July 20-23: London

London was the final stop of our journey. Even though we were becoming a bit travel weary, there was still plenty to see an do. Jamie had studied for a summer in London, as was eager to show Scott the sights.

Our first day we stopped by the British Museum, which travel writer Rick Steves calls "Encyclopedia Britannica National Park". It features a huge collection spanning the formerly vast British Empire.

Our next stop was St. Paul's cathedral, which is almost as big as St. Peter's in Rome. (St. Peter's even has a mark on the floor showing it is bigger!)

Scott climbed the 530 stairs to the top of the dome, offering a great view of the River Thames:

We also stayed around to enjoy St. Paul's Evensong service -- it was incredible to hear the organ and choir sounds fill that big space!

On our second day, we visited the Tower of London, the former residence of English monarchs. Below we are posing with our comical tour guide, known as a "Beef Eater". These guys are the only ones who now make their residence at the Tower.

On our tour we ran into the parents of our friend Jamie Yates. It's always strange who you meet half way around the world!

Here is Jamie in front of the Tower Bridge:

From the Tower, we traveled up the River Thames to the Parliament, the site of Big Ben:

Things got a bit crazy around Big Ben after the attempted second subway bombing. Police cordoned off the area, so we moved on. We stopped by Buckingham Palace, where it appeared the Queen had just completed some royal function: there were many well dressed people (lots of women in fancy hats) departing.

We also stopped by Herod's department store, and enjoyed some great Indian food for dinner. For the final full day of our trip, we enjoyed some leisurely shopping, and strolled through Hyde Park near our hotel, which includes the new Princess Diana memorial fountain:

On Saturday, we were on a plane back to Seattle. Most definitely, this was a trip we will remember fondly for the rest of our lives!