Our Summer Anniversary Trip

Yes, I know it's November and I am just now posting pictures of our 20th Wedding Anniversary Trip to Europe.  I am sorry it has taken me so long to do this but I just get distracted with the day to day things that are going on that tonight I decided to just sit down and get it started!

Our shave ice shop opened Wednesday, July 25th and Tom and I flew out of the country the very next day!  We were stressed, exhausted, and really hadn't even thought of our trip for the days and weeks preceding July 26th.  Tom was working long hours to get all of his patients in before we left and I was burning the midnight oil to get our shop opened before we left.  I can't tell you the relief we felt when we finally sat on that plane to Dallas.  We were off!!!  

Then, we ended up sitting and sitting and sitting in Dallas as our flight was delayed and then delayed again.  But, we figured we were still on vacation so Tom and I enjoyed every minute just chatting with each other and finally having time to sit down, uninterrupted and plan our itinerary! :)

 Now, we are finally on the plane to London.  Yippee!!!

 I can stare out the window of an airplane for hours.  My mind starts to wander as I ponder the space between heaven and earth.  I think about what sort of people are living beneath me and how their lives are different than mine because of where they live, the languages they speak, etc.----then I think of the wonderful spirits above me that are also living another life full of wonder and mystery.  It's just very cool to think about.

Here we are at Trafalgar Square

 Well, we arrived at Heathrow Airport and got our rental car extremely easily.  There was hardly any crowds which we were totally expecting due to the Olympics starting in just one day!  We quickly changed clothes in our car and left it at the airport.  We decided to take the Tube into the city so we didn't have to deal with parking.  It was a great idea!  

Our first stop off the tube was Leicester Square - where all of the broadway shows are.  We had to pick up our London Passes.  Immediately, London was everything I had dreamed it would be.  The red double-decker busses, the beautiful architecture . . . I was loving London already!

 Isn't this dance sculpture amazing?

 We absolutely LOVED Westminster Abbey.

 Queen Elizabeth was coronated RIGHT here!!

 I even did the "bridal walk" down this aisle pretending to be Kate Middleton!

 St. Paul's Cathedral - we couldn't "feed the birds" because we didn't have any "tuppence!" (still love that song from Mary Poppins!)

 Sooooo glad it's not falling down anymore :)

 This glass building is nicknamed "The Shard" because of it's sharp edges at the top!

 We took a lovely river cruise down the Thames.  

 This bridge, of course, was the center of all the photo ops for the Olympic Visitors!

 The Tower of London - we loved visiting here.  First of all, it was almost closing time by the time we got there so there was hardly any people.  I loved seeing the crown jewels and walking through all of the old rooms.  For such an old building, it looked really kept up well.  I bought a small piece of china, a saucer, that had the Queen's symbols of the main castles in London designed on it.  It was so pretty!

 This summer also marked the 60th anniversary of the Queen's Reign, which was the Diamond Jubilee Celebration.  Her picture was everywhere.  

These were some of the residences of the beef-eaters that live at London Tower. I thought it was absolutely so quaint and beautiful.

 Here is one of the guards at the tower.  Tom got to meet one of the beef-eaters (you can actually talk to them) and we took a picture of him - but his phone got stolen in Paris.  (more to come on that story!)  E R is for Elizabeth Regina, the Queen's name.

 Tom loved this sword!

 We took this picture from the reflection in a glass building.  Pretty cool, huh!  We had some fish and chips in a trendy restaurant that was filled with way too many young people drinking and smoking.  yuck---and the food was not that great.  But, we were just happy to get off our feet and rest for a bit.  

 Yea, the infamous red telephone booths are sure pretty to see on the outside.  But, the inside smelled like urine and I had to keep the door WIDE open!  yuck!

 I hope I look as lovely as her when I am in my 80's!

So, to end our very LONG day, we got back to the airport then had a 45 minute drive, in the dark, to our village called Blewbury.  Needless to say, we would have been totally lost without the help of Tom's sister, Lisa's, GPS.  She had just visited London a few months before us and that GPS came in SO handy!!!  We almost ran out of gas, but luckily we found a gas station and our village around 1 a.m.   Then, when we found our condo, we forgot to write down the lock combination of the door!  Can you believe that??  So, with only 3% left battery on my phone (Tom's was dead) we called the condo owner and prayed he would call back ASAP.  Gratefully, he did and we were able to get in around midnight.  Phew, what a day!!