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!