Sunday, June 24, 2012

Europe-London Day 1

On Thursday we got up early (5:45 a.m.), packed, and left for London. We were trying to get to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard but we didn’t make it. We did, however, stop by later and we saw two guards get relieved. Our first stop in London was Westminster Abbey. (Well we actually stopped to take pictures of Big Ben [Elizabeth Tower] and the houses of Parliament first.) It was a lot larger than I was expecting and very impressive. We couldn’t take pictures inside but it was all very grand. We mostly saw little chapels inside the Abbey with people buried in them. After Westminster, we headed to Trafalgar square which was dominated by a towering pedestal with a statue of Admiral Lord Nelson (or someone like that) on top. After snapping some photos (including one of the countdown to the Olympics opening ceremony) we went inside the National Gallery of Art. We saw lots of pictures including ones by Renoir, Rembrandt, Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, and Cezanne. I thought it was neat to actually see the pictures instead of just hearing about the famous artists. Finally, we ended at Buckingham Palace. It was a very tiring day as we were on our feet basically from 5:45 a.m.-5:30 p.m. so we were glad to get back to our hotel. Once again, there are so many great pictures (and it’s easier to explain with pictures) so I posted an album on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.257858770981832.42327.100002731340786&type=3


Big Ben-Also known as Elizabeth Tower


                              Westminster Abbey


                       The world travelers :)


                    And again


                          Olympic countdown


       Trafalgar square with Admiral Lord Nelson


                           The kids at Trafalgar


                           Gates at Buckingham Palace


                                        Buckingham Palace

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