... LONDON ...

What to say about London?!? Amazing city with amazing energy. Let me just start to show you pictures.

Here we are at Piccadilly Circus, one of the main city centers with tons of lights, people, theaters, and more. It kind of reminds me of a mini-Times Square.

To the left:                                                                                                                               To the right:
Big Ben, The London Eye, and Parliament Building                                    Russ and I at Buckingham Palace

On Sunday we went to church at the Hyde Park building. I'm still amazed how I can show up to a foreign city and attend the same church I am a member of in San Antonio. It was such a great experience!

After church all of us grabbed some sandwiches and headed to Hyde Park to enjoy the scenery and warm weather. We also saw some museums -- the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural Science Museum.

We were traveling with 3 other couples (Brittney/Stuart, Caitlin/Robbie, and some friends named Rusty/Chelsea).

We had a lot of fun together. That's all.

How much do I love orange poppies? So much. The gardens within Hyde Park were gorgeous.

This is the Natural History Museum. Even the building is a sight to behold.

Here is the group overlooking Trafalgar Square!! From left, Caitlin, Stuart, Robbie, Brittney, Rusty, Chelsea

The group again from left to right... us, B & Stu, Caitlin & Robbie, Chelsea & Rusty

Russell loves Trafalgar Square. It is one of the funnest places to just hang out at and people watch. We also completely lucked out with the weather... in London of all places!

R & C ... Elephant style. London has these painted elephants all over the city as a way to bring awareness to and raise funds for endangered elephants in Africa. Pretty cool.

Here is the Tower Bridge, definitely one of the most impressive bridges in London.

One of my favorite things about London is being on the Thames River at night. Love, love love.

While we were in London there was a protest camp right outside the Parliament buildings and Big Ben. Apparently these political crazies had been camping out there for 9 months to voice concerns concerning the war, gay/lesbian rights, the Siege of Gaza, and more. Free Speech! Except while we were there someone was arrested at this camp for speaking too freely.

St. Paul's Cathedral is an incredible building. You can see it in the back in the picture to the left, and the picture on the right is taken from the front of the Cathedral. We took a gander by this building after visiting the Tate Modern Museum.

Alright guys, this is serious. We went to Kings Cross Station to see the ever-popular Platform 9 3/4. While we were there, Caitlin was talking to an employee of the station, who let it slip that the next Harry Potter movie was being filmed on the next platform over RIGHT NOW!!! What did we do? We ran over to that platform pronto, and made a fool of ourselves as we bordered on becoming paparazzi's. We didn't see any of the actors (unfortunately), but we did get a picture of the film that was just filmed!! Even the man carrying the film had 3 bodyguards as he walked out of the station.

This so made my day in London complete.

Abbey Road. And for those fellow Beatles fans out there, please note Brittney is even barefoot.

 The Tower of London. Russell loooooooooooved this castle. He went twice. 

I just had to put these pictures on here. This was on our way to the British Museum, where we saw the Rosetta Stone and more Egyptian and Greek treasures.

St. James Park, which is right next to Buckingham Palace.

Our last night of the trip was in London, and to celebrate we saw Les Miserables, one of my very favorite musicals for lots of nostalgic reasons. It was Russell's first time, and he loved it. Perfect end to the perfect trip.

I apologize for the mass amounts of pictures! After London we headed to Paris for a short time. Stay tuned!