la vita è bella: NYE with the Brits (part 1)

We had to start of 2012 with a bang...London, England it is!

Since I had never been to London, Caleb and I decided to make the best of our trip and spend six days in the city. I wanted to see every mile...er...kilometer...the city had to offer. So we packed each day full of tourist attractions, beers in the pub, and thai food (since it is seriously lacking here in our region of Italy!). No amount of London fog (or rain) would slow us down!

We started with a walking tour to see some of the big sites. On our first day, we caught a glimpse of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Parliament building, and the London Eye. Throughout the next few days, we toured Westminster Abbey, the Globe Theater, the Churchill War Rooms, the Tower of London and the British Museum.We also had tea at Harrods, watched the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, saw the Broadway hit Wicked, found a restaurant dedicated to the greatest state of all time, explored the Royal Observatory, stood in two different hemispheres at one time, and high-fived 2012! Phew! What a trip!!

A very important piece of advice painted on many of the crosswalks

It's wet and chilly!


Big Ben and Parliament

Westminster Abbey:

I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside (don't mess with mean old British ladies who are lurking for rule breakers!), but it would never have done this church justice. This was by far one of the most interesting and beautiful churches I have seen yet. The history in the church kept us enthralled for hours. The site of most royal coronations, weddings, baptisms and funerals, the walls of Westminster have interesting stories to tell. My favorite area was Poet's Corner, where some of the most important literary figures were laid to rest, including Chaucer, Tennyson, Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling.


Outside of Westminster

The Globe Theater:

Although this wasn't the original site of Shakespeare's Globe, it is located only several hundred feet away from the location of the original. We had an excellent tour of the recreation, which was built using the same materials and method as the one in Shakespeare's day. Our guide enlightened us to life in the early 1600's and gave us a great picture of how the Globe operated back then. The company still performs in the Globe, strictly Shakespeare, year-round. We were just a few weeks shy of the new season!