July 6

Yesterday we went to Winchester Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral which houses one of four copies of Magna Carta signed in 1215 by King John. It's the first written document to limit the power of the king. We then went to Stonehenge. Don't laugh but we drove by Woodhenge ! I don't think there's a straw henge. We had dinner in Piccadilly and walked around the city at night and people watched.

July 6

Today we toured the Houses of Parliament - no photos - and learned about the House of Lords and the House of Commons. It was fascinating. The great hall is used for trials and is where William Wallace was convicted in 1306 I think. We then walked the river to Borough market, went to Soho to a Beatles store and a rock n roll store - I bought a Who tshirt. We had to pack a bit - we are leaving early tomorrow for Paris.

July 4

Today we were going to recover a bit as our only plans were to go see Spamalot at 8pm. We relaxed through breakfast and went to St Paul's Cathedral where we were awestruck and silenced by its stunning grandeur. Then we decided to clinb the 500+ steps to the whispering gallery and then to the top of the dome for a panoramic view of the city. Once on your way up there was no turning back, but it was well worth it. We then crossed the millenium bridge and walked along the Thames to the London Eye for another amazing view of the city - we were well above Big Ben and I did not like when it stopped at the top! From there we took the tube to the British museum where in less than 45 minutes, we saw the Rosetta Stone ( discovered by Napoleon's soldiers ), a samurai suit of armor, an Easter island sculpture, and a medieval chess set. Spamalot was cheesy and hilarious and we even got to sing the Star Spangled Banner during the show !

July 4

July 3

No rest for the Risells (and Brett) ! Today we toured Leeds castle, Dover, Cantebury me Greenwich. We crossed the prime meridian. We ended the afternoon with a boat cruise up the Thames.

July 2nd

Today we saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and Kensington palace where William and Kate will live. We did quite an in depth tour of Westminster Abbey but no photos are allowed indoors. So much history ! Remembering Diana's wedding as well as Kate's and walking where they walked was pretty cool. We saw the tombs of so many famous people including Edward the confessor, sir Isaac Newton, Geoffrey Chaucer, Elizabeth 1, and Charles Dickens. The beauty of the abbey could bring tears to your eyes. We also toured the Tower of London originally built by William the Conqueror and saw the Crown Jewels, again, no photos. We will make it an early night tonight!

The flight went well - this is the view from our hotel room !