London - Day 2

Day 2 of our London stay started out with a trip towards St Paul's Cathedral.  The cathedral itself was closed for Sunday services, however, we were able to browse about inside as long as we didn't take pictures.  Just outside the church, we were able to find a nice breakfast at a nice cafe called Cafe Rouge.  It was a french style cafe which served excellent coffee drinks and delicious food.  Travis learned that coffee in Europe is extremely strong, commonly served with 2 shots of expresso.

After breakfast, we wanted to set off to 'see the city' so we boarded a 'Hop on, Hop Off' double decker bus tour.  The buses loop around the city and hit most of the big attractions along with some corky commentary :-) We were able to see various Parks (Hyde, St. James), went past Buckingham Palace, Parliament with Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Wellington Arch and many more sites.  We then hopped off the bus and toured the Tower Bridge exhibit.  We were able to ride to the top of the bridge and get some beautiful views of the city.  For lunch, we picked up some baguette sandwiches outside the Tower Bridge before hopping on a Thalmes river cruise back up towards Westminster.   

Alazda was able to find the Florence Nightingale museum, dedicated to the nursing pioneer.  She was famous for transforming the practice of nursing through use of sanitation practices during the Crimean war and thought to be the mother of modern day nursing.

After the museum, we ventured to a corner pub named The Albert.  It was a classic London style pub which served various draught and cask brews.  Travis enjoyed a London's Pride and a couple Kronenbourgs 1664s while Alazda tried a cider.  We split a delicious order of pub fish and chips before heading back out to the city for our final destination for the day, the London Eye.

The London Eye is a large Ferris wheel with large pods allowing visitors to walk around and get remarkable views of the city.  A full ride around on the 'Eye' takes about 30 minutes.  Orginally built for the 2000 Millennium celebration, the London Eye remains a popular destination today.  We visited near dusk and were able to catch the city just lighting up for evening. 

Thanks for checking in, next stop is Brussels and Amsterdam!

- Alazda and Travis

Alazda with her eggs benedict breakfast at cafe rouge, yum!

Trav enjoying a cappuccino

 St Paul's Cathedral

Enjoying the sights during the 'Hop on, Hop Off' bus tour

Parliament's Big Ben

Alazda next to Florence Nightingale's famous lamp

Trav enjoying a Kronenbourg 1664 at The Albert

The Albert pub 

Us on the London Eye

View from the London Eye

The London Eye at dusk

Brewers in London :-)