Last night after we blogged, we headed to out to the London Eye, which is the world's largest observation wheel. =) The view was incredible!! You could see the entire city of London. We couldn't find where they're building the Olympic Village though - we think it'll have to be wayyyy outside the inner city because there is no room what-so-ever for that much stuff to be built in the city.
For dinner we went to our first English Pub, Bag o' Nails. =) HAHA! The food was awesome! Ashley ordered a Big Ben Burger, which was a burger with lettuce, tomatoes, bbq sauce, and egg - yes a fried egg on top of the burger! It was reallllyyyyy good. And it came with chips (french fries). Hahaha. It's so much fun learning all the British lingo. =) Terri ordered bbq-ed chicken with chips and a salad, which was also awesome.
This morning when we woke up, it was bucketing (raining) out. It was just a light drizzle, but I (Ashley) have never been so excited to see it rain. =D I got to use my fancy umbrella (TERRI EDIT ~ the first time Ashley opened her fancy schmancy umbrella one of the spokes when UP HER NOSE!). Hahaha. We had breakfast at the hotel, which was a traditional English buffet. Ashley had eggs, toast, ham, apple tart, and FRESH SQUEEZED OJ! Terri had eggs, sausage (which was gross), ham, cottage cheese, and pear. Also delicious.
Our first venture was out to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Honestly, it was way overrated... We actually left. There were about 15,000 people there to see a 15-minute event. It was interesting to see the guard. Two bands marched in and then they switched guards. There was so many people we couldn't see anything. We plan on you tube-ing it. =) We were OK with this though because we weren't all that excited to see this anyway.
After that we TRIED to catch the tube at Victoria Station, but 2 of the lines were shut down completely. They do maintenance on the weekends and it was the weekend for this tube. We ended up leaving and caught a cab (not a black one sadly, but a nice one!) to the National Portrait Gallery. We weren't allowed to take pictures sadly, but we have already taken 332 on only DAY 2, so that's probably for the best. =) We saw the Tudor gallery, which was neat. Terri and I are huge fans of Henry VIII and ALL SIX of his wives. =) Hahaha. We also viewed the current galleries where we saw paintings and pictures of the Queen, Prince Charles, Princess Diana and Harry and William.
After that, we hiked up Charing Cross road to Trafalgar Square. This is Terri's "favorite place in the world." It was absolutely incredible! There were two fountains, a couple monuments, and stairs, where we sat to people watch. =) Trafalgar Square is considered the heart of London. Charing Cross is the offical heart of London and Trafalgar Square is right on top of that. Everything in London is measured from this point. Our taxi driver described it as "if you say you're 6 miles from London, you mean you're 6 miles from Trafalgar Square." (If that makes sense!)
After wayyyyyy too many photos of the square, we took advantage of our last day of our tour bus tickets. We saw the rest of the London sights from a distance, most of which we'll be seeing close up later this week. It was nice to familiarize ourselves with everything. We located nearby tube stations and made note of things not on our list to-do that we want to add.
^^^ Tower Bridge
^^^ Big Ben!!
^^^ Downing Street- where the Prime Minister Lives =)
There are soooo many little differences between here and home. At the museums, we took the lift (elevator) and as we were going down, the speaker said, "Now approaching level negative two." Obviously, we thought that was weird. Hahaha. It turns out that in London, any floor below ground level is negative, unless there's only one floor below ground level, then it's a basement. Strange, huh? Also, there's no "Exits" here, everything points to "Way out."
After our foray on the tour bus, we freshened up at the hotel and headed out for dinner. Tonight we ate at "Duke of York," another pub. Terri ordered roast chicken with peas, carrots, mash (potatoes), and Yorkshire pudding. Terri claims the chick was "half a chicken." It was really huge!! Ashley had a full on traditional English meal of fish and chips and a pint! Boy was the pint gross!!! It was "Beck's," which Dad said we have the in US, so that was disappointing, but I only drank maybeeeee 1/4 of it! Hahah. I had to try!! The saddest part for me was the fact that two nights in a row now I've ordered alcoholic beverages (the legal age in Europe is only 18), AND NO ONE CARDED ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahahaha. Last night, the gentleman didn't even ask and tonight, the waitress said, "Are you 18?" and when I said yes, she brought my pint! I guess they're lax about it here??? Hahaha.
After dinner, we stopped by a grocery store to stock up on goodies for the hotel room. Ashley's been living on Mars Bars - I think I'm up to 5 already? Hahhah. Terri loves the Kit Kat's here, which are not the same as US Kit Kats. They look the same, but are so much better tasting!! We think it's probably the chocolate they use to make them... not sure, but boy do they rock!!
