We flew out of Phoenix on the British Airways flight that goes direct from Phoenix to London. This was my third time taking this flight and it doesn't seem much longer than a flight from Phoenix to the east coast. It leaves Phoenix around 7:30pm, they give you dinner (and wine) once you are to cruising altitude and then I sleep all night until the lights come on for breakfast about an hour or so before landing. Super easy flight and you walk off the plane at Heathrow. When we arrived in London on Sunday afternoon we took the tube from the airport to our Airbnb which was in Vauxhall. We just dropped our stuff and left as we had tickets for a tour of Buckingham Palace. We were not allowed to take pictures inside Buckingham Palace, but I did walk through the room where pictures like this are taken:
After our tour, we walked to the front of Buckingham Palace where we were able to take pictures.
Victoria station - this was the first station in London where Kyle and I came into from the airport in 2005, and also where we caught the tube back to the Airbnb Sunday night.
Mind the gap (read in a British accent)
Monday we did a tour of Westminster Abbey...
...and took communion at the daily ceremony inside the Abbey.
Police officers in front of the Parliament building - one of them seemed really happy to take a picture with me, the other wasn't too sure.
Big Ben - I just read today that on August 21st Big Ben will be going out of service for 4 years so we made it just in time to hear the bells toll. We did a tour of the Parliament building on Monday afternoon which was very interesting. Again, no pictures were allowed inside.
This was our main subway station by our Airbnb.
The view from dinner Monday night at OXO Tower Restaurant.
Tuesday Dave rented a car and we drove about two hours to the countryside for a tour of the Land Rover facility.
It was neat to see all the robots working to make the cars. All Land Rovers, Range Rovers, etc. are made and shipped to anywhere in the world from here.
On our way home we stopped at Oxford - we had dinner here at The Crown Inn, which dates back to 1365. When it was an inn, Shakespeare is known to have stayed here.
Christ's Church in Oxford.
An artsy pic in Westminster on my Wednesday morning run.
The backyard of our Airbnb - the patio was great.
Wednesday we went to the TKTS booth to get tickets for a show - we wanted Les Miserables but they didn't have 5 seats together so we saw Matilda instead.
Trafalgar Square
Bonding with the lions.
The end of the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.
Kensington Palace in Hyde Park.
Kensington is where William and Kate live as well as Prince Harry.
The view from lunch on Wednesday at Coq d'Argent - this was in the financial district of London.
After lunch on Wednesday we walked to the Tower Bridge.
And walked across the bridge.
The play on Wednesday night.
Our Airbnb in Vauxhall.
One of my favorite coffee shops in London - it is a chain and actually in the U.S., but their coconut lattes were amazing.
Thursday - getting ready to take the train under the English Channel and onto Paris for part 2 of the vacation.
This was my second time to London and I would go back for a third. I think London would be a fun place to live someday!
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