Mind the Gap

Another early start as we caught the first bus into Manchester to get to the train station for our 8am train. I was so worried we were going to miss the train as the earliest bus was at 7:07am and it took about an hour to get into the city. Thankfully we got there a few minutes early and had time to sit and relax for a bit on the train before moving - until someone informed us we were in their seats. Didn't even realize there was assigned seating, and ended up having a hard time finding exactly where our seats were.  We wondered up and down the train before finally realizing we were in Coach K - first class! What a welcome way to travel. My goal was to stay up and watch the UK countryside but about 30min into the 3 hour trip I feel asleep. I woke up briefly just outside one of our stops in time to see an outline of a castle.


As soon as we got into London we bought a day pass to the tube (also known as the Underground or subway), took it to our hostel, and dropped off our packs. We then headed back into the city to make our first London stop - Tower Bridge and London Tower. On the walk from the Underground to these sites we passed Southwark Cathedral, one of the oldest medieval structures in London. Next door was an outdoor grill restaurant, Cafe Borod, that smelt amazing - as we were starving for some decent food we decided to splurge a bit and stop. They offered hamburgers in a wrap or on sub sandwich bread as well as sausage, shrimp or prawns to put on rice. We split a hamburger in a wrap - delicious!

Southwark Cathedral

Afterward our real meal for the day, we walked towards London Tower. We wanted to get a tour of the inside, but after finding out it would cost about £20 we quickly changed our minds.We took a few pictures then headed over to Tower Bridge. Hard to believe I was in this exact spot only a couple years ago! The massiveness of these structures will never cease to amaze me.

Adam at the London Tower

Tower Bridge

Next on our list was St. Paul's Cathedral, so we took another quick tube ride in an attempt to give our feet a bit of a break. Last visit here we were pressed for time and never made it inside - glad we could make it happen this time around. Inside a man was practicing the organ, making the amazing structure come to life that much more. Such beautiful architecture. 

St. Paul's Cathedral

Loving the random telephone booth

A short distance from the cathedral was Millennium Bridge - a steel suspension bridge - filled with people cooking roasted almonds and peanuts and one character with snakes and another who was 'headless' with glasses and a hat suspended above his shirt collar. Also, to Adam's excitement, a man was playing the blues on his saxophone. After a brief walk over half of the bridge, we turned around and set off for Trafalgar Square and the National Art Museum - also free entrance! Here we saw pieces by Van Gough, Da Vinci, Monet, and Michelangelo. We walked around the square people watching and taking pictures next to soccer balls representing the women's championship. There was also a countdown to the para Olympics London would be hosting in 400 some days. 

National Art Gallery

Trafalgar Square

About a mile walk up the road, passing amazing architecture along the way, we made it to Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben! As we arrived closer to the Abbey we found a statue of Lincoln, and as Adam was wearing an Illinois shirt at the time we had to snap a picture. America!

Westminster Abbey

We walked around more and as we headed across the bridge near Houses of Parliament we saw a few girls taking pictures with the cops. Adam bunny eared the cop taking the picture who, a few moments later, ran after Adam and 'arrested' him telling him he couldn't do that in London. Glad they have a sense of humor with all of us tourists!

The London Eye

We decided to have a picnic in St. James Park next, so grabbed our favorites from Tesco and watched the people in the park obsess over squirrels and let them crawl on them to get food. We slowly walked along until we reached Buckingham Palace, snacking on our newly found addicting fruit pastilles. We stopped at a cafe Nero for a quick break then headed back. 

St. Jame's Park

Buckingham Palace

Before we made it all the way back to the hostel, however, I convinced Adam to stop at Kings Cross Station for platform 9 3/4 (must be said in a British accent). To my disappointment the station was under construction and the attraction had been moved outside and wasn't nearly as impressive as my last visit. Instead of the shopping cart stuck in actual brick, they had wallpapered the side of the building to look like brick. Still fun for a goofy Harry Potter fan picture though. 

Once back at the hostel we settled in, then went down to the bar where I tried a new cider, Aspall, while Adam had a Peroni. We talked about  how to get to the airport the next day, figured out what we wanted to do in the morning, and then talked about what we wanted to see in Oslo. Also while in the bar we found out the bartender was from Newfoundland and had moved here pretty much on a whim just for the summer. Pretty ballsy!