British Life and Culture - #3

I feel like this morning was a week ago. We did so much today! We started off our morning with a tour of London. We first stopped at Westminster Abbey, which was indescribably beautiful. I didn't know what to expect because, honestly, I didn't know that much about it. However, our tour guide was incredible so I learned so much. The architecture and detail in the stained glass windows were stunning. There were many notable people buried or  commemorated there. My favorite burial to see was Queen Elizabeth and her sister Mary. I also enjoyed the special exhibit of Queen Elizabeth II's relationship with Westminster Abbey in place for the Jubilee. I thought it was so cool to see where William and Kate actually got married. I didn't realize that poets and philosophers were also buried there.

After Westminster Abbey, we got back on the bus and continued our tour of London. We saw so many beautiful aspects of the city. We were also given a great amount of history about each place by Nigel, our tour guide. We went across the London Bridge and the Tower Bridge. Seeing the Tower of London and Big Ben was probably my favorite part. 

When we finished the tour, the bus dropped us off in the middle of the city. It was full of tourists that we could barely find a place to eat lunch and we were all starving. I was in a group with Emily, Kelsey, Anna Marie, Haley, Lauren, and Erika. We eventually found a place called Spaghetti House off a side street. Since the National Gallery was close, we decided to go there next. 

Haley, Erika, and I walked around Leicester Square and found a souvenir shop to buy postcards at. We met up with the rest of the group and decided to walk to Buckingham Palace. We couldn't get up close because there was bleacher like seating still set up from the Jubilee. They were in the process of taking it down so we decided we should come back another day to get a closer look and take a tour inside. We walked through the park on the way out. By this time, the weather turned out to be so beautiful so we stopped and sat on the grass in the park for a while. After our long day of walking, we headed back to our flat. We rested for a little while and grabbed a quick bite to eat for dinner. We are going to bed early for another long day of site seeing tomorrow!