Day in London!

Yesterday we decided to be real tourists so we spent the entire day going from one site to another in downtown London. We started off by catching the train in Staines to the Waterloo station. From there we took the underground subway (tube) to our first stop--Tower Bridge. Only, we got off on the wrong station so we ended up having to catch a double-decker bus.

From the picture below you can see a typical sunny London day. If you can't see the sun, let me direct your attention to the lower, right-hand corner of the picture ;)

(More boring dialog here. We know you're here just for the pictures anyway!)

You can see so far in both directions when looking out of the footbridge windows - it's amazing!

Here's Jared scoping out the view from the elevated footpath (which is the higher bridge in the picture above). The lower bridge is built to open up so taller ships can go under the bridge. Not only did we get to walk across the very top of the bridge, but we also got to go deep down into the engine room to learn how the bridge lifts and lowers.

Jared just can't get off the phone - can he?

Allyson couldn't believe that the actual tools they used on the bridge were actually almost as big as she is.

After touring through the bridge we went and walked around the outside of the Tower of London. We didn't go inside because we chose the bridge tour instead of the Tower tour. Maybe next time.

This is what we had for lunch. Just kidding, we actually had fish and chips. But we did find this "lovely" game in the same open air market place. Scary huh?

After lunch we found St. Paul's Cathedral. We're amazed at how gargantuous the buildings out here are. It was really pretty. We went inside and saw a tomb and the chapel. We opted not to take the full tour because it was a little more than just a pretty penny. (We promise - we are planning on going inside of some of the sights we visit! :)


Later on we took the tube over to another part of London where we found Westmister Abbey. . .

and Big Ben! Wowzers!
By this point of the day we were incredibly tired, but we still made a quick stop by to say hello to the queen. Unfortunately, she didn't respond. Actually we don't even think she knew we were there. But, her's our proof that at least Jared was.

We swang by China town for dinner - Bad choice! We don't recommend this! Let's just say that we've never had worse. Oh well, chalk it up to experience, right?