Thursday, July 25, 2013

London


 We took a more modern train to London.  It was awesome.
 By the way, the train went 120 mph.  Thanks, Wes, for your fancy smartphone calculation.  

 This was one of the first things I saw after getting off at King's Cross.  
 Notice where the doorknob is?  Awesome!  It must be difficult to open, though.
 This is pretty much what all of the taxis look like.  Much different from the classic yellow cabs of NYC.  But these are pretty iconic, too.  Usually, they're not black, though; instead of the small ads on top, they have decals covering the entire cab!
 WARNING:  I have a lot of pictures of random buildings that may or may not be famous, but I thought were really pretty.  
 One of the only modern style buildings in the city.  The contrast of the architecture in London is fascinating.  


 The Underground!  I didn't use the Tube since we got passes for a tour bus, but I did walk through a station somewhere on the other side of the Thames.











 I must say, this is a pretty epic bridge.

 Creative shot, yes?  
 I love Big Ben!  The gold shines more than you realize from pictures!  It is truly something you have to see.


 The Tower of London!  So much history has been made here!  Not much good history, but history nonetheless.  




 This photo is cool because you can even see the London Eye in the back.  Whenever I used to see photos with Big Ben and the London Eye, I actually thought the photo was Photoshopped; I didn't realize that is actually how it is!
 Westminster Abbey!  So. Much.  History!


 We just happened to be there when they were doing their little ceremony. I was really confused at first, but I finally figured out what was happening.

 Buckingham Palace was super crowded, but astonishingly gorgeous. I think the crowds gathered because we happened to be in London the same day the royal family took the baby to Kensington Palace from the hospital.

 Ahhh!  So pretty!  This is very similar to Versailles, I think.


 The Swatch store was comparable to an Apple store.  Super cool!
 We kept thinking that this said, "NERD."  These cafes are all over, so I was thinking that it was, "NERD" for most of my trip.  Oops.





I'm sorry if you aren't into all of the Big Ben photos.  (Actually, the tower is called Elizabeth Tower.  Big Ben is the actual clock that is housed by Elizabeth Tower.)  I just loved it so much!


I really wanted to get this shot, and I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to.  I was actually on the bus, and we were actually going pretty fast.  Being used to the traffic jams of the Big Apple, I wasn't expecting to be driving so fast.  Fortunately, I think this photo actually turned out well!

Our hotel room had a beautiful view of... the Royal Mail trucks!  It actually was kind of cool to see, though.  It reminded me of our room outside of DC; our view was a huge lot full of police cars!




This is one of the best buildings I have ever seen.  Look at all that color!  It's close to King's Cross and the library.
We thought this was the library because of the architecture.  When we found out that this was a hotel and that the library did not look like this, I was a little disappointed.


These are all over!
Have you noticed the beautiful skies I was blessed to have?  It must have been a miracle.

The bus went past this building a lot, and there was usually a traffic jam, so I have a lot of photos of it.


I took this one from London Bridge.


Most of the following were taken from the river cruize. 




Ahh, the filthy water of the Thames.


This guy looked at me!!  They're not supposed to do anything, but he looked right at me!
We just happened to be there for the changing of the guards.  It is barely comparable to the ceremony in Arlington, though.  I think that the horses used here in London make it not nearly as precise.










I definitely recommend finding Westminster Cathedral.  It is the most beautiful and unique cathedral I have ever seen, and I have seen some of the most famous ones.  It is off the beaten path, but it is so worth it!


Harrods=Macys+Saks 






I think this was on our way back from London.  Oops-- I'm out of order.
Rylan and me on the bus.  Don't I look cute?






Just gorgeousness.  No biggie.
I love the parks in London because they actually feel natural.  Central Park in NY is completely man-made (if you didn't know), and as someone growing up in the forest, I can tell.


Trafalgar Square.  I have some great memories here.
Kyler and I climbed up for a photo op!  It's harder than it looks!  Especially in sandals!

 And now, some more pictures of Whitby because they were out of order in my computer!

I love this photo so much!  These girls are amazing, and I had so much fun with them!



Monday, July 22, 2013

Whitby

 Yes, we took a steam train.  It was sooo cool!
 Pickering!  It was such a cute little town!  This is where we got on the train. We were early, so we decided to roam around.  We bought some food from Cooplands and some fresh fruit from a little food store.  They were selling things on the streets with little canopies over their makeshift shops.  There was one vendor selling underwear!  I didn't get many photos, though; this was the day I accidentally left my camera on on the way!  I was trying to conserve battery.

 Kyler (I think it was him....) found this amazing little flower!  I thought it was the coolest thing!
 English countryside:  you can't help but love it.  

 Whitby!

 It was a bit less touristy and also more urban than Scarborough.  The day we went was also more English weather than what I had been treated to for most of my trip.  

 Walking the steep and narrow back streets of Whitby.
 This is looking over the rooftops across the bay(?) to the church and castle ruins.  







 There were so many cute little shops!
We stopped at that little candy shop.  There was a bunch of delicious-looking and cheap candy!


 This church was just so cool! It was built in the 1110 AD!  Nikki and I had to walk up an insane number of unbelievably steep steps, but it was so worth the effort!
 These headstones have probably been there for over a century, being damaged by the salty wind.  This entire area was separated from the sea only by virtue of being on a cliff.
 I saw so many old-fashioned ice cream trucks on my trip!
The architecture was beautiful!
The castle ruins.
There was a little neighborhood on the top of the cliff.  It was amazing that people could have th privilege of living in such an amazing location!


The view from the top!  So pretty!
Another amazing flower found by one of the boys.  (I think it was Rylan.)
Near the bottom of the staircase, you have an amazing view of both Whitby and those insane stairs.
Remember when I mentioned that many places in England have stairs down to the water?  That's where I'm standing!

While walking around, I noticed a solicitor's office.  "Solicitor" in British English translates to "lawyer" in American English. I really did laugh out loud.
Beautiful Nikki.  Love this girl!

Boarding the train in Whitby.  It was sad, but I remember being pretty cold, so it was welcome.
Just another snapshot of English countryside because it is amazing!
On the way back "home", we upgraded to first class.  Notice the fancy seat?  I think "first class" translates to "Harry Potter Style".