London: Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben, Tower of London

We had a great day yesterday and now we have a lot to do today. It's also Jake's birthday today, as well as my sister, Crystal. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! We started out visiting Westminster Abbey, but before we went inside, we took some pictures of the Parliament Building and Big Ben since we can't go inside those. Here's Westminster Abbey first though. We weren't aloud to take pictures inside, but holy cow!!! It was amazing inside. There were so many stinkin' tombs inside that I wouldn't even know where to start counting. The sculpture work and stained glass and gold work and just everything was beautifully done. There were some famous tombs and people that were buried there that I remember: Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Isaac Newton, Edward the Confessor, Mary Queen of Scots, Edward Longshanks, just to name a few. There were so many! We saw the Coronation Chair where kings and queens are crowned. I wish I could have taken pictures of it.

Outside of Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The other side of Westminster Abbey

Big Ben or The Clock Tower as it's really called

Up close and personal view of Big Ben

Evening pic of Big Ben and some of the Parliament

Here's the whole Parliament and Big Ben at the end, I think it's more beautiful then Buckingham Palace. It had so many points and spires on it that gave it its elegance.

St. Margaret's Church, next to Westminster Abbey

We then made our way over to the Tower Bridge. This bridge was beautiful as well. So big too!!! We didn't get to walk on it or take a tour because we wanted to spend most of our time at the Tower of London.

Front view of Tower Bridge and back view of Jake's head

Side view of the whole bridge

One of the views of the Tower of London, our first castle that we get to visit inside and see the crown jewels. As you might guess, we weren't able to take pictures of the crown jewels, darn it. We bought a book here so that we could remember the jewels and other things about this castle. So fun! We had a hand held tours. It gave us a ton of info. We weren't able to see everything here either. We came close but did the more interesting things first. I really enjoyed my time here.

This is Traitor's Gate

These soldiers came walking down the street, so of course, I had to get some close-ups.

Jake and I standing next to some Yeomen. They were fun to talk to. I asked them if they have ever had someone try to steal the crown jewels and I got a long answer/story about someone a long time ago. The crown jewels, orbs, and dishes were just amazing. I feel so poor compared to all this glamour. I love the English accent so much! I love mimicing that accent when I read to my 2nd graders too!!! So fun.

There are I think 6 Ravens that live at the Tower. The legend is that as long as they stay there everything is good, but if they ever disappear or leave then the castle or something like that will be destroyed or come to an end. Bummer!!