London

Now unlike a lot of bloggers, I don't go live in London or go there every other week. In fact, this was only the 3rd time in my life that I've been to the capital of our United Kingdom. The first time was a school trip so I couldn't really do any exploring as we were ferried on and off the coach and had a set itinary. The second time was last year when I went with my family to see Les Mis, with a stop off at the science museum. This time the aim of the trip was to see the Poppies at the Tower of London before they were taken away, and see the newly refurbished Imperial War Museum. The poppies and the IWM I will cover in seperate posts, this is just a round up of the sights!

- Picture-heavy post! - 

We got arrived at Euston station at 10:15, and were trying to decide which tube stop to go to to get to the Tower. As it was such a nice day we kept walking towards the river, using the handily placed tourist maps every now and again, and trusty old Google maps. Once we got to Temple station, on the bank of the Thames, we decided we'd just walk along the riverbank until we got to the tower. This was a good decision as we got to see quite a few sights along the way that we'd have missed if we were underground.

We were so lucky with the weather! We'd dressed for the cold and we were both roasting by the time we got to the Tower!

After the poppies we walked to Monument station. I'd seen this on the tube map and the signposts and I was wondering which monument the station was named after... turns out its the monument for the Great Fire of London in 1666. The monument took 7 years to build!

We went from Monument to Elephant and Castle to walk to the Imperial War Museum. I think this wins my favourite tube station name award!

Fun fact: I've travelled on the subway in New York more than I have the London Underground!

Outside the IWM there was a really tame squirrel that came right up to Mark! It was too quick to get a photo though. Whilst we were in the museum the weather had turned typically British grey. We walked to Lambeth Road tube station and got the train to Charing Cross. I always thought it was pronounced chair-ing but it is in fact char-ing! Learn something new everyday. We came out of the station to the sights of Trafalgar Square - I actually gasped out loud! Its the sort of thing you see on tv or films (St Trinians!) all the time but actually being there is very impressive.

From Trafalgar Square we walked all the way down The Mall which is something I've wanted to do for years and years! I'd love to be there on a Royal occasion and wave as the carriages and horses go by! At the end of the Mall is of course.... Buckingham Palace! Cue lots of tourist shots...

 It promptly started raining just as we were leaving the palace.. we got caught in a downpour as we walked to Victoria station to get the tube back to Euston!

This was such a good (but long!) day out. I'd love to visit London more often but its such a trek to get there... its probably easier to get there from Europe than it is from rural Wales! We've seen the "big" sights, I'd like to see all the smaller sights and the musems.. there's so many museums to see! Let alone all the shows on the West End! We won't be staying away for long that's for sure.