Winston's Walk

We were up bright and early on Christmas morning to go on a Sights & Sounds of London tour. The tour covered most of the attractions we had already seen including Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament/Big Ben, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Tower Bridge. The tour also brought us to a few places we hadn't seen yet, including Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, Downing Street, and Horse Guards Palace. Overall, we were disappointed with our tour. Trav and I were both hoping that our tour guide would have offered more information and history to add to the research that I did before our trip.

One of the best features in London: instructions to look right before crossing the street!

Horse Guards Palace

St. Paul's Churchyard

St. Paul's Churchyard

Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Fountain.

Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of British sovereigns since 1837.

Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms, including 19 State rooms, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. We should have stayed there instead of a hotel-- there is certainly enough space for us!

Enjoying Christmas in London.

The tour bus dropped us off at Hyde Park, where we saw the Princess Diana Memorial, Albert Memorial, and Kensington Palace.

Hyde Park is 350 acres. Henry VIII acquired the land in 1536 and used the land for deer hunting.

The Albert Memorial is 176 feet tall, took 10 years to build, and cost the equivalent of £10 million by 2010 standards.

Kensington Palace, the former official residence of Diana, Princess of Wales. 

Before leaving for our trip, Travis made reservations for Christmas dinner. When he checked his email on Christmas Eve, he learned his reservation was cancelled without any further explanation. Luckily, the concierge was able to direct us to a nearby restaurant that was open on Christmas and didn't require reservations. Our dinner was great and we decided that it all worked out for the best in the end.

Now for Boxing Day! Boxing Day shopping on Oxford Street is easily compared to Black Friday shopping at the Mall of America. Despite my enthusiasm for sale shopping, I generally avoid Black Friday shopping because of the crowds. Given our complete lack of shopping in Oslo, we were bound and determined to fight the masses and find some good deals in London. We were able to find a lot of what we were looking for, but I am certain nothing we bought was cheap by Minnesota standards.

 

Boxing Day on Oxford Street

Modeling his new hat, scarf, and coat. 

We also took some time to walk along the east side of Hyde Park to the Marble Arch.

Historically, only members of the royal family and the Royal Horse Artillery have been allowed to pass through the arch in ceremonial procession. This is the closest I got to the arch, though. I never even thought to walk through it!

To wrap up our last night in London, we went to a nearby pub for fish and chips, a lager (which was worse than Budweiser!) and a Guinness. 

When Travis asked for a lager at the pub, the bartender said, "Oh, you mean dishwater." She was right! They had Blue Moon on tap, but for some reason I felt compelled to drink and English lager.

Fish and chips.

Only one day left, folks! 

Lady Madonna

Now we're on to Christmas Eve! Our first stop on Friday was Harrods department store. I can't even begin to describe the sensory overload we experienced. We didn't stay long because there was just too much to see amidst too many people.

Harrods has more than one million square feet of selling space.

Then we headed to Westminster Abbey to attend the Crib Service at noon. It was tailored to children and was pretty brief, but it allowed us inside the abbey without paying to tour. We also wanted to attend a church service on Christmas Eve. It was a win-win situation. Photography wasn't allowed during the service, so I just have outside pics to show.

Westminster Abbey has been the site of 38 coronations, including Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

William and Kate will be married in Westminster Abbey in April 2011.

After service, we walked around the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye.

Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world.

A double decker bus, Big Ben, and the London Eye.

The Houses of Parliament (also known as the Palace of Westminster) has more than 1,100 rooms.

The Palace is one of the centers of political life in the United Kingdom.

The London Eye, River Thames, and Big Ben.

We stopped in at Starbucks (!!!) before heading to the 4pm Christmas Carol service at St. Paul's Cathedral. Trav and I arrived about an hour before the service and joined the line that wrapped nearly the entire way around the church. Someone working security told us we would most likely get in, but when we got into the doors of the cathedral and were held back, we started to worry. They cut the line off about fifteen people behind us, and we thought we would be turned away. By some miracle or another, we were escorted to the third row to the left of the altar! Holy moly! It was a great service, and the cathedral was just as wonderful. We were lucky enough to be able to snap some photos before leaving.

I have no idea what I was thinking when this man offered to take our picture from outside! I wasn't too worried, though, because his family was ordering drinks inside.

St. Paul's Cathedral

The first service was held in 1697.

Charles and Diana were married in St. Paul's Cathedral in 1981.

Christmas Day and Boxing Day are coming up tomorrow!

