Babymoon to London, England

Brad and I recently went to London, England for our "baby moon" trip.  We had a fantastic time and we were so excited to visit the country.  We are only about 4 1/2 hours from London so it's an easy travel trip.  We left on Friday and arrived in the mid-afternoon.  After getting checked into our hotel, we hit up happy hour to begin the weekend.  Brad had the wine and I had the cheese!!! We stayed in the midst of London at a hotel called the Z hotel Victoria.  It was located across from the subway and train station which was a huge bonus.  I did strategically arrange that.  :) There are plenty of taxi's in London, but you are better off taking the subway.  It was cold and raining on Friday so we taxied it up to our dinner at Bella Italo.  It was delicious and I cleaned my plate.  We had purchased tickets for Les Miserables, Brad's favorite musical.  It was at the Queen's theatre in the heart of Picadilly Circus.  Picadilly Circus is similar to Times Square and the theatre district in New York.  The Queen's theatre has been there for over 50 years and was gorgeous on the inside.  The show was wonderful and the vocals were amazing!!! We were pleased to say the least.  

Saturday we slept in and had breakfast in our hotel, then started our day in the great city of  London.  We started with the subway taking us back to Picadilly Circus and hopped on the Original London Bus Tours.  We wanted a brief tour of the city to get our bearing's straight and figure out where all the big attractions were located.  Below are some photos from the upperdeck.

National History Museum

Views of Trafalgar Square

Big Ben from the bus!!

Another one without the buses! Gotta love Brad with the photography!

The bus tour was fantastic to start our journey and we rode for about an  hour and half before we decided to take a break and start our own journey.  We were looking forward to a nice Mexican lunch, at a restaurant recommended by Katie, however, much to our surprise it was closed.  We were bummed.  We settled on the closet restaurant available which was Planet Hollywood.  I scarfed down a burger and fries and we continued our journey.  We strolled through St. James Park which was gorgeous and sampled some ice cream in the park.  This park overlooks Buckingham Palace and the London Eye.  It was perfect photo opportunities, see attached below.  I think this park was one of my favorites!

The London Eye is way back there!

Buckingham Palace, it was a beauty!

Buckingham Palace.

This concluded day 2 of our London adventures! We went to happy hour at our hotel and called it a night.  

Day 3 started with sleeping in and getting the All American breakfast, McDonald's.  I was looking forward to my biscuit and hash browns, which has been a staple during this pregnancy.  Since we have been in Germany, I have been unable to eat this.  I was so looking forward to it; however, they don't make biscuits in London!!! I did eat some hash browns and was one happy girl.  We started off taking the Subway to the Westminster Pier, which took us directly to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the House of Parliament.  Westminster Abbey is a sight to see.  Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside for tours but to got to see where Prince William and Kate were married.  It was incredible!!!

The Houses of Parliament and Elizabeth Tower (below) are commonly called Big Ben.  Technically, Big Ben is the name given to the massive bell inside the clock tower.

House of Parliament with Big Ben in the background

The Beautiful Abbey!!

After we finished touring the beautiful Big Ben and the Abbey, we went to see the Winston Churchill War rooms.  It was a museum that featured the life of Winston Churchill and his vital role as commander during World War II.  The museum was built around his actual work area and where he was housed during the times of war.  It was located underground in the event of any bomb or nuclear attacks.  Brad thoroughly enjoyed this museum.  The pictures below are different rooms that were underground that featured actual radio systems, maps, house goods, etc. that were used in World War II.

After viewing the War Rooms, we took the Subway to the Tower of London (below).  We stopped and had hot dogs in the park before going to the Tower of London.  I was so excited to have an American style hot dog but much to my surprise, it was no American Frank.  Hot dogs in London and Germany are bratwursts!!! Bummer! I still managed to eat the dog and had re-fueled for our next attraction.  Next it was on to the Tower of London, where the Crown Jewels are housed.  Unfortunately, they did not allow cameras in the viewing of the Crown Jewels, but I will never forget what they looked like.  I'm pretty sure I told Brad several times I wanted a tiara and crown like the ones Queen Elizabeth gets to wear.  Maybe for our 2nd anniversary! :) Or maybe in my next life. :)

The man guarding the prized possessions!

The views from the Tower of London are amazing.  The is the London Bridge above!!!

After we finished touring the Tower of London, we hoped on a boat and took a cruise down the Thames River.  It took about 30 minutes and took us back to Westminister Pier.  Below is a great photo of the London Eye.  We didn't ride it, but have heard it is one of the best views of the city.  Each capsule holds about 25 people and takes about an hour for 1 full completion.  If you really want, you can rent out a capsule and even get a butler to quench your thirst along the way!

This is another view of London from the River Cruise.

After we completed our tour, we took a Subway over to Kensington Palace and Kensington Gardens.  It is located at east end of Hyde Park.  After browsing through the Gardens, we began our one-hour walk through Hyde Park to get us back to our hotel.  The parks in London were amazing and Brad and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in this great city.  We already have a list of things we want to do if we get the opportunity to go back.  The following day was travel day and we headed home.  We had an amazing "babymoon" and look forward to more adventures with our little man when he arrives.

Brad, Sarah, and Baby Dvorak