London - Day 2

Day 2 I was on my own since The Husband had to work. I decided to start out the day with the Changing of the Guard. I'd actually never seen it when I was in London since I had class every morning. Or else I was hungover. Tip: If you decide to get a one-day pass for the Tube, it's nearly half-price if you wait until rush hour is over at 9 or 9:30. I think it goes from 13 pounds down to 7 pounds (from the Heathrow airport zone at least).
Buckingham Palace.

Changing of the Guard. Really not that exciting. A lot of waiting and a lot of guards in funny hats parading back and forth for a long time.

Weird looking bird in St. James Park.

Next I walked over to Parliament and Westminster Abbey.

Here's Big Ben.

The rest of Parliament.A very cool looking building I saw on my walk.
A double-decker bus.
Welcome to the City of Londo (and welcome to my bad photography as well).
Bridge from St. Paul's to the Tate Modern. I'm an engineer. I get very excited about this bridge. I spent the afternoon at the Tate Modern. I think it's a fantastic museum. What I really like is it isn't so huge and overwhelming that you can't make it through the whole museum in one day.

Tower Bridge in the background. The Tower of London and Tower Bridge is about the only main tourist attraction I didn't hit up in my 2 day visit.
Another cool building.
Recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

View of St. Paul's from the Tate Modern side of the bridge.

And of course it isn't a visit to London with some expensive shopping.

London - Day 1

The Husband and I went to London for the shortest trip ever a couple weeks ago. He was travelling for business. I desperately wanted to tag along to take advantage of a free hotel room and free food using his per diems. We tried to trade in his business class ticket for 2 economy tickets. We tried to book using miles but nothing was available. I was pouting that I couldn't go. I woke up Saturday morning and checked flight availability one more time. Bingo. They were showing a flight available that night using miles. And 6 hours later we're on the plane.

This trip was especially cool since I got to see the luxury way The Husband gets to travel for business. A limo picked us up instead of taking the El. We got to hang out in the United international lounge and get free drinks and some snacks. Then The Husband was a good husband and let me sit in his business class seat while he sat in economy with the unwashed masses. The plane we were flying on was one of United's newly upgraded business and first class planes. My seat reclined 180 degrees. I had a private TV with a large selection of movies and TV shows. My champagne glass was never empty. I never want to fly economy again. Alas, on the way home The Husband upgraded to first class and I was stuck back in economy. All I got on that flight was dirty looks from the flight attendants for crossing the imaginary barrier between rich people and normal people when I went up to visit The Husband.


This is me and my movie star sunglasses in the limo. The Husband wouldn't let me take a picture of myself sitting in Business class. I know I'm embarassing.

I studied abroad in London in college so I know the city well plus I'd seen everything before. We arrived early in the morning, checked into our Holiday Inn at Heathrow Airport, and hit the tube to go downtown.

First stop was Camden Market.

We ate lunch at this pub. The market was really too crowded to be enjoyable.

Next we went to the British Museum for a quick tour through the Greek and Egyptian sections. Entry to most museums in London is free which is awesome since it's an expensive city.

Here's the stuff the English stole from the Greeks. The Greeks want it back and have a museum ready and waiting for when they finally do.

And a shot of the cool roof of the museum.

We spent the afternoon walking through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

The Diana, Princess of Wales fountain.

Then we walked through the West End before dinner - Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, Covent Garden, and Soho.

This is me in the phone booth with one of the dirty pictures that are plastered everywhere.

Covent Garden.

Our anniversary was 2 days later so we finished our day off with dinner at Veeraswamy, the oldest Indian restaurant in the city. In the Frommers guide, they give it one dollar sign out of four for cost. End result: nearly $200. I'd hate to see what a four dollar sign restaurant costs.