London

Yesterday we went down to London for the day and played tourist. It was quite cold, but really sunny so it was a great day for sightseeing. We drove in to an end of the underground and parked there and then took the tube into the city center. Our first stop was the National Gallery and fountain at Trafalgar square.

Ryan by the Lions in Trafalgar Square - National Gallery in background

Then we walked down the Palace mall to see Buckingham Palace. In the winter they do the changing of the guards every other day instead of every day, and of course yesterday was not the day for it. But that didn't stop us and the other hundreds of people from going to see the palace.

Buckingham Palace

After the palace we had a picnic lunch at St. John's park next to the palace and then spent the next couple of hours in the Churchill museum and war rooms. This is the underground headquarters where WWII was run in Britain. It has been pretty much left as it was at the end of the war and then turned into a museum so it is a really cool piece of history to see.
Next we walked by Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the House of Parliament.

Big Ben and the Parliament Building

Kelly in front of Westminster Abbey

Next walked across the London Bridge and then went to see the Tower of London.

Tower of London

Us in front of Tower Bridge

We had planned to make a quick stop at St. Paul's cathedral and then go see the British Museum. However, when we got to St. Paul's, they were just closing down sightseeing to start the Evensong service. We happened to get there just in time to be ushered into the choir stalls for the service. So we stayed for the service, sitting right next to the choir in the most enormous and lavishly decorated church either of us had ever been. It was a really amazing experience.

The moon over St. Paul's cathedral dome

When we left it was too late to make it to the British museum so we headed back to the city center. We walked around Covent Garden market, had a bite of pizza from a street vendor, and went to see Picadilly Circus. We also found the London chinatown. It was decorated for the New Year celebration. It made us a little homesick for San Francisco!

London Chinatown

Then we headed back home. Today we got new sofas for our sitting room, which means until we sell the others (Kelly wasn't crazy about the color of the first ones we got) we have 3 sofas and 2 armchairs in our little sitting room. Other than that, we are settling in quite nicely. We love the house we are in now. And we have found a great church to go to in Cambridge so we are excited about that. We are hoping to attend their 20's to 30's group this Wednesday night.