London Day 3

Today was our free day in London. Some of us took advantage of the Sunday free day to attend a service at Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey offers tours but our schedule didnt allow for one so this was the only other way to see the stunning architecture of the building's interior. This building began construction during the 1200's and was completed during the 1500's. How they were able to build this masterpiece is beyond our imaginations. Everything used in construction was either created by carving if stacking smaller carved or constructed materials, mostly stone. Cameras are not allowed in the Abbey but we may or may not have some for our friends and families back home.  ;-)

Another morning activity consisted of an up close picture opportunity with the Parliament Building and Big Ben. Fun fact, Big Ben is not the clock tower or the clock face itself but its actually the bell within the tower. The Parliament and Big Ben is another example of beautiful architecture in London. It's located directly on the River Thames which adds to the beautiful scene at Big Ben.

Using our Tube pass we did some exploring and Tube line hopping to get around the city making our way back to the Covent Garden area near the theater where our 2:30 show was playing. Most of us had lunch again in Covent Garden before the show. FYI - when you see "Scampi" on an English menu it doesn't mean shrimp scampi as what you're familiar with in America. It's fried fishy nuggets. Unidentified fried seafood nuggets may be more accurate. Oh and one more thing. Lindsay and myself encountered a certain famous actor, see if you can pick him out in the pictures.

After lunch the entire group was treated to a great showing of Disney's Lion King at the Lyceum Theater in the West End. The show had amazing animal costumes that converted the actors into on stage puppets. After the first act or so you began to only see the animals and not the actors behind them really bringing the show to life.

We exited the theater to find our first taste of the London rain. The weather has been dry and warm compares to the average but this evening brought typical weather back to London. We had to split into two groups to make it back to the subway and get back to our hotel. We were not prepared for rain so we were all soaked. After getting back to the hotel everyone changed and met in the lobby for dinner.

Before coming to London we had several people tell us we must try the Indian food in London, apparently London is known for Indian food. At the recommendation of our hotel concierge we made reservations at Shaman, an authentic Indian restaurant. The food was great and it was a fun experience.

After dinner the rain still had not let up, actually it was raining harder only this time everyone was prepared. We zipped up our raincoats and opened up the umbrellas for the walk back to the hotel.