London

Justin and I woke up very early the following morning and walked to the train station to catch the Eurostar to London. We arrived in London by 8:00am and set out to conquer the day. We would be flying home the following morning so this was our only day to see London, and we were determined to see it all! Or at least as much as two people possibly can in a day.

The train station in London

We began the day in Hyde Park, which is an Olympic venue for the marathon swimming and triathlon. We enjoyed walking around the park and enjoying the beautiful paths and gardens while watching the intense construction for the Games. This was the first of many sightings of Olympics-inspired cleaning, construction, and detours. The entire city already seemed to be in a craze getting ready for the onslaught of thousands of visitors from around the world in just a few weeks. While it was really neat to be there to feel the anticipation of the coming games, we couldn't help but be glad we would miss the madness that is surely there now.

Hyde Park

Baby swans

Construction for the Olympics

Pretty gardens

After enjoying Hyde Park, we made our way to the British Museum, home of the Rosetta Stone, a set of the Olympic medals, and a full range of both ancient and modern treasures. We enjoyed walking around for a while, but then remembered that we had a lot to see and scurried on out to our next stop. We were planning to see a show that night and stopped by the box office to get our tickets on our way to lunch at Pret a Manger, a delicious sandwich shop on every corner of the city. 

The British Museum

Olympic medals

After being refueled by a yummy lunch, we continued on to Trafalgar Square, The National Portrait Gallery, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, and a bunch of other places that I quite honestly just can't remember right now. :) 

Countdown to the Olympics!

National Portrait Gallery, which has an extensive collection including Monet, Van Gogh, and da Vinci

Trafalgar Square

The Texas Embassy

Buckingham Palace

Westminster Abbey

We walked and walked and walked, enjoying being in London and determined to make the most of our last full day in Europe. In contrast to our time in England a few weeks before, the weather was beautiful.

We ate a delicious dinner before heading to our show, The Sunshine Boys, at the Savoy Theatre for our evening treat.

This last day in Europe was fast and furious, but it was a great way to end our trip and we loved it all!  We stumbled into bed late that night to get a few hours of sleep before leaving for our final destination: home.