Day 6 in the UK!

DAY 6- March 12, 2013

The next morning, we had breakfast and then headed back to the train station for our two hour train ride to London! We arrived at King's Cross Station where I experienced another moment of Harry Potter joy.

The inside of the shop at Platform 9 3/4.  

I loved the creativity of all these wands!!!

The Marauder's Map unfolded.

Wand selection.

Nerding out.  :)

So after that unexpected moment of pure happiness, we took the Tube to our hotel, which was ready for us even though it was before check-in time!  

At My Place Hotel in Earl's Court.

Tiny, but kind of charming!!

 So, we hopped back on the Tube to start our London experience the only way one should--at Big Ben, Parliament, and the Thames!

The London Eye on the banks of the Thames.

The sun came out--it didn't make it any less cold by the water though!!

Check my new Gryffiindor scarf :)

Yay!!!!!!

Since we were there, we went to Westminster Abbey.  We couldn't take pictures of the inside, but here are a few of the outside and a few from the Internet.

The exterior of Westminster Abbey.

The view from the east side of the building.

Poet's Corner.

Curious that Abraham Lincoln would have a statue in Parliament Square.

Here you can see a bit more of the Houses of Parliament.

After the Abbey, we took a walk up Whitehall to end up in Trafalgar Square.

The Horse Guards.

In Trafalgar Square, in front of the National Gallery.

After our walk, we were very cold and very hungry, so we popped into St. Martin-in-the-fields' Cafe in the Crypt.  A very good move.  It was cafeteria style, but delicious.  And we got our first introduction to pouring warm vanilla custard over our desert--in my case an apple crumble, in Jordan's case, a plum and berry tart.  Yummmmm.

Next, we intended on going back down Whitehall to the tube stop, but got turned around.  We ended up taking another road and walking across the Thames via the Golden Jubilee pedestrian bridge.  It was a good thing, because we got some great pictures and it was very romantic :)

We ran across the Sherlock Holmes pub and restaurant--when we went back a different day, it was too busy to eat in :(

Jordan on the Golden Jubilee Bridge!

How could you not feel romantic when you happen upon a view like this?? :)

Anyway, we walked back to the houses of Parliament and got visitor badges to see a debate in the House of Lords.  It was pretty cool to get to sit up there while they talked about labor laws for awhile.  We didn't see the house of commons, but I can't imagine it being more ornate than the house of lords.  It was beautiful.  Again, no pictures were allowed once inside the chamber, but here are a few of Westminster Hall and some from the Internet.

Inside Westminster Hall- this building was once the Palace of Westminster and England's medieval kings.

Inside the chamber of the House of Lords.  This was not this full the night we were there to observe.

When we were watching, it was conducted in a very genteel manner.... "I concur with my most honorable Lord So-and-So..."

After watching for a bit, we got sleepy and decided to call it a night, and went back to our hotel in Earl's Court.