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After two sleepless nights (the first spent on a bus up to Mount Sinai and the second in the Cairo airport), we arrived in London in the early afternoon to visit the sites in and around the tenth stop on our round-the-world adventure. =)

Our arrival in London signified a few things. First, we discovered that everything was ridiculously expensive, especially coming from Egypt and India! Second, we discovered that the sun doesn’t set until after 9PM and that we now had an insane number of daylight hours to sightsee!

Days 32 & 33

Over the course of the two days that we were in London, we wandered around seeing many of the “touristy” sites that London has to offer. Thanks to my friend Jen who allowed us to crash at her place near Trafalgar Square, nearly everything was within a 15-20 minute walking distance!

To start off our sightseeing, we crossed over the River Thames and wandered up the bank and marveled at the massive Houses of Parliament and “Big Ben”.

The Houses of Parliament & Big Ben across the River Thames

Closeup of the tower of the Houses of Parliament

After wandering inside to watch debates in progress in the House of Commons and House of Lords, we wandered over to see Westminster Abbey, where English monarchs have been crowned since 1066.

At Westminster Abbey

From Westminster Abbey, we wandered through St. James Park towards Buckingham Palace… along the way, we saw numerous flora and fauna…

A beautiful swan and two “ugly ducklings”! =)

Next, we arrived at Buckingham Palace, the home of the British monarch, in the early afternoon. On our second day, we returned to watch the changing of the guard, which was a massive tourist spectacle.

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace Guards

Queen’s Guard marching in

Marching Band

Queen’s Guard in more modern attire?

After seeing Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard, we walked back towards Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. On the first day, we wandered around outside (we missed the closing of the National Gallery by a few minutes!) and on the second day, we explored the various halls to view numerous paintings by such artists as Monet, Van Gogh, etc.

Sitting by a fountain in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square

Looking down on Trafalgar Square from the National Gallery

On our second day, we wandered around with Jen to see the numerous artifacts “acquired” by the British from all over the world at the British Museum.

In front of the British Museum

The original Rosetta Stone… we had seen a copy just a few days before at the Egyptian Museum… where our guide noted that the British had taken the original!

One of numerous artifacts collected at the British Museum… I wonder what is left wherever this came from?

The only site which we weren’t able to walk to (well, we could’ve have… but chose to take the underground because it was just a bit further away than everything else!) was the Tower of London, built in 1078 and known for having been a prison as well as a place of executions and torture over the centuries. Thankfully, it’s just a tourist site now that also houses the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. =)

At the entrance to the Tower

The massive outer wall of the Towe
r with its surrounding (now grassy) moat

Reconstruction of medieval life

Next to the Tower of London, we saw the imposing Tower Bridge. While we also looked for London Bridge, turns out that the “original” was sold and shipped to Arizona in 1968… the current London Bridge is a much less interesting construction that is a short ways away from the Tower Bridge. =)

The Tower Bridge

One of the last things we did on our second day was to get an elevated view of the city from the 443 foot tall London Eye.

Nearing the peak of Europe’s tallest Ferris Wheel

The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Bridge & Westminster Abbey from above

Day 34

On our last day in London, we joined an all-day tour to Stonehenge and Bath with an 8:25AM pickup and 7:00PM return.

We arrived at the prehistoric monument, which is another UNESCO World Heritage site, and listened to the guided audio tour as we circled the site which had its beginnings around 3100 B.C.

Prehistoric monument at Stonehenge

Massive stone arches at Stonehenge

At Stonehenge

From Stonehenge, we continued west towards the city of Bath. Along the way, our guide informed us of the large military presence in the area, evidenced by several signs like the one below:

Tank Crossing!

We arrived at the picturesque city of Bath, also a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is known for its numerous examples of Georgian architecture crafted from the Bath Stone.

One of Bath’s streets with Bath Stone structures

After disembarking from the bus, our tour continued to the ancient Roman Baths dating back from the 1st century A.D.

The Great Bath at the Roman Baths

After visiting the Roman Baths, we wandered around Bath’s streets, sampled the local fare, and admired the architecture of the various buildings.

In front of Bath Abbey

By Pulteney Bridge

After we returned back to the city, we walked around a bit to enjoy our last evening in London.

London Eye, Westminster Bridge, Houses of Parliament & Big Ben at night

Thanks Jen for showing us around and letting us crash at your place!

After three packed days of sightseeing in England, we packed our bags and prepared for our next flight to our 11th and second-to-last destination… Prague, Czech Republic!