London

I know that one day I will finish blogging about my trip to Europe.  Until then, I get to relive the trip every few weeks! :)

London (part 2) was an amazing part of our trip.  We both really fell in love with the area and would definitely go back. 

When we first got in from Paris, we checked into our awesome hotel and then walked downtown for about an hour (we love walking) to see our friends- Ryan and Gabby!  They both lived in DC with me when we were all doing internships.  It was great seeing them again!

Afterwards, we had a few hours before going to watch the fireworks (we were here on New Year's Eve).  So we got hot chocolates and walked around the city.  It was amazing.

They had a "Winter Wonderland" set up in Hyde Park that was AWESOME to walk through.  It's like a giant fair with a Christmas theme.  Lots of people were out and the environment was the best.  We kept talking about how fun it would be if our kids were there with us.

After spending an hour or so at the fair, we walked and took the obligatory picture in front of Buckingham Palace.

And near Big Ben...

And other than seeing the fireworks by the river, that is all the sightseeing we did.
Would you believe that I didn't get a single picture of us and the fireworks?
I did get a video though and maybe if I can figure it out, I will post it later.
It was way cool.
The fireworks were AMAZING.  However, I will say I felt a little old for the crowd that we were near.  Most people were drunk, smoking pot, swearing, getting into fights, and/or blasting music- I honestly would prefer playing Scrabble and eating Rotel dip with my parents. :)  But it was still a once in a lifetime experience and I'm glad we got to check it off the list.

Here is a cute, random picture that I took from our hotel lobby.

Our favorite part of the London trip was spending time with our friends, the Mateers, who live a little bit outside of London in Chelmsford.  You can see my friend, Liane in the background of this picture walking towards us. ( ha ha, love you Liane :) )  That's the only pic we got.  Liane and I worked together at BYU International Services.  Good times.  We ate at "The Carvery" for a traditional English roast and potatoes.  YUM!

Here's Jared and Steve.  They became quick friends over a late night game of RISK, which they teamed up for against a bunch of Steve's family and friends. And dominated.

We are smiling, but we are really sad to leave Chelmsford. Wish Liane and Steve lived close to us!

But we had to get back to London to see LES MIS!!!

And I loved every second of it!

Up Next:  Espana!!!