Day 3: London Sightseeing I

It was time to get out and see the sights.  We decided to take the Big Bus Tour- it was great, but I strongly suggest buying your tickets online.  We would’ve saved a LOT of money doing that.  The bus stop was right down the road and we were off.  We rode around the city, taking in the sights and letting Abby take the majority of pictures!  We hopped off at Oxford Street, walked down Regent Street to Hamley’s and strolled around the toy store.  Of course, I got a picture of the Regent Street Apple Store, but didn’t go in!  We walked down to Piccadilly Circus and down Haymarket, where we grabbed (yet another) lunch at Pret a Manger.  We re-boarded the bus and made our way through the city to the Tower of London.

At the Tower, we were able to get some really nice family pictures with the Tower Bridge and Olympic Rings in the background.  Abby went up to a Beefeater and asked if she could get his picture.  He more than obliged, no?

Lastly, we got some really funny shots with ourselves and Mr. Flat Explorer!  (For those non-LaSallians,  Flat Explorer is the mini-representation of the mascot of our alma mater, La Salle University. It’s La Salle’s 150th Anniversary and Alums are taking pictures with Flat Explorer.)

We finished our tour with probably the worst hot dog ever made and headed over to take a river cruise (which came as part of the bus tour ticket) back towards Central London.  Given her newfound love of Harry Potter, Abby was quite excited when the guide pointed out the City of London school (Daniel Radcliffe went there).  The cruise ended at Westminster, we took the tube to Green Park.  Strolling through the park, we got to show Abby Westminster Palace, where she got a video of the guard ‘patrolling’.  Walking to Hyde Park Corner, we saw the ‘Boris Bikes’ and rented them for a ride through the park.  In a rare moment of ‘oops’, I got disoriented with all the Olympic road closures and proceeded to get us hopelessly lost.  Staci sure hasn’t let me forget it, either.  I ended up having to cook dinner as a sign of peace!