Great Western Road Trip

Date of this trip: October 27th, 2012

We had just gotten our first snow since living in Aberdeen. Visiting castles and heading west to see the snowy countryside seemed like the best way to spend our weekend.

Drum Castle

All of these pictures were taken the same day. The weather was a bit moody.

All of the colors of fall were lovely!

Crathes Castle

Interesting landscaping in the Crathes Estate Garden

The Falls of Feugh in Banchory

"Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters." Psalm 29:2-3

We stopped for an afternoon dessert of sticky toffee pudding at this sweet little tearoom.  

Our table had a beautiful river view.

Under construction, Braemar Castle may not be as pretty as is usually is.

In the heart of the Cairngorms National Park

We loved the snowy mountain tops. 

We love seeing the different seasons and are enjoying the colder weather here. 

Bring on more snow!

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?