Off to the UK w/o Howie pt 1

May 10, 2014...off to England!
(this pic is actually of Chicago, our first layover..and where Tasha and Ewan used to live)

But first, we had to stop in Florida to see some very important people.

River, 10 months old.

We left Florida on Wednesday, May 14th, and arrived in London early in the morning on Thursday the 15th. Our kids, who are experts at this travel business. told us not to give in to the temptation to sleep until the sun went down. So, although we were very tired from the all night flight, we checked into the hotel, left our bags, and went walkabout in London town. The city is full of beautiful architecture, both old and new. We particularly enjoyed the older, beautifully decorated buildings..and the history was everywhere. London struck us as very big, very cosmopolitan, and full of people of all nationalities.
(a cautionary note we saw everywhere and appreciated, and needed! ..the markings on the ground at crosswalks that said, "Look right...or look left" as we automatically did the opposite. People here just drive on the wrong side of the road!)

Over the next four days, the weather was sunny and gorgeous (and very unusual). We did several touristy things, but left ourselves plenty of sights to come back to in the future.

Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace.

Big Ben

A view from an observation deck close to the top of St Paul's Cathedral. Judy climbed part way up, and Harris did the whole climb and paid for it the next three days.

Outside St. Paul's Cathedral

The Tower of London.
We obviously didn't take enough pictures...because we also visited Westminster Abbey, the British Museum, the National Gallery, and the Olympic stadium. We got quite good at riding the "tube" and only got turned around once. We downloaded 3 of Rick Steves's audio tours before we left and used them on walking tours of 'the City', 'Westminster area' and the British Museum.