The main attractions of London...

Fully rested and a cup of genuine instant coffee with a bagel, we began our morning catching the 'tube' to the main attractions of central London. We got off the circle line and exited at the Westminster stop...took the steps up to ground level and what do we see right in front of us?  Big Ben! Photo op for sure |(with have to post later).

Next stop Westminster Abbey, and yes another photo op, but our lens was not wide enough to get the whole church. We paid admission to go inside a church, seems odd, huh? No photos allowed, but the memories of a beautiful church will always be remembered. Even walked in just to catch a prayer vigil.

After our tour of the Abbey, we walked around the Parliament building for other angles of Big Ben and the beauty of the building. Across the street and on the other side of the Thames River was the London Eye (the big ferris wheel), but we only took photos. Not sure 30£ each was worth it!

We then ventured to the Buckingham Place and they were in the process of preparing for the upcoming Diamond Jubilee, the Queen's 60th year on the throne. The queen appeared to be in as the flag was flying. As we were leaving, a motorcade was exiting the Palace and Princess Ann was on her way to somewhere. (a bit of English news...Princess Ann is the only royal family member to have carried the Olympic torch thus far.)

Our stroll along the St. James park to Trafalgar Square was delightful. Imagine a tree lined street with ponds, beautiful flowers and seas of green grass.  We enjoyed people watching, the Londoners during the lunch break.
Once we arrived at the square we saw the Olympic count down clock and inside the National Gallery we saw Van Gogh's Chair and Sunflowers famous paintings. Quick lunch break and then off to Cecil's Court aka Diagon Alley....the shopping hot spot for Harry Potter. (I picked up a things for a magic potion later...lol).

We still had a couple of hours before we had to meet up with our kids, so we thought we'd take in one more attraction. Looking at our trusty map we thought we'd take in Covent Garden. Now what are your thinking when you read Garden? Right, botanical. Wrong! This place is a giant marketplace, and it was a great find. We thoroughly enjoyed the local merchants and especially the people watching.

With our skilled tube riding down to a science, we made it back to the Islington area where Jake and Shayne live. Actually, we beat them home. Now we've freshened up and are heading out to enjoy some Indian cuisine in the Bricklane, not Bricktown |(the curry capital of London), one day of English food is enough!

Off to Vienna in the morning.

PS. We'll try to post some of the attractions we saw yesterday later this evening.