We had a nice relaxing breakfast in our room, then headed right to Buckingham Palace. We quickly realized that we picked the absolute worst day to do this.
Streets and sidewalks were closed and there were detour signs everywhere.
Apparently it was a marathon, although not the London Marathon. It was small enough not to show up on my planning calendar, but big enough to cause delays. It took a while to get there, but we finally did get to see a slightly obscured view of Buckingham Palace.
We could see the crowd of runners getting ready to race, so we quickly walked over to the front of the palace for photos. We wanted to get out of there before the race, because they were going to shut off more streets.
Here comes the mob of runners!
My plan was to go from Buckingham Palace to Winston Churchill War Rooms, and finally Westminster Abbey. But the detours and crowds around Buckingham Palace slowed us down and we were behind schedule. By the time we got to the War Rooms, it was over an hour long line to get inside. We reluctantly decided to skip it, because we worried we would not have enough time to see Westminster Abbey. While I hated to skip the War Rooms, skipping it was the right choice. So we hopped on the tube and headed to the Abbey.
When we got to the Abbey, we could see that the line was already starting to get long. So glad we opted to skip an attraction and go straight here. This line would only get worse as the day went on.
You can see the long line outside the Abbey. There is a security presence at every attraction and you have to have bags checked and body pat-downs.
The line did move quickly and I think we waited less than an hour to get in. Most of the abbey has a strict no photography policy, so I took a ton of pictures outside.
Noah wanted a closer look at the amazing details in the architecture.
This place was incredible! We had a long list of graves that we wanted to visit. Once inside, you are free to walk around and look at the grave stones. They also handed out helpful maps and ear pieces so we could follow along with recorded commentary. That was definitely very helpful! Standing in front of the tomb of Queen Elizabeth I, Charles Dickens and many more important figures in British History and culture was awe-inspiring. Normally it would frustrate me to not be able to capture the moments with my camera. But the no photography policy allowed me to be in the moment, and I'm thankful for that. Most of the abbey had a no photography policy, but there were a few places where we were allowed to take pictures.
This is another place that I would pay to visit again. It was so moving to be there during prayer, when everyone stopped and held a moment of silence for the victims of recent terror attacks in Paris and Manchester.
Before leaving the abbey, we stopped at the restrooms. Here's another tip. If you see a long line for the restrooms, keep going a little further down the hall. There is a 2nd set of restrooms that has a much shorter wait!
We were pretty hungry at that point, so decided to walk back toward Big Ben to find a place to eat.
As we were walking across Westminster Bridge, this guy was playing bagpipes.
We found a McDonald's. Did I tell you that Nik wants to try McDonald's at any new city that we visit? Check London off your bucket list, Nik! This McDonald's was in the basement next to Shrek's Adventure. It was jam-packed, but we found a table!
It was later in the afternoon at that point, so we had to use our plan b for this day. The kids really wanted to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie; Dead Men Tell No Tales (or Salazar's Revenge in England). We took more pictures of Big Ben, then decided to head to Oxford Circus to shop and go to the movies.
We had to catch the tube at Waterloo Station.
We walked through the theatre district, known as the West End. We had tickets to see Phantom of the Opera later in the week, so it was helpful to see where the theatre was, and to scope out places to eat.
There is a giant M&Ms store on Leicester Square. Of course we had to check it out. I think this one was even bigger than the one in New York City.
We ended up going to the CineWorld Theatre on Leicester Square. They had a huge imax screen, comfortable seats and tasty popcorn. What's not to love. Oh maybe the equivalent to $95 price tag for 4 tickets. I will never complain about movie ticket prices in the U.S. ever again. London movie prices are crazy expensive.
Noah and I fell in to what he called a "jetlag coma" and both fell asleep about halfway through the movie. Alex and Nik hung in there though. After the movie, we walked to Oxford Circus to shop.
We spotted the Disney Store.
We managed to find a few souvenirs, of course. Oxford Circus is crazy crowded and we were getting tired after another long day. Back on the tube!
Riding the tube like a boss!
There were plenty of places to eat around our tube stop at Gloucester Station. We found a restaurant that served Coca Cola from bottles.
The food was delicious, and pretty affordable. I think it was less than the equivalent to $100.
Our server was an American! I have no idea how she ended up living in London, but she said she loved it there.
It was another fun day of exploring, but we were pretty tired. We headed back to the hotel to get some much needed rest. Tomorrow...the British Museum and Harry Potter awaits!
