Trip Recap - Flight & Day 1

We arrived at Dulles Airport in the early afternoon, and after a quick check-in, found ourselves at a great little wine bar where I sampled a few champagne options and Jason tasted three different wines. The flight was right on time and somehow we found ourselves in the business class portion of the plane (with an empty seat next to me!). We each enjoyed our own TV screen where we had a choice of movie or television program. We were served wine, two meals and a snack. One of the best things they included was a small packet with an eye mask, a pair of socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste! This came in handy as we were told by friends that we should sleep as much as possible to combat the time change. That was great advice, because once we landed, it was about 7:30am!

Luckily we were able to check into our hotel super early after taking the Underground from Heathrow Airport. We ditched our bags, broke out the tourist book and started walking.

 

Gorgeous hotel room at the Rembrandt

We immediately visited Hyde Park, just one street over from the hotel, and it was beautiful! Everything was so green!

And in no particular order, we saw the following (pictures to follow of some) Harrods, the Wellington Arch, Buckingham Palace and the Queen Victoria Memorial, St. James Park, the MOD, the Admiralty, the Horse Guards, 10 Downing St (home of the PM), Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the Wellington Barracks! Whew, that was a LOT of walking! Now unfortunately Jason isn't here to help me write this post (he has the best memory!), so hopefully I don't get this stuff wrong:)

A typical view in London...LOVED this city

London Bobbies (cops)

We saw so many cars displayed in store windows

Wellington Arch

Loved these signs!

Buckingham Palace

Guards at the Palace

The Admiralty

The Horse Guards

10 Downing Street

Big Ben & Parliament

Another view of Parliament - it was incredible!

Westminster Abbey

A view of the Eye of London

Harrods - we went inside for about 10 minutes but didn't buy anything

In the midst of all this walking and sightseeing, we stopped at the Red Lion for our first pint:

And they even let us pose behind the bar!

We also grabbed a pint at the Speaker and had more beer and lunch at The Old Monk Exchange:

Carlsberg pint

Jason had fish & chips w/ mushy peas

Jennifer had bangers and mash w/ onion gravy

Up to this point, we had taken 165 pictures ranging from random architecture to the gravity toilets that totally confused me at first! Amazingly enough, we remained mostly unaffected by the jet lag which was wonderful. But after all this excitement, we needed a nap! And so tomorrow, I'll tell you about the first night and the AMAZING meal we had!