London in 2 days or less...

     I've always wanted to go to London.  Even if it was work related, I finally made my way over this fall.  There wasn't enough time to see everything I wanted to, but there was enough time to see enough to know that I want to go back. 
     The day I arrived was the final day of the Paralympics.  I was just walking through downtown and came across the Marathon event.

    
     The area was so crowded and the excitement was palpable.  It was easy to get drawn into the energy and definitely made me want to attend a future Olympics.  After waiting around for a while, some of the athletes came through.  The crowd went crazy, cheering for everyone equally.  One could tell that London was sad the events were coming to a close, and still wanted to rally for the last few moments in the sun. 

     It was so crowded, I couldn't make it to the finish line, so after some more wandering, I found some typical London sites.  I didn't really have enough time to actually stop anywhere, so here is a quick photo tour of what I saw.  Hopefully I will have the chance to return some day and actually go to some of these places!

 

Beautiful building that I saw

 

Buckingham Palace

 

I'm lucky that I could even get close enough to the fence for this picture. 

 

Double Decker Bus 

 

Who knew?

 

Obligatory phone booth photo

 

 

London Eye

 

 

 

Westminster Abbey

 



     The next day, I made it to the British museum for a few hours, where it was obvious you could spend days there. 

 

   And I came across King's Cross Station, which had beautiful architecture and a long line of children waiting for a certain monument...

 

King's Cross Station 

 

For all Harry Potter fans

 

     Then, I had to work for several days and was introduced to British, uh, cuisine.  I managed to make it down to Stone Henge one day after work. 

 

 

     I wish I had had more time before they closed the area and that it had not become dark so quickly.  I wish my camera had been functioning better too for that matter.  Visiting Stone Henge was surreal.  They were closing up when I arrived, so I was not able to get too close.  The next time I go to the U.K., I will make a point of going back.  The pictures simply do not do justice to the area.  It was so beautiful, even mystical, and you could feel the hint of magic in the air.  In fact, everywhere that I visited during this trip had a similar feel to it, and no, it was not just because I'm a Harry Potter fan.  There were just many unreal moments when travelling for those few days, maybe because I've seen the pictures so many times, or seen the sites in the movies, or maybe there is just something magical about England.