Before I begin, I have a few points to make. One, my nefarious camera did not capture every moment that I pressed the button for. This is quite upsetting to be sure. Second, London was nice, not what I expected and hoped for, but still a charming little city. That said, on with the analysis.

I can't really remember much about the outbound journey. I went to Starbucks for dinner. Not healthy, I suppose, but it was good. This pic is Katie and Jenn talking in the airport bar while I sip my cinnamon mocha. Following were trips to get a beverage or candy or ice cream and subsequent trips to the bathroom.

One long, sleepless, bad-movie-filled flight later, we arrived in London! I sang "Whiskey in the Jar" when we flew over Ireland. We left the plane, and made our way to the London shuttle by way of Brazil. Big airport. We stalled in Paddington Station for awhile, then made it onto the London Underground! By the time we got to the Bayswater station, I was ready to SLEEP. It was now 10 am local time. (Note: the Queensway station claims it has one hundred twenty three stairs. It actually has one hundred twenty SIX.)

This was an amusing little phrase they had. If the Underground workers became an army, Mind the Gap would be their battlecry.

Ah yes. This is what we see when you come around the corner from the Bayswater station toward our hotel. It was very nice. There was a lovely little Catholic church, and this, a serene Greek Orthodox church at the street where we turned.

Prince's Square-the street our hotel is on. Lauren (who couldn't come but wanted to) makes an appearance at the street sign.

We made it to the hotel! Unfortunately, we cannot check in until THREE. So we have many hours to do something but are really really tired. I was really bummed by this.

Here is an odd thing from our hotel lobby. Who would bother to sculpt such an obviously grossly out of proportion pegasus? Too big head. Too small wings. Too long legs. Etcetera. But its funny when you're tired.

We dropped off our luggage, and then traipsed across Kensington Gardens. It was nice. Even though the Orangery was never open so we could get scones, but still. The palace was beautiful. Then we hopped on a bus, and then took a driving tour of London, which I slept through the majority of. Did see St. Paul's and Buckingham and some other neat places.

These little things were everywhere. They're really cool, aren't they?

We finally got into the hotel! Took a much needed nap and then went to dinner at Wagamama. It was good! I had chicken ramen and made a mess. But that's ok.

The Tower of London! We tried to get in on one of our days there, but alas, it was really cold and there was a multi-hour long line for tickets. Still, we got close and took some pictures, one of which was eaten by my camera...

Hey! Slick! Can I work there? A bookshop in London with my name on it! I don't remember where we saw this, but I was pleased as pop.

King's Cross Station! I stopped by so I could look for Platform 9 3/4. I come to find out that such a platform is not even POSSIBLE. There is a track between them! How very disappointing. But maybe that's part of the magic.

Cool name for a train line. Saw this at King's Cross and started humming Chariots of Fire. You know why.

One of the highlights of the journey...a play! In London! So fun. So humorous. Eddie Izzard was phenomenal. Ciao!

Ah, now we're getting some GOOD London sightseeing! Lots of cool stuff in here. Rosetta Stone, cool mechanical clocks. Mummies. Good stuff! They had a HUGE cool library, too.

This is a very cool Royal Sword of the Black Prince of Wales. I have never been so tempted to steal anything in my life. But it would be VERY hard to sneak out of the museum because it was nearly six feet long, and no way could I have gotten it on a plane. Oh well.

Ah! Here we are en-route to the London Eye, a big old ferris wheel observation thing. I really like Dali's work, so had to get a picture by the droopy clock.

I couldn't believe the cool photography I was doing in the London Eye.

The sky didn't really look like that, it was something to do with the light, my camera, and the plastic bubble we were in. Still, very good effect!!

This was a fun little shopping area. I think every shopping center needs a string quartet. And store clerks who say "cheers".

Me and Jenn were meeting KT and Maya at Trafalgar Square and there were swarms of pigeons around that would fly up every time someone beeped their horn. They'd go in a circle, and then land in the same spot. Very entertaining.

Here's the group that met during the bird swarming, including Lauren on a Stick!

This has important literary signifigance only if you've read the Hitchhiker's series by Douglas Adams. Need I say more?

The Abbey was one of the few places that still had a decent feel of real British history. I saw the tombs of many of England's kings and queens and knights and such...including Richard the Lionheart. THAT was really cool. Also saw Lewis Carrol there, which was neat. He's one of my favorites.

This is what London is supposed to be about. How lovely is this little courtyard? I'm glad they kept the Abbey mostly how it should be--how it has been for centuries. Didn't appreciate the beverage stand in the middle of the hall, overtop of gravestones, but the rest was remarkable and really awesome.

Hyde Park was really breathtaking, even in the yuck of winter. I bet it is dynamite in the spring when all the flowers are out, but I still had a lovely constitutional through the park.

This is a marvelous little statue in Hyde Park that I searched out on our last day in London. It was just pretty darn cool.

If you look carefully, there's a fairy ring. This was right next to the Pan statue. Coincidence? I think not!

The long trip home. Quite an experience this journey! This is a picture of Ireland out of the plane window next to me. I waved, but I don't think anyone saw. I can't imagine why. I'll add more pictures as I get them from KT or Jenn. Thanks for reading!