London

With September right around the corner, I've been reminiscing about our time in Great Britain. Considering these photos have been sitting on my desktop for, oh say, 10 months (!) it is high time I get them uploaded and published.

Our time in London was way too short. We had 3 quick nights and 2.5 days at the end of our trip.

 Our first morning in town, we popped up from the underground right in the middle of Trafalgar Square. Mom was blown away, and so were we.  There was so much to see and so little time that we were instantly overwhelmed. We opted for a bus tour and were so glad we did. 

They took as all around the city and Tyce got a great nap. We made mental notes of areas we wanted to go back to and explore on foot. 

Of course that list included Buckingham Palace! It was quite damp and drizzly.

Mrs. Buckingham in front of her palace!

Our bus tickets included a tour of the Changing of the Guard. We were amazed by the crowds but our guide had promised front row views and she delivered! We marched ran along side the soldiers. 

Jason manned Tyce, the stroller and our coffees while Mom and I just tried to keep up!

It was quite the workout pushing through crowds! We crashed in Hyde Park and enjoyed a bite to eat along side fairytale views of Westminster Abbey.

We crossed the Thames for a ride on the London Eye. 

After some Fish & Chips we hopped a boat down the Thames to the Tower of London. 

The sky was getting quite dark, it was all a little creepy and Tyce was borderline losing it so we opted to ride back upriver and spend more time exploring Parliament and Westminster. 

With a few hours to spare before dark we humored Mom and browsed through the National Gallery. We were all quite impressed. Some pretty awesome stuff for our rural minds to comprehend! London has definitely made the list of places I would revisit. Next time with at least a week to spend!

Edinburgh

Nobody knows exactly how it happened, but somehow we snagged an upgrade to the penthouse turret suite. Could it have been the 7 month old who screamed through the entire check-in process? Or the fact that we were also traveling with grandma?? Either way,  it   was    awesome. 

Our hotel was smack in the middle of the royal mile which put us equal walking distance from the Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace.  We spent all our time in Old Town and were amazed how quickly three days can go by! We enjoyed a fellowship meeting, the laundry mat and a couch our first day. 

On day two, mom and I were ready to do some exploring but Tyce let us know he was staying put. So we took turns running up and down the mile while the other sat watch over the sleeping baby. 

Eventually, we bundled him up for a trek down to Holyrood Palace. We didn't go in, but stared longingly through the palace gates.

On day three, the sun was shining and we had plans for a special coffee date. 

We also wandered through St. Gile's Cathedral

and of course, Edinburgh Castle...

Tyce was not nearly as impressed with the armory as we were. 

He was, however, mesmerized by our tour guide. Couldn't have been his strong Scottish brogue. 

Looking out over the Firth of Forth

On the morning of day four we boarded the train at Waverly Station. Headed for London Kings Cross. 

Grandma was ecstatic. Tyce was not.

It was a 6 hour ride with only a few minor delays. All in all, not too bad. We took way too many pictures in London so I might need a few months worth of nap times to sort and put those together. So don't hold your breath for an update :)