Cousin Stephie's Visit

Westminster Abbey

Day 1 (Thursday): I picked up Stephanie from Gatwick airport on Thursday morning. We got a chance to catch up on the train ride home and at our apartment before meeting up with Travis after his class at school. We walked into Kingston and came across the Kingston Museum. It had some photos taken by Eadward Muybridge who proved that horses lift all 4 feet when running. The museum also had an exhibit about the Hawker Center plane manufacturing and artifacts found in the Thames River. We then walked through the Kingston town center and to the river. There was a bit of a problem that night because our pump for the air mattress didn’t work. Stephanie had to sleep on the fold out couch which could not have been very comfortable.

St. James Park

Day 2 (Friday): Unfortunately on Friday I had to work and Travis had school so Stephanie was on her own for a while. I got out of work early at about 2pm at the same Travis got back from school. We got a new pump for the air mattress then headed into London Waterloo. We took the tube to Embankment and walked along to our first attraction, Big Ben! Steph seemed very excited once we got to Big Ben. We saw everything else in the area, Parliament and Westminster Abbey then walked through St. James park to Buckingham Palace. We tricked some squirrels into thinking we have food and coming up to us. The sunset was incredible over the pond in St. James Park, behind Buckingham Palace. After visiting the palace it was starting to get dark so we went to visit Harrods then to dinner in Leicester Square. We ate Mexican food at Chiquitos. We visited Trafalgar Square at night which had a countdown clock to the Olympics set up. Last we walked over to Piccadilly Circus before heading back home. That night we discovered how much longer it takes to use a foot pump to fill the air mattress then an electric one. I’m sure we also disturbed the woman down stairs since the foot pump made some strange noises. I think Steph slept much better.

Buckingham Palace

Harrods

Olympic Countdown in Trafalgar

Changing of the Guards

Day 3 (Saturday): Travis needed to do school work before going to Ireland on Sunday so stayed home while Stephanie and I went into London for the day. After getting into Waterloo we went to see the end of the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham. We got there in time to see the band march down the Mall. Walked through St. James Park to Horse Guards. It was a perfect beautifully sunny day with trees and daffodils blooming. We of course had to take some pictures in the daffodils. We got to Horse Guards in time to see their changing of the guards. It looked more disorganized because it happens around all the people. We then walked over to the other side of the river to the London Eye. We waited in a long line for tickets to the London Eye. We got combo tickets for the Eye and Aquarium. The Eye tickets come with a time slot posted and we were advised to get in line about 30 minutes before the time. We had a bit of time so wondered around. By the time we got into the line it had gone all the way from the Eye back to the tree line and looped half way back. We ended up waiting in this line for over an hour. It was really exciting to finally get onto one of the pods. I was amazed by the views. We could see all the way to Canary Wharf, the Gherkin, and Tower of London all the way over to Regents Park, Hyde Park and Buckingham. Also could see the Battersea power station. Parliament and Big Ben looked great from above even though the sun was glaring. The whole ride lasted about 20 minutes. It ended up being really fun. We then went on to Hyde Park and walked through past the Peter Pan statue and Princess Diana memorial fountain. After having a snack at the Lido Café on the Serpentine we went to Harrods again. That night we saw a full moon called a super moon because it’s the closest it will be to earth until 2060.

St. James Park

Changing of the Horse Guards

On the London Eye! Finally made it!

Almost at the very top

Great view of Parliament and Big Ben from the Eye

We had to quickly walk off as it was moving

Our photo

We left London for a few days on Sunday for Dublin! See next post about that amazing visit!

My favorite riding the River Taxi

Back in London (Day 7 to 11) Travis had school again on Wednesday so Stephanie and I went into London. We did one of my favorite things, take the Thames river taxi! We went from the London Eye to the Tower of London. We went into the Tower which is another one of my favorite places. We took a Beefeater guard tour and got the same guard as when the first time I went. We saw the big things like the chapel, crown jewels, and white tower plus some stuff I had missed the first time. I think Stephanie really enjoyed the Tower of London as well. If anyone comes to London it should definitely be on the list of places to go.

Tower of London Beefeater guide

One of the Tower Ravens

Watch out invaders!

Tower Bridge

History of the World written by Walter Raleigh prisoner in the Tower of London

Portrait of Walter Raleigh supposedly there's a ghost that wonders

the Tower that looks like this portrait

River Thames

London Aquarium

On Thursday we all went into London to go to the Aquarium. Stephanie and I had gotten tickets along with our London Eye tickets from before. The Aquarium is located right next to the Thames and London Eye. London being such a major city we expected the Aquarium to be much better but I think it was the worst museum we had ever been too. The best part was the pool of rays and the shark tank being fed. After the Aquarium we went around London to see some of the last must see places for Stephanie like Trafalgar Square and St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Dried up fountain in Trafalgar Square

Bye Stephie!

Unfortunately again on Friday I had to work and Travis had school so Stephanie was on her own. She went to Hampton Court Palace which is only a couple train stops away from us. We all went out for dinner on our last night in Kingston. Saturday morning I got up with Stephanie to take her to the airport. It was a really busy and great visit. It’s always fun to show our family our new London home.