might have seen another picture of the fountain from my earlier post on Hyde Park.
Holly and I on the bridge that crosses The Serpentine, a lake/river thing that goes through the middle of Hyde Park.
After Hyde Park, I showed them around the area where I have my classes then we headed over to the Golden Hinde for some fish & chips. Yum!
Day 2: After a much needed lengthy amount of sleep, the Finken's woke up refreshed (well, maybe not so much Dylan, that kid is always tired) for a full day of touristy things. First we went to St. Paul's Cathedral and walked around the inside. No photos from the inside :(
Then we took a train out to Windsor to tour Windsor Castle, which is where the Queen usually likes to chill on the weekends. Here is a pic of Holly and I with our awesome-ly good looking audio guides and map. I will admit, I look like a tourist.
St. George's Cathedral, located in the castle grounds.
Afterwards we headed back into London to see the Westminster area including Big Ben, Parliament, Jewel Tower, Westminster Abbey, and then we rode the London Eye (huge ferris wheel) at sun set. Except there wasn't really a sun set because it was cloudy, which was kind of depressing. I was looking forward to a sweet sunset, mainly for sweet photos. Haha.
View from the Eye.
The weird glass cubicle things we rode in. They fit 28 people in them.
Day 3: We spent a good portion of this day walking up and down the Thames River seeing all the bridges and tourist things along it. The first thing we stopped at was The Monument, which commemorates the Great Fire of 1666. You could go inside and walk up the bajillion steps up to the top, but we passed.
Next we went to the Tower of London and explored its many things to see within, including the Royal Jewels. The jewels were definitely the best part but once again, no photos allowed there :(
Some type of torture device.
Then we crossed the river via the Tower Bridge.
Next stop was the HMS Belfast, an old ship that was turned into a museum.
There were a lot of cool rooms on the ship. There was EVERYTHING - bunk room, laundry room, doctor room, dentist room, bathroom, kitchen, etc... it looked very real-life. Except I wasn't a fan of the creepy mannequins. Also, the ceilings were low and I definitely hit my head a few times. Oh, not to mention Dylan and I got lost a few times on it. Haha.
Our final stop along the Thames River was The Globe Theater. It is obviously a replica since the first one was demolished and second one burned to the ground. This one is the only building in central London to have a thatched roof.
Day 4: The Finken's started their day at Wellington Arch and Buckingham Palace while I was a studious student and attended class. Then I met up with them and went to the Royal Mews - the stable that keeps and trains the horses used by the Queen and other royalty, as well as the carriages they ride in.
This is the gold coronation carriage, only used when there is a new king or queen. It weighs over 4 tons! Also, it takes 2 days to get this thing out of this building because they have to tear down half a wall to get it out. Yikes.
Then we took a lovely stroll by St. James Park, which led us straight to Trafalgar Square. The thing to do here is a get a picture with one of the lion statues... so here it is!
To end the afternoon we went to the London Zoo in Regents Park. We only had an hour till closing time so we didn't get to see a lot of the animals, plus it seemed like a lot of them were hiding in their little houses. Supposedly there was a baby gorilla but I never got to see it :(
We ended their last night here with some food & drinks at a couple of pubs (no drinks for Dylan!)Then it was time for them to pack up, get a few zzz's, and catch their plane early the next morning.
It was definitely nice to see some North Dakota faces :) It was also kind of fun to play tour guide instead of being the tourist. Although I don't consider myself a tourist, I'm just a traveler. Haha.
Thanks for visiting me family!
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