London

Following our goodbyes in Carlisle, Andrew and I boarded a train to London with all of our luggage for 3 months.  After traveling on 3 above ground trains and one Underground train (which we'd rather not repeat...), and walking 1/4 mile, we and our luggage arrived at Manna House, a hostel in Bromley (suburb just south of London) for OM volunteers.  After settling in, it was only mid-afternoon, so we took the train back into London for the evening.  With the limited daylight this time of year, it was dark by the time we were back into London, but it's a city that doesn't sleep, so this didn't make much of a difference.  We discovered that London is actually quite beautiful at night:

It had been recommended to us to stop by a Christmas Festival in Hyde Park that opened the weekend we were there, which we did.  Think of festival plus carnival, but done London-style.  It was something to behold.

Our second day in London was rainy.  In the morning, we saw Tower Bridge and visited the Tower of London, where the poppies from Remembrance Day were still on display, although being taken down while we were there:

At the Tower of London, we saw the Crown Jewels display, learned about the exotic animals that used to be kept at the Tower (one king had a polar bear that he would attach to a chain so it could go swimming in the River Thames; there were also monkeys, snakes and lions kept on site, and the public would come to see them; the exhibit closed and the animals sent to the London Zoo in the late 1800s after a series of attacks on visitors...), and saw the historic living quarters of kings in the Middle Ages.  Following our tour, we walked across Millennium Bridge, found something to eat at a Christmas Market, and walked through the Tate Modern, where I was reminded of how challenging I find it to appreciate modern art.

Leaving the Tate Modern, it was dark and the city once-again lit up:

On Day 3 in London, we spent the morning walking by the river and seeing the London Eye, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and then toured Westminster Abbey (where there are no photos allowed inside):

We walked through St. James' Park on our way to view Buckingham Palace in the daylight:

Next we walked back to Trafalgar Square, where we visited the National Gallery and saw "real" art.

We took the Underground out to Piccadilly Circus and wandered Oxford and Regent streets to see some London Christmas lights:

In the evening, we attended a performance of "Wicked" which we both greatly enjoyed.

Our final day in London, we spent part of the morning seeing the Tower Bridge, and walking up top on the glass floor:

We walked by the river, found some lunch, and took the Underground out to the British Museum, where we saw mummies, the Rosetta Stone, and part of the Berlin Wall:

We also took a few "obligatory" tourist photos at Platform 9 3/4, 221B Baker Street, and by red telephone booths:

Overall, we had a great time in London and loved it, but after 4 days of touring, we were ready to move on to Thailand, so by Tuesday night we said goodbye to the UK as we flew out of Heathrow towards Bangkok.