Just Married: Life in Europe: LONDON: Our newest LOVE

What do you get when you mix being able to speak English with amazing historical sights? London! Justin and I have found our new favorite place. London was so wonderful, and it was so full of things we both love.

On our first day there we took the tube from the airport to our hotel. We initially had a hotel crisis, but thanks to Justin's Ranger skills we found the correct hotel and were able to officially begin our adventures!


On the tube, heading to CockFOSTERS ;)

After checking into our hotel we had a bite to eat at The Three Stags. This was my first experience with London fish and chips (yummy) and some delicious cider beer. Then, we took a little stroll, and low and behold, look what we happened upon!

Big Ben, Parliament, and the Thyme River

London Love

As we continued our journey to the Westminster Abbey, we had quite the find:

A gigantic leaf

Westminster Abbey

We kept walking and found the queen's palace, but unfortunately she wasn't home.

Buckingham Palace

Before taking a night ride on the London Eye, we hopped on the Hispanola for some drinks. Then, by chance we found the Southbank Christmas Market, which was a great way to end our Thanksgiving.

On the Hispanola--London Eye in the background

Kiss at the Southbank Christmas Market

View from the London Eye

The next day we headed to Shakespeare's Globe Theater. This was such a wonderful experience for me because I have always loved Shakespeare. It was great to see the Globe replica mirror Shakespeare's actual Globe Theater so perfectly. The tour was very informative, and I was happy to realize my Shakespeare history was actually quite good. Cheers!

In front of Shakespeare's Globe

The Globe stage

We found The Anchor Pub, which is a pub Shakespeare used to drink at

After stopping for some London Pride at The Anchor Pub, we headed onward with our journey. We found the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. It was interesting to learn that the Tower of London was basically a prison and place of exile for some kings back in the day. All of these were quite impressive. It was fun to be in the presence of such famous landmarks.

London Bridge

Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Later that night we head to St. Martin's Theater to watch Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap". This show holds the Guinness World Record for the longest running show. The queen was there 10 years earlier to celebrate its 50th anniversary. We were able to be there for its 60th anniversary. "The Mousetrap" was full of mystery and suspense. We both really enjoyed it, along with a few cider beers.

At St. Martin's Theater for "The Mousetrap"

We saw show 25,005

The next day we experienced typical London weather. It rained all day and was a bit chilly walking around. However, we still made the best of our time. We went to the Churchill Cabinet War Rooms. This was a great experience for Justin. He (and I) enjoyed learning about Winston Churchill's role during World War II and seeing the war rooms set-up as they were during the war.

Rainy, London Day

Justin and a guard from World War II

Our afternoon consisted of some pub hopping. We went to The Red Lion, which was a pub Charles Dickens used to drink at. Then we had our lunch at Taylor Walker Pub, where Justin finally had his meal of fish and chips. After lunch we headed to The Sherlock Holmes Pub. The pubs in London are so fancy compared to American pubs, and they were all decorated for Christmas.

The Red Lion Pub

The Sherlock Holmes Pub

Once our pub walk was finished we went to the Westminster Abbey for a choir and prayer service. We were not allowed to take pictures inside, but the arch ways and stained glass windows were gorgeous. The choir's singing echoing through the Abbey was such a sweet sound. Plus, it was fun to say I've been in the church Kate and William were married in :)

Waiting to go in the Westminster Abbey

After this it was off to The Westminster Arms pub for some more beer, yum. Then we headed to the Hyde Park Christmas Market. Along the way we found the Arch of Wellington, which is the arch James Bond drives under :) The Hyde Park Christmas Market was more like a carnival than a market, but we found a cute London Christmas ornament for our tree and had some good food. The spiced wine however, was not as good as we were hoping it would be. The market was a great way to end our wonderful trip to London! We definitely want to go back to London some day!