Jolly Old England!

The second leg of our trip was in London. We had watched the movie "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" the week before our honeymoon and knew the first place we wanted to go when we got in. Portobello Road!

We hopped on a double decker bus and road through downtown London and found ourselves at the Portobello Road market. Two miles of shops and booths set up in the middle of the streets. There was art, clothing, antiques, and a ton of food.

Colorful shops lining Portobello Road After making it through the crowds to the end of Portobello, I dragged Matt back to the beginning so we could get a picture of the antique sewing machines in the front of one of the stores. Antique sewing machines at All Saints We decided to walk back towards our hotel through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park as the sun went down. Kensington Palace at Sunset This was Princess Diana's home until she died. Not far from the house, in the gardens, is the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, a bronze Peter Pan statue, and the Round Pond, where families were having picnics and sailing model boats. Prince Albert Memorial in Hyde Park That night we went out to dinner with my friend Calvin and his mom Roberta. Calvin was my first friend; we met in daycare when we were two and our mothers became great friends. When we were five Calvin and Roberta moved back to London. Though our families kept in touch, the last time we had actually seen each other was at LAX in 1989.

Roberta, Calvin, me, & Matt We went out for Indian food, which neither Matt or I had tried before. It was so delicious and we were kind of curious about how we had lived with out it all these years. It was so great to see Roberta and Calvin after all these years and hopefully we'll get to go back soon and see them again. The next morning we had a tour. The first stop was Bath.

View of Bath The Romans built bath into England's first spa town in 43 AD and to this day it is still a hip little spa town. Lots of shopping, restaurants, and of course spa resorts.

Bath Abby

The Great Bath

Hot springs water fall

Trench guiding water in to one of the pump rooms

Lead conduit

Old-timey hot tub

After the tour we went to a pub to grab some lunch. Guess what the tables we're made out of?

Old sewing machine tables On the way out of town we passed one more exciting site.

Jane Austen's home, No. 13 Queen Square

Our next stop was Stonehenge. We found out that there are actually henges all over Europe, but Stonehenge is by far the most famous. It was beautiful out in the wide open green field and a perfect day for pictures

Tourists lined up around Stonehenge

All of the vertical stones have a notch on the top and the horizontal stones have a matching divot carved into them so that the stones fit snuggly together.

Front view of the henge

Us at the back side of the henge On one side of Stonehenge is the highway and on the other side is...

Sheephenge! Once we did our loop around Stonehenge, it was time to hop back in the bus and head to Salisbury.

Map of Salisbury Close Salisbury Cathedral was built in the early 13th century and its spire is the tallest in England. The most well preserved copy of the Magna Carta is on display in the cathedral's Charter House.

Salisbury Cathedral and spire

Inside the cathedral

Ceiling mosaic

Cute little Salisbury house The next day we decided to walk downtown and do some shopping. Where better to do our shopping than......

HARRODS!!!! The most amazing department store on earth! Side note:

Did you notice that Harrods is covered in Christmas lights and we were in Europe in the first 3 weeks of November? In the US, we complain that radio stations start playing Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving. Well obviously they don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Europe so they have to deal with Christmas music and decorations starting right after Guy Fawkes day, aka the first week of November. I will never complain about dealing with Christmas nonsense the day after Thanksgiving again.

Harrods is unreal. It has eveything you could ever need. The store has 330 different departments, including, men's, women's and kids' clothing, food, furniture, sporting goods, toys, a home design center, and pet supplies. Here are some other interesting things we found in the store.

A doctor's office and pharmacy

A Princess Diana & Dodi Al Fayed memorial statue

Veuve Cliquot champagne lounge

A life-sized fake horse in the equestrian center

An Egyptian statue holding candles

Another Princess Diana & Dodi Al Fayed memorial

Peter Pan themed holiday windows

After four hours in Harrods, it was time to see some other big sights. We took a double decker bus to Westminster Abbey and the House of Parliament.

Westminster Abbey The whole time we were in England we noticed that people were wearing poppy corsages. We found out that our Veteran's Day in the US is called Remembrance Day in England and the way people show their respect for the troops is by wearing a poppy. Every year small wooden crosses with paper poppies are placed in the ground to represent fallen troops, cops, firefighters, and civic leaders.

Rememberance Day crosses with paper Poppies

Right across the street from Westminster are the Houses of Parliament.

Parliament

We had no idea that not only are Parliament and Westminster Abbey right next to each other, but Big Ben is attached to Parliament.

Big Ben

The back of Parliament and the Thames river

The London Eye

Bagpiper! A short walk from Parliament leads to Trafalgar Square. It was constructed in the 1830's and is the main venue for rallies and outdoor public meetings in London.

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square

National Gallery art museum in Trafalgar Square

Admirality Arch

Leaving Trafalgar Square through Admirality Arch we found ourselves on the Mall, which is the tree-lined street that leads to Buckingham Palace.

Fall colors on the Mall

Buckingham Palace In 1837, Queen Victoria became the first Royal to live in Buckingham Palace.

Victoria Monument We didn't get to see the Changing of the Guards, but we did get to see a couple guards standing around.

Palace Guards After our stroll through town, we decided to head back to our hotel and get ready for our last dinner in London.

Hotel Sidney Matt and I love cheese. I mean LOVE cheese. So what better way to spend to spend our last night in London than at a French cheese restaurant!

Matt's pungent cheese plate

My cheese plate

The cheese was AMAZING and so was the wine! We absolutely loved London. If it weren't for our chubby little bassets at home, I may never have left. There was so much to do and see and we would love to go back and experience more of what London has to offer.