Day 2: London

Day 2 in the UK. We wake up at a reasonable time... 10am? Twelve hours of delicious sleep. After a delicious breakfast of traditional tea and toast, we headed off to London on the privatized public transport -- 20 pounds for a full day of transport around the city, on trains, undergrounds or busses. We got off in Blackfriars, because, we thought, it looks fairly close to the London Bridge. We get our into the street, and immediately get quite lost. This is Melissa, looking quite lost.

We stumbled around towards where we thought the London bridge was, and eventually found some (other) tourists, so we knew we were not lost.

They were hanging around Shakespeare’s Old Globe playhouse. Later on we saw another one just like it in the country. It is just a reproduction; the original was burned down when a theatrical cannon misfired and a conflagration destroyed the building, during a production of Henry V.

We crossed across the Thames (pronounced tems) to see if we could see the London bridge. Eureka! There it is! Like... a mile away...

In the distance we saw St. Paul’s, and followed the river of tourists.

We escaped from the crowds and sought out the unofficial Harry Potter points of interest located around the city. Starting with the location of Diagon Alley, which was really not diagonal at all, and didn't look a thing like in the movies. Still, it was quaint and quiet.

We found the nearest pub and had some cheese and venison.

London is quite big. So big, in fact, that we had some difficulty finding the entrance to the Tower Hill station, to get transport to our next location. The long and the short of it is, Melissa was right and I was wrong. And in the process of stumbling around the Thames, we found out why Tower Hill station is called Tower Hill.

We got off somewhere else, near the National Gallery. Here we are at its footsteps, with Big Ben in the background.

No pictures were allowed inside, but we saw some beautiful Turner paintings, reproduced below.

To spend the rest of the day in one of the many parks around London: Hyde park. Of course, we got fortuitously lost again, and ended up at Buckingham Palace. Again, Melissa was right, and Alex was wrong. In the process we ran into a palace guard, who very briefly smiled when I thanked him for this photo, though he would never admit to it.

 

I don’t suppose the queen is staying calm and carrying on...

Also, some very quaint street lights.

We finally ended up in the flower garden of Hyde Park.

With all the rain, the rose bushes were absolutely covered in colorful scented blooms. Even now, I have trouble imagining how vibrant their colors were (no photoshop!)

We were getting hungry...

So we headed back to King’s Cross station, but not before catching one last Harry Potter attraction. That’s an owl’s cage traveling into the wall behind Melissa...

We weren't the only ones there for the exact same photo.

And with that, we laughed one last time at the buses of tourist and went back to Harpenden.

Day 1

Melissa and I are off to Europe for three weeks! We're visiting my extended family, celebrating our engagement (practice honeymoon), and spending time together. This photo journal is to share our experiences with friends and our future selves.

We left from our respective homes in San Diego and Mountain View, and met in Philly just in time for dinner. Melissa got one last order of chicken nuggets Micky D's to "serve as a comparison with those in France". 

We celebrated the start of our vacation with a beer at the bar pictured below, where I forgot my credit card after paying. Luckily, the waitress tracked us down a few gates away before we took off!

Fast forward 8 hours and 3500 miles later later, our auntie Joanne and uncle Mike picked us up at Heathrow in London, 10 am local time. We drove back to their home in Harpenden and immediately had some much needed tea, having been up for 24 odd hours (with a couple of naps on the plane).

We were dropped us off in nearby St Albans ("Stalbans" for short) to explore and stay awake. The name comes from the first British christian martyr, who was beheaded in 308 C.E. The Harpendem and St Albans are on the top left in the map below, about an hour from London.

Melissa and I walked around like zombie tourists, and explored the local Abbey and local gardens. No rain yet! Apparently, it's been a very rainy season, making for very green trees and bright flowers. Those flowers below are the colors of the St Albans coat of arms.

Melissa and I are tourists! 

Everything is centuries old. In the case of the buildings near the abbey (built 1000 years ago), you could see distinct layers of reinforcement in the brick edifice. How many can you count?    

The big rocks are actually large chunks of flint, which is kind of neat. I wonder if it ever causes  accidental fires from unintended sparks.

The inside of the St. Albans abbey was busy with school children visiting. The wall sculptures were painted a vivid blue.

It was a little too commercial for our taste, so we sought out the smaller cathedral in town - St Peters. It was completely empty. Except for an organist and his teacher, practicing. We sat here a few minutes and enjoyed the private concert.

At this point in the day we were about to pass out. 

Take two! 

Lots of old graves. We felt like we had just been pulled out of one.

We headed back home (not before getting quite lost) and had dinner with our aunt and uncle, and passed out within minutes of 9pm.