Winning London: Day 3

June 27th,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! We got up earlier today so that we could get a head start on seeing all the sites. Our first stop was Westminster Abbey. I thought it was just that area you see on TV with the Royal wedding but it is actually much bigger than that. There are several shrines and tombs of the royals inside, it really is absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately I wasn't able to take pictures inside since it is currently still used as a place of worship. But I was really blown away with all the detail. 

After we finished we made our way to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. Mike didn't know it was going to be such a big event but there were hundreds of people there ready to watch it. We couldn't get a spot on the steps of the monument but were right on the side where the guards marched passed. It was quite the seen. I have always wanted to see that, so check another thing off my list. We weren't really able to see the whole ceremony once the guards got to the palace doors but we had seen another changing of the guards at The tower of London so we thought we could call it good and headed back to westminster. 

Next we went to the Churchill War Rooms. As you know Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of London during WWII and was good friends with Howard W. Hoover. The war rooms was an underground war planning zone where Churchill coordinated all the war efforts safely below ground while the air raids were going on. It was pretty interesting. I think my grandparents would have LOVED it! I was thinking of them the whole time :) I could almost hear my grandma's voice saying "Oh, look! How neat! " she would have loved it. So grandma, I took lots of pictures for you. The rooms were left just the way they war when the war ended so everything is exactly the way it was, not just a historical society guessing at how it was. 

 (Bedroom of intel people during WWII inside the War Rooms)

 (The Map room- The lights in this room were left on non stop for 4 years until the war ended)

 (Churchills bedroom during WWII air raids. )

 (The Churchill War Room where much of the WWII defense strategies were discussed) 

After that we took the tube to the London Bridge area. We wanted to do the London Bridge experience tour as it looked like fun and kind of creepy. Before we went on the tour we had lunch at the Pub across the way. It was a really cute authentic old pub and the food was pretty traditional. I was just happy to sit down and eat after seating so many meals on the go. Mike gave me my birthday card while we were at lunch.

For my birthday he not only said lots of nice, sweet things to me he also promised me tickets to a Carrie Underwood or Rascal Flatts concert. (Due to scheduling conflicts I will choose Carrie Underwood :) I was sooo excited! I have never been to a country music concert (well Stadium of Fire with Brad Pasiley was close but not long enough.) I can't wait! I will probably leave with a sore throat from singing a long so loudly! I am pretty sure I know all of her songs, but I will have to brush up on the older ones.

After lunch we went on the tour. It was pretty bad. It was suppose to be 2000 years of bridge history but it was like three different scenes which were more of the actors being comedians than historians. When you start the tour they take you back by group and they send you (on your own) down a dark hallway. While you walk down it they have something jump out and make noise at you, which scared me half to death. When we got into the holding room we found out everyone in the room had been watching it on a TV. That was embarrassing, until we watched a few more people and laughed at them too. 

The next three rooms were dumb and I was glad I didn't pay money for it ( we had a London Pass.) At the end they take you to "the tombs" which is the scariest thing in London. I kindly requested to leave the tour at that point I couldn;t handle being scared. I don't do that well, I think Mike was OK with that was well. After that we walked down a few cool roads that took us to Shakespeare Globe theater. There was a show going on so we couldn't go in and see it, but that was fine. At this point in my trip I am content to take a picture of a building and not go in.

The next three rooms were dumb and I was glad I didn't pay money for it ( we had a London Pass.) At the end they take you to "the tombs" which is the scariest thing in London. I kindly requested to leave the tour at that point I couldn;t handle being scared. I don't do that well, I think Mike was OK with that was well. After that we walked down a few cool roads that took us to Shakespeare Globe theater. There was a show going on so we couldn't go in and see it, but that was fine. At this point in my trip I am content to take a picture of a building and not go in.

Next we stopped at Kings Cross Station to get our pictures taken at platform 9 3/4! We LOVE Harry Potter!! 

Then I did some sweet navigation and memory retrieval and we went to the TKTS booth in Liesters square and got tickets to see The Wizard of Oz that night. Then we went to Cinnamon to pick up a little birthday treat. There were no candles and no birthday song but they were as delicious as a piece of cake. After our treat we went back to the hotel fo freshen up for the theater. 

The show was nice that night. It was hard to go from Les Mis to Wizard of Oz as they are soo different. I still enjoyed the show. It was fun to compare it to Wicked. Also to see how well they adapted the show to the movie. I thought it was wonderfully done and LOVED the show. The girl playing Dorothy was darling but little dog toto stool the show for me! 

We walked home so we could enjoy the stores on Oxford road. We passed a grocer store and went in and got some food or dinner (yes we ate dinner at 10:30pm- its vacation! When we got back to the room Mike allowed me to buy the 24 hour internet package for 10 pounds! So I skyped with my mom for my birthday. I was nice to see and hear from her. I love modern technology! Thanks to my mom, the women who carried me for 9 months and have loved me unconditionally the past 25 years!! 

It was a great 25th birthday!!