London: Day 3

... Day 3 of London ...

Blake and I set off on our second full day in London.

It was gorgeous outside, with blue skies and soft clouds.

 For breakfast we ate out on the outside patio of a small cafe, enjoying large frothy cups of hot chocolate and extra butter on our toast.

At this point, my feet were already starting to ache, but we continued our ventures... 

... Only at a slower pace than the day before.

Can you guess what our first site was?

[Please excuse Blake's nose in the first picture; 

he thought it was humorous to jump in front of the camera while I was taking the picture.]

Westminster Abbey was amazingly gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

 

As we wandered in between Westminster Abbey, Parliament, and Big Ben, I was baffled by the history, architecture, and grace of the massive structures.

There are hardly the words to describe the majesty as we held our breath at the glory of it all.

  

After soaking in the previous sites, Blake and I wandered down several streets passing pubs and the Prime Minster's residence on Downing Street.

[Let me warn you ahead of time: 

I may have had a slight obsession with knockers and knobs throughout our trip.]  

We eventually wandered into Trafalgar Square.

As the National Gallery is located in Trafalgar Square, we wandered through the displays, gazing upon artists that we had only heard of/studied in history classes:

Van Eyck

Michelangelo

Da Vinci

Raphael

Rembrandt

Monet

Van Gogh

The art was exquisite.

Something I could have only imagined in my wildest of dreams.

With tired feet, we stopped at The National Dining Room to grab afternoon tea...

... Or if you are like me, a glass of chilled white wine and then afternoon tea.

Sitting above the street, we spent several hours resting and watching the world float around us below. 

After such a break, I was ready to tackle perhaps the most difficult task of our entire trip:

Finding a souvenir in London.

(I mean, seriously, where are all of the nice souvenir shops that sell things other than miniature Big Ben's and t-shirts proclaiming "I Love London"?)

Five miles and several hours later, we returned to Trafalgar Square with a teapot for me and some tea for Blake's mom.

Success! 

(Even though we did get lost too many times to count.)

As the evening was starting to set, we entered into St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church.

[Stunning, no?]

In the evenings St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church hosts classical music concerts that are enjoyed in the sanctuary by candlelight. 

On that evening, we were entertained by Bach's Mass in B Minor.

It was amazing;

it was surreal;

it was romantic;

it was kinda warm;

it was dimly lit;

it was making us fall asleep.

Now, don't get me wrong, I loved the music, and the church was simply stunning inside and out, but after walking/exploring all day long...

... how did we ever think we would last in those comfy, cozy conditions?

During intermission, we snuck out of the church and strolled back down the streets of London to our hotel.

Our evening was capped off with room service and sleeping, once again, with the curtains pulled back.

What a perfect final day in London.

To Be Continued...