So that's our day today. =) Tomorrow we're around the city again and Monday we're venturing out to Windsor Castle. =D
Oh- and the police here drive BMW's. Wow!!!!! Don't tell the American police in their poor Fords!
For dinner we went to our first English Pub, Bag o' Nails. =) HAHA! The food was awesome! Ashley ordered a Big Ben Burger, which was a burger with lettuce, tomatoes, bbq sauce, and egg - yes a fried egg on top of the burger! It was reallllyyyyy good. And it came with chips (french fries). Hahaha. It's so much fun learning all the British lingo. =) Terri ordered bbq-ed chicken with chips and a salad, which was also awesome.
This morning when we woke up, it was bucketing (raining) out. It was just a light drizzle, but I (Ashley) have never been so excited to see it rain. =D I got to use my fancy umbrella (TERRI EDIT ~ the first time Ashley opened her fancy schmancy umbrella one of the spokes when UP HER NOSE!). Hahaha. We had breakfast at the hotel, which was a traditional English buffet. Ashley had eggs, toast, ham, apple tart, and FRESH SQUEEZED OJ! Terri had eggs, sausage (which was gross), ham, cottage cheese, and pear. Also delicious.
Our first venture was out to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Honestly, it was way overrated... We actually left. There were about 15,000 people there to see a 15-minute event. It was interesting to see the guard. Two bands marched in and then they switched guards. There was so many people we couldn't see anything. We plan on you tube-ing it. =) We were OK with this though because we weren't all that excited to see this anyway.
After that we TRIED to catch the tube at Victoria Station, but 2 of the lines were shut down completely. They do maintenance on the weekends and it was the weekend for this tube. We ended up leaving and caught a cab (not a black one sadly, but a nice one!) to the National Portrait Gallery. We weren't allowed to take pictures sadly, but we have already taken 332 on only DAY 2, so that's probably for the best. =) We saw the Tudor gallery, which was neat. Terri and I are huge fans of Henry VIII and ALL SIX of his wives. =) Hahaha. We also viewed the current galleries where we saw paintings and pictures of the Queen, Prince Charles, Princess Diana and Harry and William.
After that, we hiked up Charing Cross road to Trafalgar Square. This is Terri's "favorite place in the world." It was absolutely incredible! There were two fountains, a couple monuments, and stairs, where we sat to people watch. =) Trafalgar Square is considered the heart of London. Charing Cross is the offical heart of London and Trafalgar Square is right on top of that. Everything in London is measured from this point. Our taxi driver described it as "if you say you're 6 miles from London, you mean you're 6 miles from Trafalgar Square." (If that makes sense!)
After wayyyyyy too many photos of the square, we took advantage of our last day of our tour bus tickets. We saw the rest of the London sights from a distance, most of which we'll be seeing close up later this week. It was nice to familiarize ourselves with everything. We located nearby tube stations and made note of things not on our list to-do that we want to add.
^^^ Tower Bridge
^^^ Big Ben!!
^^^ Downing Street- where the Prime Minister Lives =)
There are soooo many little differences between here and home. At the museums, we took the lift (elevator) and as we were going down, the speaker said, "Now approaching level negative two." Obviously, we thought that was weird. Hahaha. It turns out that in London, any floor below ground level is negative, unless there's only one floor below ground level, then it's a basement. Strange, huh? Also, there's no "Exits" here, everything points to "Way out."
After our foray on the tour bus, we freshened up at the hotel and headed out for dinner. Tonight we ate at "Duke of York," another pub. Terri ordered roast chicken with peas, carrots, mash (potatoes), and Yorkshire pudding. Terri claims the chick was "half a chicken." It was really huge!! Ashley had a full on traditional English meal of fish and chips and a pint! Boy was the pint gross!!! It was "Beck's," which Dad said we have the in US, so that was disappointing, but I only drank maybeeeee 1/4 of it! Hahah. I had to try!! The saddest part for me was the fact that two nights in a row now I've ordered alcoholic beverages (the legal age in Europe is only 18), AND NO ONE CARDED ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahahaha. Last night, the gentleman didn't even ask and tonight, the waitress said, "Are you 18?" and when I said yes, she brought my pint! I guess they're lax about it here??? Hahaha.
After dinner, we stopped by a grocery store to stock up on goodies for the hotel room. Ashley's been living on Mars Bars - I think I'm up to 5 already? Hahhah. Terri loves the Kit Kat's here, which are not the same as US Kit Kats. They look the same, but are so much better tasting!! We think it's probably the chocolate they use to make them... not sure, but boy do they rock!!
So that's our day today. =) Tomorrow we're around the city again and Monday we're venturing out to Windsor Castle. =D
Oh- and the police here drive BMW's. Wow!!!!! Don't tell the American police in their poor Fords!
