'Ave a Lovely Bleedin' Holiday

Walking down the street in London a man greets us with a cheery " 'ello!" Of course we say hello back, and he immediately says to my Mom and I, "You ladies 'ave a lovely bleedin' holiday in London!" I think the American accents gave us away.

Wednesday was an all-around uneventful day. We woke up at a normal time, although all three of us are still fighting jet lag. At a cute little bread shop across the street I got a waffle for breakfast. We went for a walk later in the day, passing Victoria Station--our landmark for all directions--and headed towards Buckingham palace. It was maybe a ten minute walk from our hotel, and we passed some beautiful buildings on the way. I'm still in awe of the architecture. So many buildings are brick, and everything has so much history and character. I wish we had more buildings like these in the United States, but I find myself walking on streets older than the Declaration of Independence. There's really no place like London.

Buckingham Palace reminded me of when I visited the White House in Washington DC about 5 years ago. There's this fantastically huge building, locked behind gates and you can only get so close. It's very impressive to look at, but in the end you're still fitting your camera between metal fence posts to get a good shot to show your friends back home. It's a huge tourist attraction, so of course it's filled with other people hoping to get a good picture as well. It was fun, however, to listen to everyone talking amongst themselves. You hear so many different languages and accents, it's definitely not what I'm used to coming from a town in Nevada.

What was even more impressive than Buckingham Palace was what was right next door--Green Park, one of the most fantastic, huge parks I've ever seen. It's like something out of a storybook with little lampposts and huge towering trees. It was very peaceful and not nearly as crowded as the palace. While the buildings in London are impressive, it's hard to forget the wonderful parks scattered around the city. All of the trees are certainly older than I am; I bet some are older than the town of Reno!

There's not much else to report today, other than it was pouring rain, my umbrella broke, and the food here is in fact as bad as everyone says it is. It seems impossible to get a good meal! Hopefully we'll have more luck at one of the Italian restaurants I saw around when we go back out tomorrow. I'll leave you all with a few more pictures of the city from today's activities. Bigger, better, and more versions will be uploaded to Facebook when I have time! Also note that you can click the pictures here, and they will open a bigger version. I miss you all and hope you're well!

Best wishes from London,

Kelly