a first class anniversary: Quick Boat ride on the Thames

After our visit to the Tower of London we headed to Westminster Abbey. Instead of taking the tube we decided to take a boat up the Thames so we could see some of the sites. There was a ship right in front of the Tower of London and in honor of my dad I took several pictures of it :) I really enjoyed the ride. We didn't get to see much of Westminster Abbey since we had High Tea reservations and had to get back to the hotel to change. But it looked very lovely all lit up at night.

 

A first class anniversary: Tower of London

One of my favorite things we did on our trip was visit the Tower of London. We took one of the Yeoman tours which was very interesting and funny (I know it sounds weird to say that a tour of the Tower of London was funny, but it was)

Something that I thought was interesting was that the Yeoman guards live at the Tower of London and are locked in every night with their families. Our tour guide (the picture of the man in the funny hat is of our guide) said it's great cause every night he knows exactly where his teenage daughter is.

Below are pictures of the Bell Tower. One of my favorite plays is a Man for All Seasons which is about the last days of Sir Thomas More before he was beheaded. This is the tower that he stayed in.

Of course we checked out the Royal Jewels. Jeff was a little disappointed that they didn't have very many and thought what they had wasn't that impressive. They basically just had the coronation crowns and "toys" :) However, I was impressed. The picture below is of Jeff and the guard in front of the entrance to where they house the jewels (picture to the left is the place where the jewels are kept)

I had a to take a picture of the ravens. Supposedly there is a belief that when there are less then six ravens at the tower the kingdom will fall. So, the Yeoman guards are responsible for guaranteeing that there are always six ravens on the grounds at all times. They even have cages for them.

Below is a picture of the excution site memorial (right) and the Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula (left). The execuation site memorial is for the royals that were beheaded at the Tower of London. King Henry the Eighth Second and Fifth wives (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard) were among the Royals that were killed here. Their remains are buried in the Chapel Royal of St. Peter

A first class anniversary: Hyde Park

After our trip to Kensington Palace we walked through Hyde Park. (Kensignton Palace is located at one of the ends of the park) The park was so beautiful with all the fall colors. Unfortunately we arrived right when it was getting dark so I wasn't able to get all the pictures I wanted. Since I didn't have my tripod a lot of pictures turned out kind of blurry.

Once we left Kensington Palace we came across a large lake with a bunch of swans. It was so beautiful. People were feeding them so some were out of the water kind of "attaching" people. I secretly wished my sister was there cause she is terrified of birds and it would have been a good laugh.

One of the things I wanted to see in London was the Peter Pan statue. (confession: I always wanted to see this after watching the Mary Kate and Ashley Winning London Movie. I secretly love that movie. Don't tell Jeff!) I was totally upset cause it was almost pitch black by the time we found the statue. I guess I will have to go back in the daylight sometime :)

The picture below is the view the Peter Pan statue stares at all day

 

I really like Hyde Park. :)

a first class anniversary: Kensington Palace

Last time Jeff and I were in London we didn't do a lot of the tourist stuff. We walked around a lot of went out to great places to eat. :) This time were a little bit more touristy. I really feel bad for Jeff cause I made him go a lot of the historical places. He was a good sport about it.

Our first day we went to Kensington Palace. I was really looking forward to going since I'm such a huge Royal Family fan (especially Diana). I loved the grounds! They were so beautiful! Of course a large part of it was under construction so we couldn't see everything. :( There's always next time.

 

We went inside to see the Enchanted Palace exhibit. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed. I just wanted to see some of the rooms and learn about some of the Princess that lived there, but they had these modern fashion installations which told the stories of some of the Princess that lived there, but in a modern art way. While I did get into learning about the princesses, the fashion/modern art part was a little over the top for me. It was really dark with black lights in there and you couldn't really see the rooms.  I think I will have to try and see it again next time we go when they have something else in the rooms. Here are some of the pictures of the things I thought were cool.

and a year ago today...

Jeff and I were sealed in the London Temple. 

I'm such a lucky girl. Not only do I get two anniversaries, but I get a great husband too! (sorry for the cheese, but it's true)

I can't wait for year two!

A year ago today...

Jeff and I were married.

Happy Anniversary Jeff!

Jeff and I are celebrating in London. I'll post pictures when we get back!

P.S. Jeff and I wanted to get married on November 12th because my birthday is September 12th and Jeff's is October 12th and we thought it would be easy to remember. Sixth month in Jeff was telling people we got married on the 11th. Great!

2011 Fall Family trip...

It seems like every Fall my family (or at least my Dad) come out for a little vacation. This year we decided we would join Dad at the end of his bike trip. After Dad rode his bike for 10 days he ended up in Bar Harbor Maine where Mom, Kari, and I were waiting to pick him up :)

After checking out the sites in Bar Harbor we made our way down to Camden, Maine. This was one of Dads favorite towns he visited on his ride and wanted us to come back and see it. We ended up having dinner there. Lobster Dinner! It was a good time.



The next day we got up and went to Salem, Mass. I really wish we could have spent more time there, but we were also suppose to go to Boston that day and wanted to make sure we had the time. The whole way to Salem I was telling Kari I wanted pictures of her in the stalks. I was not disappointed. :)


Boston was next on our list. We went to Fenway Park first. It was one of the things on Dads lists of things to do. It was really interesting learning about the history of the team and the ballpark, but I'm still faithful to the Yankees.

We then took a bus tour to see the city. It was a lot of fun, but really long.

We ended the evening at Cheers for dinner (another place dad wanted to see). Jeff joined us at this point.

The next day we went to Plymouth and Cape Code. Supposedly, I have two relatives that came over on the Mayflower, so it was cool to be there.

It was a fun family road trip. I hope to go back and spend more time at some of these places in the future.