Europe 2023 - London

There is a funny story about London that I have to share. 12 years ago when I met Jim, I was planning a trip to London. When I told him about it, he told me I should wait until he could take me. We were in that new, exciting stage of our relationship so I stopped the planning process to see where this relationship was going. Well 12 years later, I finally made it to London. It was my decision to wait, but I love to tease him about it and tell him I can't believe it took him 12 years. Of course we have been all over the world at this point. Just not London.

Jim has been to London several times so he was kind enough to play tour guide for me and show me all the wonderful things London has to offer.

The very first place he took me was to see the Tower Bridge. Most people think this is the London Bridge because of it's beauty. It is not. Below are some pictures of the Tower Bridge. Pretty stunning don't you think?

Now here is a photo of the London Bridge.Quite a difference.

Another funny story. I am afraid of heights and have never been comfortable crossing bridges. There was a time we were in Slovakia and we had to walk across a bridge to get to a restaurant we wanted to try. As we were walking across Jim pointed out the holes in the pavement. I made the mistake of looking down AND SEEING ALL THE WAY TO THE RIVER. This petrified me. However, in London I crossed several bridges with no problem at all. I guess I am getting used to them. The only time it bothered me was if I was stopped to take a photo and a bus went by. The bounciness made me a little nervous!

The city itself is just gorgeous. When we first arrived, it seemed to be another city like Chicago or New York. Once Jim started showing me around, I realized a big difference. The history, the age of the city, the people, the traditions..... the list goes on.

We got around town by either walking or taking The Tube (the subway). I learned a couple terms while I was there. While you are walking and stopped at a crosswalk, there will be painted words on the pavement that tell you to "Look Right or "Look Left" before you cross. In the US, we are used to looking the opposite direction when we cross a street so this was actually quitel helpful. And a little funny.

Another term I learned was to "Mind the Gap". On the subway, when you get off the train, there is a gap between the train and the platform. They say it at every stop and it there are signs everywhere reminding you to "Mind the Gap". I smiled every time I heard it or when I saw it.

Speaking of train stations, we were at the King's Cross train station and were lucky enough to see Platform 9 - 3/4 . Now, for anyone who is not a Harry Potter fan, this is the platform where Harry boarded the train to Hogwarts. Even though Jim had no idea what I was talking about, he made sure we found it so I could see it!

We also found the statue in Leicester Square of Paddington Bear. Paddington is a fictional character that I absolutely adore. The story is he was from Peru but was found in London and adopted by the Brown family. When Jim, Jaimey and I were in Peru we saw the statue of him there so it was so great to see him in London also!

We saw so many famous sights. Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey, the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace (way cool!), Hyde Park, Big Ben, The Tower of London, and the Crown Jewels (we weren't allowed to photograph these) Victoria Palace where Hamilton was playing. The views, the history, the people, their accents... all was just amazing as you will see by the photos below.

Couple more stories before I close. The London Eye is an enormous ferris wheel type thing. Again, me afraid of heights but trying to be more adventurous wanted to do it. Jim definitely wanted to do it. So we did. I only got a little wobbly once but wow, was it worth it! The views were amazing!

My final story, and I hope you enjoy. As we crossed at a crosswalk we saw an unusual sign telling us we go walk. Neither of us had any idea what it was so we looked it up and found this explanation:

"The traditional green man sign was replaced iwht LGBTQ symbols at 50 pedestrian crossings around the Trafalgar Square area in June, as a nod to those taking part in London Pride. The signs are still in place three months later and include two men and two women holding hands as well as a transgender symbol. " Below is the sign we saw but apparently there are others that celebrate the LGBTQ family. All I can say is GO LONDON!!

I love this city and so glad I finally made it. Thanks, Minie!

Love to all!