Monday, January 28, 2013

Love London

Date of this trip: October 5-7, 2012

Because this was our first time to visit London, we took a double-decker bus tour and absolutely loved it. As a matter of fact, we absolutely loved everything about London! If you haven't been, you need to go. Immediately.


The Houses of Parliament

The London Eye

A view across River Thames (pronounced "Temz")

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

The Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian-only footbridge that crosses River Thames.

The Tower of London (although, it's not exactly what I could call a tower)

The Tower Bridge
The Tower Bridge is not the London Bridge, but the Tower Bridge is much more spectacular than the London Bridge.

James ate a proper English dinner of steak and ale pie.


The Westminster Abbey is breathtaking!


Part of the Houses of Parliament

More Tower Bridge

City Hall, as well as many of these other locations, were used in the filming of Harry Potter.

The Shard used to be the tallest building in Europe until Moscow built the Mercury City Tower.

Our super cute double-decker bus


Our tour guide was really serious about getting us a good spot to watch the changing of the guard. He chose a "secret" spot away from the crowd where we would watch the very beginning of the guard change. However, it turned out they changed the route and were not coming anywhere near where we were waiting. (This is why we were the only ones waiting in that location. Haha.) Our guide figured this out, and we all had to run quite a ways to watch the show.

We made it!
Playing a traditional military march
Love the hats
Buckingham palace

Check out that crowd! It was packed!



The regiments certainly make a ceremony out of Changing the Guard! 

After watching the spectacle at Buckingham Palace, we took a walk through Hyde Park.

This incredible tree reminded us a little of the Century Tree and Texas A&M. Whoop!

The ducks in The Serpentine really liked nectarines!

The British Museum is the best museum that I have ever been to. We highly recommend it! (Plus, it's free!)
Inside the museum
The Lewis Chessmen
The Lewis Chessmen are some of the complete, remaining medieval chess sets. They were discovered on the Isle of Lewis of Scotland in 1831.

Hello, Easter Island statue. His proper name is Hoa Hakananai'a. He is from A.D. 1000.

Although this is probably one of the worst pictures I have ever taken, it is THE Rosetta Stone. Whoa. (Apparently, Egypt wants the Rosetta Stone back! Check this out: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/07/20/1058639658937.html
Leaving the British Museum

Have I convinced you to visit London?

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Stirling Castle to Glasgow

Date of this trip: September 29, 2012

On our next Scottish exploration adventure, we made a trip to visit Sterling castle and Glasgow.
Our first stop was in Stirling. 
We decided to become members of Historic Scotland. This enables us to visit most of the bigger castles throughout Scotland. If you are a castle-lover, I recommend this pass more than the National Trust. (The Historic Scotland sites are a bit further away from Aberdeenshire though.)
Many people claim that Stirling Castle is the most impressive castle in Scotland.
Several Scottish Kings and Queens have been crowned at Stirling Castle.


Stirling was the last remaining castle in Scottish hands during the first War of Scottish Independence. Robert the Bruce was one of the King of Scots.


The significant Scottish victory of the Battle of Bannockburn took place here.

Inside the castle palace

Castle grounds

Cannon at the French Spur, part of the outer defenses 

After visiting Stirling, we drove southwest toward Glasgow.


We made a little pit-stop to see Bothwell Castle.
It was a tad bit out of the way, but we really enjoy visiting any castle we find.


Welcome to Glasgow!
The University of Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland.


We didn't know of many things to do in Glasgow. Visiting the university was the only interesting thing we did in town.



After visiting Glasgow, we stumbled upon Glamis Castle on our way back home to Aberdeen.

A beautiful end to our day