London Calling

Hello all! So this last weekend we visited London! I will get to that later, but let me just say, time here in Europe has flown by! I cannot believe that I am almost done with my accounting class, it feels like we just started it yesterday. To be fair, it's only a three week class, but that's beside the point. I'm taking the final for it Thursday, so I'm going to be spending most of my time this week studying for it. It's a good thing that I was able to relax this weekend in London.

Let me just say that London is a beautiful city. Regardless of the fact that English history is my favorite subject in history, the city itself is awesome to walk around. We got to visit Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben all on the first day. Sadly, Buckingham Palace does not open for tours until the 27th of July so we only got to see it from the outside. Even though we couldn't go in, I still loved being near something so historic.

Buckingham Palace

The first day we walked about 11 miles (calculated on Google Maps after the fact), so for Day 2, I was exhausted. The most rejuvenating factor about Day 2 was that it was the 4th of July! The fact that there are so many Americans in London only helped bring the spirit of the 4th to Europe. We started the day off by going to the Tower Bridge, followed by visiting the Tower of London and seeing the Crown Jewels. Following that, we saw the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre which was amazing. We went to a classic British pub, and there we found the most refreshing sight on the 4th of July for an American: 4th of July decorations everywhere! It really made it feel like home for a little bit.

Tower Bridge and the Thames

Tower of London Entrance

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

To finish the day off we visited the London Eye, which was amazing because you could see all of London from the very top. To top it all of it was at sunset, so the view was spectacular. The perfect ending to the 4th of July was when we saw fireworks while in the Eye, from what we could only assume was the US Embassy. I'm not 100% positive that it was them, but it seemed appropriate. Overall, I would love to visit London again, and was a bit sad that we had to leave.

Sunset from the London Eye

That's all for me today, I have to go study so I can actually pass accounting. Until next time!

**I forgot to add in the initial post that when we went to see the crown jewels at the Tower of London, the baptismal items were gone from their spots. In their place was a sign that said "In Use". It occurred to us that we were in London for the christening of Princess Charlotte! I think that seeing the "In Use" sign was way cooler than seeing the actual items.**