Weekend Sightseeing: Part 1

We headed closer to central London this weekend to check out some of the city highlights that we had yet to see.  Our first stop was at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.  What beautiful buildings!  Unbeknownst to me, it appeared as if you could actually take a tour of the Houses of Parliament.  We'll put that on our list of things to do before we leave.  Just across the street was Westminster Abbey, where the nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton will be taking place in just over a month.  We ended up not taking a tour because it cost $26 per person.  We'll plan to do that when we have visitors but definitely before the wedding.  From there, we checked out the home of the Prime Minister from behind the guarded gates.   Then, we made our way to Trafalgar Square, where many protests are held as well as the annual New Year's Eve countdown.  In the square is the The National Gallery, which houses many works of art from the likes of Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Renoir, just to name a few.  We then continued our journey to an awesome area of London called Covent Garden.  It was a very happening and crowded place.   We will definitely have to take visitors there.  After much walking and sightseeing, we were pooped, so we called it a day!  Enjoy the pics!

Big Ben
Did you know that Big Ben is actually the name of the bell inside the tower, not the tower itself?

A portion of the Houses of Parliament

Houses of Parliament

The circle that Chris went around many times on the night that he got lost returning our rental car.

Dum dum da dum!!!

The north entrance to the Abbey.  So beautiful!  I think I probably would have chosen this place as well.  Good pick Kate!

Tea towels anyone?  I honestly want a tea towel for the wedding but I really didn't want one with their faces on it.  More searching to be done.

The London Eye peaking out from behind a building.  I've got to get brave enough to ride it.

Security at No. 10 Downing Street where the Prime Minister lives.  Winston Churchill also lived here.

The home of the Prime Minister is apparently one of the two buildings in the back on the right.

"I am seriously getting tired of this stroller."

Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery

Reed loves lions, so we tried our best to get him to sit with this one.  He wasn't having any of it.  He stayed there for a half-second, maybe.

Neal's Yard, a cute little nook in the midst of several buildings with restaurants.  We'll have to go back there to eat sometime.

I have been missing Willy's terribly.  Thankfully, a coworker of Chris's recommended Wahaca for good Mexican food.  I am glad we took her up on her recommendation.  The food was awesome, unfortunately, it was a little more expensive than Willy's, so we won't be able to go quite as much.  We did pass a Chipotle that same day though.  That could work.