All over London!

It's our Underground stop.

      Ok, so what's there to see in London? Big Ben, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park, the London Eye, the Parliament Building, St Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square...  check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check aaaand check. We wandered into London proper with the intention to see the Tower of London and swing by Westminster Abbey, and ended up on quite the tour of the city, managing to see pretty much all famous sights, mostly by accident. It was great!
     It's also really exciting to be here in the midst of the Olympics. And the crowds were nowhere near as bad as we were expecting... the Underground trains weren't even all that crowded, although it probably helped that it's the weekend. The effort the city has put in to make London en-mass visitor friendly is apparent, and it's super helpful. There are information people in bright pink vests all over the city if you have any questions, there are extra map posts and signs everywhere, the streets and train cars have all been cleaned up, and pretty much the whole city feels like a big festival. There are lots of little stages where local groups are performing (so we stumbled across a marching band and a theater group, as well as a handful of singers), food booths with international cuisine, and blocked off roads for pedestrians only. So this is actually a really excellent time to be touring the city, because it's extra easy! It's also fun because there are so many different countries represented everywhere... you see people decked out in support of their teams and hear all sorts of languages. And the overall vibe is very excited and happy.

Ok, if you wanted pictures, you've got pictures!

At the tower of London

They liked the lions..

Scotty has the best faces

It's quite the fortress...

The Tower Bridge, the really iconic bridge crossing the Thames, is all decked out for the Games

Crossing it gave a lovely view

It's crazy we're here for the Olympics!!

fairly self-explanatory...

It's blue! And also has a nice fresh paint job.

One of my favorite things about London is how eclectic the architecture is. Right next to a centuries old fortress is a super modern skyscraper next to something Victorian next to something else... it really makes its own character.

There are lots of flags everywhere. And flowers!

HMS Belfast

That's St Paul's Basilica in the background.

St Paul's Cathedral

Since it's Sunday, the churches weren't open for tourists, but the buildings are pretty impressive from the outside, too!

We accidentally found Trafalgar Square...

And wandered to Westminster Abbey

which is really pretty

There are indications of the Olympics absolutely everywhere.

Hey! It's Big Ben!

And the Parliament Building!

And the London Eye!

And London Bridge! (if that wasn't clear enough). This bridge doesn't seem like its going to fall down anytime soon.

Buckingham Palace! All that's left to see is the queen...

A very shiny sculpture in front of the Palace.

It's definitely an impressive palace. And the guards march funny. (: