London in a day

Wednesday morning we wake ready for our London adventure. Back into the tube we decide to head to see Big Ben first. As we climbed the steps to leave out of the tube we find ourselves broken necked immediately faced w/ the House of Parliament & Big Ben! It's so big & beautiful we were between giggly & at a loss for words. After several pictures we crossed the Westminister Bridge & walked down towards the London Eye as It's a beautiful day & we couldn't wait to ride it! We pass County Hall which is a massive beautiful old building covered in statues & after a surprisingly short wait we are on board the London Eye. They say it takes 30minutes, but there was so much to seei could of stayed on for an hour or longer. It provides an amazing view of London & well worth the money, I can't wait to see the picutres Dustin got. After that we took an informative river cruise up & down the Thames & picked out our lunch spot for when the cruise was done. (if only we had thought about how far down the river we had gone before deciding to walk it! Ha ha! None the less, after getting back to the dock we started back down the Queens Walk which turns into the Jubalee Walk... It was probably 3 miles or so, but soo much to see! Street artists, vendors, historic sites, beautiful shops & cafes all along. We walked past Hungerford, Golden Jubilee, Waterloo, Blackfriars, Millenium & Southwark (all bridges!) We were focused on getting to the Anchor, one of the oldest pubs still standing in London right on the Thames River. We both get fish & chips (yes again!) and a pint & soon realize eating at the Anchor will mean fighting some very determined pigeons to keep our food!! Dustin almost punched one that would not be shooed away & keep coming at out our plates! It was almost a little frightening how aggressive they were! Ha ha! So the story with this crazy old establishment is that it has been home to a tavern, then a brothel, chapel, brewery, a ships chandlers & now pub/resteraunt! In 1603 it was the site of a Plague Pit & then built over in 1665 as The Ancor Tavern & a place where Shakespeare often enjoyed an ale or two. So after our long morning walk we catch the tube back (which took us past the London Dungeons b.t.w) to our starting point at the House of Parlaments & Big Ben. Next to that is the Westminister Abbey which is a breathtaking church I intend to read up on. It is adorned w/ so many details & statues & very gothic looking. I will put it on my list of places most likely worth paying & waiting in line for on a future visit. We then went to the Churchill War Rooms, walked the Priness Diana Walk through a beautiful park that had amazing flowers everywhere & ponds filled with swans & wildlife! At the end of the Princess Diana walk we came to Buckinham Palace where we gawked at through the gates, then headed over to where the actual used side entrance was & watched the guards do a wonderful stomping grunting gun twisting & slapping march across the gates before taking their solomn stands to not move again. Until.... A few police from behind the gates came out to whisper something to them each & we knew something good was soon to happen! So we waited.... & waited.... & waited & finally along came several police escorting & surrounding 2 car fills of important people that no one recognized. Ha ha! Ah, well. ;) From here we walked up The Mall which is decked w/ hundreds of flags in prep for the Queens Bday. It was a beautiful walk & we spoke w/ an English gent who told us the black lamp posts all have ships on them aimed towards Trafalgar Square where Nelson's Column stands & he "watches" as his ships come in. Apparently few people know about that & he was proud to share that tid bit with us. Soo... You guessed it, we must follow the ship posts to Nelson!  This walk lead us past St. James Place which i must admit i am not sure what that is.. My guess was university, but ill have to look into that. Also along the way we crossed under Admiralty Arch which is where the center gate is only opened for the queen to pass through, but stays closed for anyone else. After passing through it we find the square & sure enough Nelson is stating right down at us as we arrive along with his ships! Ha ha! This square is also the location of The National Gallery. Another bazillion pictures later & after Dustin climbs up to pose with one of the giant lions, we are BEAT! I spot a pub nearby & we make a beeline to get a pint & rest our feet. I grabbed us some barstools while dustin goes to make our order when I realize I am the only female in the place. Maybe this is a business men's gathering spot!? I think I might be asked to leave as I scan the place for Dustin & the reality hits me that this quaint establishment names Halfway II Heaven is a gay bar. I giggle & wait for Dustin to notice & realize he is bright red as the flamboyant bartender gives him a hard time. Lol. We drank our pints & discussed the drag queens photos on the walls & then decided to head to Leicaster Square for a nice dinner outside.  THAT I am proud to say is most of London's sights all in a day! Tomorrow is my surprise departure to who knows where! ZzzzzzzZzzzzz.....