Her Majesty

We are back from London! I think I'll stretch the trip out into 3 or 4 posts, so you'll have plenty of pictures to see and stories to read. Hopefully, I won't bore you...

Just days before our trip, a major snow storm shut down airports in most of western Europe. If our flight had been scheduled to fly into Heathrow, we would have been SOL. Luckily, our flight was in to Gatwick, so our trip started off on a good foot.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I made extensive plans for our trip. Each day had an outline with the places we would go as well as their history, opening hours, and nearest tube stop. I worked my tail off, and it was worth every minute of planning!

Our first stop was our hotel and after that we got STARBUCKS before heading to the Tower of London. I have to tell you, my latte was as wonderful as I dreamed it would be! At the Tower of London, we went on a tour led by a Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) who walked us around most of the tower and highlighted its history. Following the tour, we checked out (and drooled over) the Crown Jewels. Unfortunately, photos weren't allowed, so just imagine the shiniest, biggest jewels ever and multiply it by ten. Before leaving, we checked out the Royal Armour.

Me, Starbucks and the Tower of London

Yeoman Warders are required to have served in the armed forces with an honorable record for at least 22 years.

The Beefeaters nickname derives from their position in the Royal Bodyguard, which permitted them to eat as much beef as they wanted from the king's table.

The site of Queen Ann Boleyn's beheading.

The Crown Jewels are just located inside this part of the tower.

Armour made for King Henry VIII and his horse.

Armour belonging to Henry VIII. It looks like he was well protected.

Inside the Tower of London

Just next to the Tower of London is the Tower Bridge. We braced ourselves against the wind and walked across. I thought it was one of the most spectacular sites in London.

The Tower Bridge was completed in 1894 after 8 years of construction.

The bridge is 800 feet long and the towers are 213 feet tall.

View of River Thames from Tower Bridge.

The bridge is crossed by more than 40,000 people each day.

We walked along the River Thames to Tate Modern where we checked out artwork by Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol. After visiting the museum, we walked across Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral.

The view of Tate Modern from Millennium Bridge

Millennium Bridge and St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral

Then, we made our way to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. We spent quite a while looking at portraits by Botticelli, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Vermeer, Monet, and van Gogh. I'm sorry about the name dropping, but I spend most of my days in Oslo surrounded by dull white walls!

The National Gallery, home to more than 2,300 paintings.

The Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square is an annual gift to the people of London from the city of Oslo as a token of appreciation for Britain's assistance during World War II.

This particular tree is 66 feet tall, 100 years old, and was shipped across the North Sea from a forest near Oslo in November.

We then wandered around Covent Garden and Leicester Square before stopping into a pub for dinner. I had a burger and Travis had fish and chips. We walked around the West End following dinner, then went to the Lion King. Trav and I both loved it! Although our seats were up quite high, we were able to see and hear everything perfectly. I loved the music and the costumes and absolutely everything else!

Covent Garden

The Lion King at Lyceum Theatre

And that is all for tonight, folks. I'm off to bed!

Christmas Time (Is Here Again)

I surprised myself with all I had to write about last week. I  was on a roll there for a while, but unfortunately it didn't last. I've been feeling pretty homesick lately. I talk to my parents almost once a week (more than we talked when I lived in Chicago!) so I am lucky, but it isn't quite enough. I miss my friends like crazy lately! I am so lucky to have a wonderful girlfriends, and I would give anything for a girl's night.

Enough of my blubbering! We leave for London tomorrow morning and we are pumped! I've got all five days planned, so it will certainly be a whirlwind trip. Some things I am very excited for:

• English
• Starbucks (there is one on the same street as our hotel!!!)
• Boxing Day sales
• Price William & Kate Middleton souvenirs (yes, I am obsessed!)
• The Lion King

I'll be sure to fill you in when we return!

A little video treat for you:

Merry Christmas!

Devil in Her Heart

Manglerud played Storhamar yesterday and lost 2-3 in overtime. Trav had an assist, and said it was a good game. It was the last game of 2010. Their next game isn't until January 2nd.

The Storhamar Dragons play in the Hamar Olympic Amphitheater (also known as Northern Lights Hall) which was initially built to house figure skating and short track speed skating for the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer.

Travis was told that that arena is the site where Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by Tonya Harding's hired thug, but that is untrue. She was actually attacked in Detroit during the US Figure Skating Championships earlier in 1994. Nancy Kerrigan did win the silver medal in the 1994 Winter Olympics at the Hamar Olympic Amphitheater, while Tonya Harding ended up in 8th place.

This ends today's history lesson.