London! - Views from the River Thames

Just as we thought the rain was letting up the skies open up just as we boarded the ferry to float down the Thames.  Fortunately it eventually let up again and we didn't get too wet.  The boat ride started at the Houses of Parliament and ended at the Tower Bridge.

This Obelisk is called Cleopatra's Needle given to the United Kingdon after Lord Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile.

London's new skyline.  All of their skyscrapers have unusual names.  The tallest building is called the Shard and the one on the far right still under construction is called the razor.  One building just hidden by the shard you can see peeking out on its left is called the Gerkin since it looks like a pickle!

One of London's famous bridges.

This is the tower on top of the OXO company's building.  OXO skirted the rules of no advertising on the Thames by building this tower in stained glass so it was considered part of the building instead of an advertisement.

The dome on St Paul's from the river.

This is a reproduction of Shakespear's Globe Theater. The original one was demolished in 1644 and this one opened in 1997.

A better picture of the Shard.

The tower of London.

And finally a good picture of the Tower Bridge.

Goodbye Nashville - Part 2

The second of my two main goodbye parties from Nashville. Was so hard saying goodbye!

London! - British Library and Museum

Some of the world's most relished possessions reside in these two buildings.  No pictures were allowed in the library but one of the only remaining copies of the Magna Carta which was written in 1215 reside and on display.

Outside the British Museum is the St. Pancras train station. It has been seen in the Harry Potter movies and is one of the most beautiful buildings in all of London!

The entrance to the British Museum.

 
The lobby inside the museum had an incredible roof. It really felt like you were outdoors.

       

 If you are a fan of ancient history this museum is a must visit.  One of the main attractions is the Rosetta Stone which helped to decipher Egyptian Hyroglyphics.

There were many other interest Egyptian artifacts

 

 And Greek artifacts.

And even an Easter Island statute.  That was pretty cool too.

Goodbye Nashville - Part 1

Wow it has been awhile since I've had a chance to do any scrapbooking.  It felt really good to be creative!  I can't believe I am still scarpbooking Nashville.  Just about done though.  Can't believe we have been in Indianapolis for 2.5 years already!  Time really does fly!

London! - Football!

While we were in London, the NFL was playing one of two games at Wembley Stadium, the San Francisco 49ers vs the Jacksonville Jaguars. We decided it would be fun to see how another country reacted to the NFL.  This poster was on the wall outside of the tube station.

 Wembley Stadium

 Before the game they had a tailgate open to anyone with tickets outside the stadium. It was supposed to be like an "American" tailgate with American food. It was a good effort.

 

People had very interesting outfits on.  Notice the Raiders fan in between the guys in this picture. 

We knew our seats were low. But we didn't expect to be basically at field level.  They were great seats but if possible, they were almost TOO low.

We were so close to the fire blasters it heated up our faces!

Ne-Yo did a pregame concert.

Both large American flags and British flags were presented.

 Ne-Yo also sang the National Anthem.

The Jags mascot.

Here he was dancing to "What Does the Fox Say?"

 Attendance was 83,559.  Pretty impressive for the quality of a game we watched.

 
The game wasn't great, the 49ers won 42 to 10 but we had a fun time from the 2nd row!

View of Wembley on the way out at night.

On the tube on the way back to the hotel from the game.

Sarah was also in London and we had plans to meet for a beer after the game.  It was a Sunday night and you'd expect places to be open later than 11pm but apparently London is a sleepy town and isn't.  Instead we ended up at Victoria Station and did sneak one beer in before closing.

At least the food stalls were still open.  The sandwiches made for a tasty late night snack.

London! - Red Bus Tour

In order to get familiar with London people recommended us take a doubled decker red bus tour.  We really enjoyed it and got to see areas of London we didn't make it to the rest of the trip.

The Horse Guards Parade

World War II Memorial

The Mall.

The Blue "Cock."  This monument is in Trafalgar Square and once Queen Elizabeth passes away there will be a statue of her erected here.

The Houses of Parliament from across the Thames River.

One of the lion statues on the Thames.

The London Eye.

The downtown London skyline.

Saint Paul's Cathedral.

Monument to London's great fire.

Westminster Abbey.

 

Tower Bridge.  More on that later.

The other side of the Horse Guards Parade.