London, Baby!

Okay, cheesy title, but I couldn't resist.  Whenever I think of London, I always think of the episode from Friends where they go to London and all Joey says is, "London, baby!"  Now onto more of our trip.  We spent Tuesday night, our last night in England, in London.  We were leaving from Heathrow on Wednesday afternoon and thought it would be easier to get there from the city versus outside of the city.  I love London, anyways, and I was thankful we got to spend a little time there.

Tuesday morning, we rode the train from Hever back to London and got in just around lunch time.  We checked in to our hotel, grabbed lunch and then headed back to the hotel for a little nap.  I'm telling you, we loved nap time!  After naps, we decided to walk around the city.  It was probably the first beautiful day, with temperatures in the 70's, that the English had seen in a long time, so it seemed like everyone was out and about enjoying the beautiful weather.  Paul booked our hotel right across the street from Hyde Park and near Green Park.  It was the perfect location for us to walk to all of the major sites in London.

London Eye

Big Ben

We did a lot of walking, and thankfully Mary Frances was completely content in her stroller.  We walked to Buckingham Palace, down the Birdcage Walk, through the Horse Guards Parade Ground, and then down the Victoria Embankment towards Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.  Paul has been to London several times since our trip in 2008 and loves to walk this route.  Horse Guards Parade is his favorite place, so he says.  I love Buckingham Palace.  Ever the romantic, I am always hopeful to catch a glimpse of the queen, or even Prince William and Kate :)  No such luck this trip.  Maybe next time!

Mary Frances and Paul in front of Buckingham Palace gates

Setting up for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee

Buckingham Palace

With my girl

Horse Guards Parade

I think Mary Frances' favorite site was Westminster Abbey.  About two months ago, Paul was watching Mary Frances one day and the only way he could get her to eat was to let her watch the Royal Wedding on you tube.  Ever since, she has been obsessed with weddings and churches and church bells.  I think the church bells were her favorite in that particular clip.  Anyways, we had been talking about going to see the church where the Prince and Princess got married and once we strolled up, she was so excited!  Even better, there was a couple in their wedding gown and tuxedo having wedding portraits taken in front of the Abbey.  Mary Frances was in heaven!  We also heard the bells ring every 15 minutes and then on the hour.  She just walked around and pointed.  She was so happy.  I did warn Paul that every little girl starts dreaming of weddings at an early age and he just happened to get her hooked on one of the most expensive weddings of the decade :)

In front of Westminster Abbey

The Abbey

If you look hard, you can see the bride in the background

Unsuccessful attempt of getting Mary Frances'
picture in front of Big Ben

After Westminster Abbey, we decided to walk to Trafalgar Square and find dinner.  We didn't realize it was almost 8pm and by the time we got there were starving, so we settled for a Mexican restaurant in London :)  Not quite the same, but it hit the spot.  Then we walked down the Mall, back towards the Palace and hotel.  It was a great afternoon in London and I am so thankful we had that time there!  It was a great way to end our trip.

Countdown to the summer Olympics in Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

Looking at the Palace from the Mall, which was closed to
traffic in preparation for the Jubilee celebration

We had such a great time and were glad that we made the effort to go to England, especially with Mary Frances.  It was a lot of work, but worth the effort to see sweet friends and have some special family time too.  We did decide that the next time we take kids across the pond, it will be when they are old enough to walk and carry their own luggage :)  And that is the end of our European Adventure!

Love,
Katy