First FULL day in London...

Slept like logs! Only problem is, just like in the Ukraine, it gets light at 4! FOUR O'CLOCK PEOPLE!! So every day when we were gone...our days started early. Not because you have to get up at 4, but once it is light, it is harder for these two to sleep. So, we would normally but getting ready for our day by 6! :) Not a lot is open at 6 but gave us time to make some coffee, get ready and look over our notes for the "plan of the day"! Larry had studied London SO much on Google Earth so he usually wanted to look on the computer again to get himself "ready" for the day! :)

We intentionally planned for today to be low-key. We had this feeling we were going to come back to London exhausted and we weren't disappointed! :) We were bone tired so the plan today was to take things at a slow pace. It was a nice plan but we still walked MILES today and packed in a lot. However, the day started off at perfect breakfast spot...

 The Orangery...right beside Kensington Palace!

Andrew told us to go and because we like to obey, we decided to take his suggestion. :)

He was so right! It is quiet, quant and perfect. We sat outside even though inside look adorable.

You can see, Kensington Palace behind us in the second picture...we are sitting in the Kensington Gardens...pinch me...are we really here??

Okay, so there WAS a really beautiful scone on this little wooden board with some delicious jam. Was. Was good!

We both had hot tea...we are in London and it just seemed like the thing to do...and we both loved it! 

They have really good tea...and cream...and sugar cubes! 

We walked all around the Kensington Gardens. OH MY GOODNESS! Everything is perfectly manicured and really beautiful. It was peaceful and relaxing. Here are a few of MANY pictures. 

Next stop: Harrods! We were equally excited. I was excited to see the store and Larry was so pumped to visit the Food Floor. Let me just say, the Food Floor was so amazing and beautiful that we spent most of our time there. The thing I loved most, was the fact that is was decorated OVER THE TOP for the 60th Queen Jubilee. The city was coming alive for the big celebration and Harrods was leading the way! We did pick up one thing for the grands but other than that, we just walked around with our mouths dropped open...it is as amazing as we always heard! Worth seeing!!!

 The store windows were so adorable!!!!

Next we stopped at a pub and shared a plate of fish and chips and a meat pie. I wasn't a big fan of the meat pie but Larry liked it. The fish and chips...fries...were good but nothing extra special. 

This was the cute little place across from the Pub. I might just repaint my old bike in the backyard black...so adorable!!! Course all the beautiful plants kind of helped its cuteness!

Okay, let me just say that I LOVE THE TAXI's in London!!

Next we were headed to the Westminster Area, so we came of the tube and this is the

FIRST thing we saw! 

Really! Really?!?!?

Well Hello Big Ben!!!

 Yep, I love the phone booths too. I understood pretty quickly why people

LOVE London...it is so amazing!

We had been told they Evening Song was a great way to see the Abbey for free AND you got to attend a service, which is really how we wanted to see it anyway! We HIGHLY recommend going.

It was so sweet to hear the little boys choir sing and see this amazing church. The building is hard to describe. AMAZING! I took a lot of pictures of the outside but no pictures were allowed inside. The choir was a group of 18 young boys but it sounded like 100 kids singing...the acoustics were breathtaking. I am in love with this building! That is obvious by the amount of pictures I have on my computer...I will spare sharing them all with you! Here are some of my favorites!

I love this picture. After we left the service, we came around to the side and their were the little boys...being boys...playing ball on the lawn of WESTMINSTER ABBEY!!!!! Look at the size of those trees!

We then walked around Parliament and Big Ben. It's hard to describe, because until we saw the buildings, we realized we have NOTHING to compare to the architecture in this place. When you look at these buildings and realize how old they are,  you think about how in the world did they do it?  How did they build these simply amazing structures. Again, only a few of my favs!

This is the Parliament Building right against the Thames River. Beautiful!

 So, though we planned to take it easy today...we walked...and walked...

and walked! We did take one of London's Double Decker Bus and yes, we got on the top so we could take in more of this lovely city. We made our way back to the B&B, stopped by the local M&S's and picked up some yummy bread, cheeses, fruit, meat and headed to the rooftop patio to eat before heading to bed. When you get up early and you are eating dinner at 9 PM...it makes for a very long day and two very tired travelers!!! Tired but feeling extremely blessed to have this time!