LONDON!
Mark and I spent a three day weekend in London last weekend! Mark's friends John and Jen who live in California were there on vacation. It was a lot of fun to catch up friends that we haven't seen in quite a while!
We flew into London Heathrow late Thursday night and met John and Jen in the bar of our hotel,
The Chesterfield Mayfair. We enjoyed some cocktails while catching up before going to bed. On Friday, we headed out on the town to do a lot of sight-seeing! We walked from our hotel past Bu-
ckingham Palace and then through St. James Park. When we exited the park, we came across
Winston Churchill's War Cabinet museum, which we decided to tour. It is a museum that has preserved the underground rooms that Winston Churchill and his cabinet used to run the war during WWII. It is a great museum that I recommend to anyone interested in WWII history. After leaving the museum, we went to take a tour of
Westminster Abbey, which is Great Britain's most famous church. It has been used in almost all of England's coronations as well as many famous weddings. The abbey also houses the tombs of many well-known individuals, including Charles Dickens and past kings and queens. After a late lunch we went to the Tate Britain, a famous art museum to view the Turner collection they have on exhibit. After the Tate, we headed back to the hotel to figure out a place for dinner. We ended up going to a good Italian restaurant in the Soho district. After dinner, we had drinks at the posh
Mayfair Bar around the corner from our hotel!
On Saturday, we spent a few hours touring the
Tower of London. It is pretty incredible that this centuries-old tower has been preserved in the middle of the city. The property actually ho
uses many individual towers where many people were imprisoned and executed for treason during the tumultuous religious times in the country's history. The tower was also meant to protect the city against
invasion. The crown jewels are now on display in an amazing exhibit here as well, which include two of the largest diamonds in the world. We also saw an interesting exhibit dedicated to Henry VIII, who ruled England from 1509 until he died in 1547. After the Tower of London, we went to Harrods in Knightsbridge, the famous luxury department store. It has an amazing food hall, along with a floors of designer products! It definitely provides for a fantastic shopping experience!
On Saturday evening, we had dinner at the
OXO tower, a building situated on the Thames River. The restaurant is on the top floor, and with floor-ceiling windows, provides an incredible view of the city. It was a great dinner and a good way to end our last night in London. Before we left on Sunday, we walked through the British Museum to view the Rosetta Stone and a collection of artifacts from the Parthenon!
daughter Marie is currently in Australia). Simone then took me on another sight-seeing tour, this time in East Berlin. We started out at Museum Island and walked around a popular outdoor flea market. From there, we had a beautiful view of the Berliner Dom. Then we walked to Alexanderplatz, passing the Fernsehtur
ckingham Palace and then through St. James Park. When we exited the park, we came across Winston Churchill's War Cabinet museum, which we decided to tour. It is a museum that has preserved the underground rooms that Winston Churchill and his cabinet used to run the war during WWII. It is a great museum that I recommend to anyone interested in WWII history. After leaving the museum, we went to take a tour of Westminster Abbey, which is Great Britain's most famous church. It has been used in almost all of England's coronations as well as many famous weddings. The abbey also houses the tombs of many well-known individuals, including Charles Dickens and past kings and queens. After a late lunch we went to the Tate Britain, a famous art museum to view the Turner collection they have on exhibit. After the Tate, we headed back to the hotel to figure out a place for dinner. We ended up going to a good Italian restaurant in the Soho district. After dinner, we had drinks at the posh Mayfair Bar around the corner from our hotel!
uses many individual towers where many people were imprisoned and executed for treason during the tumultuous religious times in the country's history. The tower was also meant to protect the city against 
invasion. The crown jewels are now on display in an amazing exhibit here as well, which include two of the largest diamonds in the world. We also saw an interesting exhibit dedicated to Henry VIII, who ruled England from 1509 until he died in 1547. After the Tower of London, we went to Harrods in Knightsbridge, the famous luxury department store. It has an amazing food hall, along with a floors of designer products! It definitely provides for a fantastic shopping experience!
The Race Expo
Getting ready for race time!
The lakeside finish line
Finish line
Happy to be done!
m on Friday night, so we took the metro to Le Bataclan, the concert venue. It was a fantastic show! The Fray is a great band to watch live! After the show, we grabbed a beer at the cafe next door.
e Eiffel Tower. After our cruise, we headed to Bert's , Cafe contemporain, a great eatery we discovered a few blocks from our hotel. After we had rested up (and war
med up!), we continued our trek around Paris at the Louvre. We ended up having a great tour guide with us, as we met up with previous boss's daughter, Brittany. She is doing a study abroad program in Paris. It was fun to have someone with us who knew a lot about french art! We also saw the Mona Lisa and a great temporary exhibit of famous Venetian art work. After we left the museum, we took a snack break in the Tuileries Garden outside the Louvre. We ended our night at one of my fa
vorite places, the Eiffel Tower!
