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Day Three. we.were.pooped! After two intense, full days... it was hard to get going again! But we still had a few places we wanted to see, so after breakfast we started off.
my Eggs Benny:)
tired already-- and it was just after breakfast!
Westminister Abbey-- oh YES!!! Gorgeous cathedral!! While waiting for it to open for tours, we explored the area, including St. Margaret's Church & nearby Houses of Parliament.
All the bare trees around London weren't particularly lovely {though they held their own charm}, but I was rather thankful for them because they are *so* large and there are *so* many that in summertime, many of the gorgeous buildings are quite hidden!
exploring outer sections of the Abbey...where we obviously could take pictures {as opposed to inside the chapel where pictures aren't allowed}!
and *this* ladies and gentlemen, is where William & Kate entered W.A. for their wedding!!
Buckingham Palace
we had been terribly misinformed throughout our three days as to when the changing of the guard took place {this bobby would say today, the next would say tomorrow and so on}. Thus, when we actually went to see it, we were told that it would occur the *next* day- after we left! Bummer! But there was this random procession that came through that was really cool and *almost* as good as seeing the changing of the guard!
next stop was the Victoria & Albert Museum-- you could spend SO much time in there! We saw items dated from the early 1300's to the current century.
AND right in the huge entry way hung Chihuly glass!! Both El & I love Chihuly's work and have been privileged to see much of it at various places in the U.S. so it was even more exciting to see it in London!! {Also saw a bit of it during our bus tour the previous day}. If you live in Indy, Chihuly's "Fireworks of Glass" is permanently installed in the Children's Museum and there's a whole exhibit you can view as well.
We were missing afternoon tea to go to a matinee so we "made our own" afternoon tea instead at a little Patisserie. Only we lost track of time and in the middle of ordering the rest of our food realized that our matinee started in 20 minutes! whoops!! so we hightailed it out of there and caught a taxi...
and arrived at the Queen's Theater with just one minute to spare before the curtain rose on Les Miserables. AHHH!!! IT.WAS.INCREDIBLE!! Seriously! Phantom was awesome in it's own way but Les Mis *far* exceeded it! The rotating stage, perfected slow-mo, stunning voices & beautiful music numbers... WOW! At intermission we were kind of in a daze because it was so good!
Queen's is another small, old, gorgeous theater!
We walked home again, doing a bit of shopping on the way.
El wornout & HAPPY after a marvelous day:)
After resting for a bit in our hotel room, we made our way back to where we ate our first meal in London, Shepherd's Tavern, for some legit Fish 'n' Chips. Couldn't go to England and *not* try them-- and the pubs serve the best. {Though that still doesn't make me like fish/seafood!}
We sat upstairs this time, right by the middle window:)
talking of kindred spirits-- neither of us really talked about what shoes we'd be taking on the trip other than our TOMS... just mentioning we'd probably bring a pair of heels for London. Turns out, we each brought four pair of shoes: a pair of black flats, converse, TOMS and brogues. NOT PLANNED! And then we both bought Ugandan flip flops. haha
a few quick shots from our last morning in London before we headed to the airport...
Eleanna & her Eggs Benny:)
The Albert Memorial that Queen Victoria had commissioned in his honor.
Whole Foods-- IN LONDON! what???!!!
