London

So I had a 13 hour layover in London on my way to Jordan, and it started at 9 am. So I pretty much knew from the very beginning of my trip that I would try to make it out to the city. Well, I did and it was so worth it! Our flight got in a little bit late (grumble grumble) but not too bad. Luckily I got through security rather fast and was on my way to buy my London Pass when I noticed something that stopped me in my tracks. 

There was the usual number of people who were holding up signs for various individuals. Well, there was a woman there who was holding up a sign for Martin Freeman! 

Yes, that Martin Freeman

I was so surprised that I actually stopped in my tracks to re-read her sign. However, she gave me a death glare so I decided not to waste my precious time for a geeky chance at an autograph. However, it would have been awesome. Alas, apparently he isn't the biggest fan of fans doing that so I guess it's better that I didn't wait. *sigh* Another time maybe. 

So after refocusing on my goal, I went and got my pass, got my day train ticket and hopped on the train to London. I had decided early on that I wanted to go to the Tower of London first as it was the furthest away from the airport. It was a good choice as it was almost exactly an hour from when I stepped onto the train to when I got off at the station for the Tower. 

I am SO glad that I bought the London Pass. It was well worth the price. When I got to the Tower there was a HUGE line for tickets and another huge line for those with paper passes. I was able to walk right up and show them the pass, have them scan it and wave me through. No kidding, I waited like 10 minutes to get in. 

Yay I got in!

A view of the whole complex

I also lucked out to be getting there right as the Yeoman tour started. I'm really glad that I decided to join the group as I got a nice refresher on the history of the location as well as a trip into the church on the grounds. It took a little over an hour, but I thought it was worth it for the history and the sights. 

The "Beefeater"

The Traitor's Gate, originally called the Water Gate

The White Tower

One of the resident 7 ravens

Guard outside the museum for the crown jewels 

After going on the tour, I decided that I didn't want to wait in the hour+ line just to see the crown jewels (which you can't even take pictures of anyways!) so I went over to the White Tower to look at the museum there. 

King Henry VIII's armor 

A beautiful carved German Saddle

Queen Elizabeth's original face mask over her coffin

Lovely view from inside the Tower

Loved the faces on the arch

One last view

Tower Bridge

After finishing up at the Tower, I took a few pictures of the Tower Bridge (not to be confused with London Bridge) then headed up the street to go back to the tube station. I was lucky since after passing all of the super expensive touristy restaurants, I saw a Tesco. I know it's a grocery store and they had a 3 pound lunch special. It was a good cheap lunch that could keep me going. From there I made it to the tube station and headed over to Parliament Square. 

The London Eye

Big Ben and Parliament

Another Shot

Oliver Cromwell in front of Parliament

Very patriotic

So after walking around Parliament, I then came upon Westminster Abbey! It's so beautiful and I LOVED it on my trip last time. It was so beautiful and I was so sad that you can only take pictures in very few places. However, other lucky souls have had invitations to take pics, so most of the inside pics are from here or here. Once again I was thankful for my London Pass. It once again saved me at least an hours worth of waiting in line. That was time definitely well spent exploring the abbey. 

Tomb of the unknown soldier with the poppies around it

Sir Isaac Newton's Tomb

The coronation chair

Mary Queen of Scot's Tomb

The Ladies' Chapel 

So gorgeous

Poet's Corner

View of Chaucer's grave (the one the woman's standing in front of)

Shakespeare's memorial

Handel (top right)

Cloisters

We were allowed to take pictures in this section

Beautiful Chapel

As I was exiting to leave, the organist started playing. I spent my time doing the audio tour and listening to every single thing on the list. It was so fascinating. I was honestly looking for an excuse to stay anyways and then they started playing. Oh my goodness. They were practicing for the concert that night, and were playing some of Handel's pieces. I can't tell you how incredible it was to stand there in the near empty abbey listening to the gorgeous music reverberate around the space. I stood transfixed for about 20 minutes until they started shooing people out so that they could then let in people for the concert. 

I couldn't stay, but man, when I return, that's something that I definitely want to do. 

Of course the weather cleared up a bit before I left

From there, I decided that I would do a quick view of Buckingham Palace before heading over to Kensington Palace. Well, two things stopped that. One, I forgot how FAR it is from Westminster to the Palace, and two, the metro stop closest to Buckingham Palace to get to Kensington Palace was closed so I wouldn't have made it over in time anyways. :( boo. I was saddened by that. So I just ended up spending some time (a lot of time) walking and enjoying Buckingham. 

Statue of Queen Victoria

After resting for a bit, I looked at a map and realized that the Wellington Arch was close by. Given that Wellington is my mom's maiden name, I HAD to stop and take a picture. It was another long walk, but worth it to see the beautiful grounds and the monument. 

It was around 6:30 at this point and I knew that I'd need to leave by 8:00 to get back in time for my flight. So I decided that I'd maybe stop by one more place and get something to eat. I decided to head to Trafalgar Square. I remember that the area was great to hang out and see, and it had some good food options. 

So I went and got the traditional british fare:

Fish & Chips (and a milkshake because why not?)

After taking a breather and enjoying my dinner (and the free wi-fi to let my family know I was fine and having fun), I walked around the square some more. 

The National Gallery (would have gone if I had more time :( )

However, it was getting closer to 8 and so I headed back to the tube station to return to the airport. It was a wonderful trip and a nice refresher on some of my favorite places in London. Now I just need to return for an extended stay with my wonderful hubby and it will be perfect!

Soon I was on my flight, and on my way back to Jordan!