The Top Three Things To Do In London (Besides Eating, Of Course)

So, when we lived in London, we were like so over all the tourist sites. We thought, "Hey, we live here, we don't go see that stuff," with our noses a bit in the air. But truth be told, it was good we had friends and family visit who wanted to see all that stuff so we went along with them. Most of it is pretty cool. So when we knew we would be taking the boys to London, we both decided that top of our list of places to take them was the Tower of London. I mean, what little boy doesn't like knights, high towers, and artillery? They did enjoy most of it, and right about when they started saying they wanted to go home, we always seemed to find something else they were interested in. For a few minutes anyway.

Arriving at the Tower on a gray and drizzly day. In London. Go Figure. Max certainly looks happy to be there, doesn't he?

Climbing up one of the towers. Sorry the photo's blurry, but it was one of Max's favorite things about the whole experience.

Big things to hit people with. Cool.

A little sword practice for Max.

This knight is so tough, even his horse needs armor.

Tower views.

And for only 4,000 pounds, you can have this little trinket to take home with you. We went for 3.50 pound plastic swords instead.

Max attempting a duel with the guard at the Royal Jewel House. The guard fought back by promptly sticking out his tongue. Click on the photo to get the full effect.

Our second favorite site was the London Eye, which had just opened when we lived in London, and was all the rage. It's still pretty amazing, I have to say, and the boys loved that that it took them even higher than Big Ben. I loved that you didn't have to wait in line for hours to get on like when we first rode it. Hey, maybe it's passé, but I'll take it.

Me pointing out St. Paul's Cathedral, saying something like "When it's warmer, we'll take you right to the top." It really is one of the best views of London. But not when its below freezing. Which it was. Boo hoo.

Max, Jack, and Big Ben (looking rather small).

Don't look down.

The neighbors.

Another thing I really wanted to do with the boys in London was Tube Surfing. It can only happen when you're on an empty car of the Tube and you stand up in the middle while it's moving and try not to fall without holding onto anything. Our local Tube by our apartment when we lived in London often had empty cars, so we got lots of practice. I was fearful that we wouldn't get a chance to try it with the boys, but low and behold, on a busy Saturday afternoon on the Picadilly Line, we found a beautiful, empty car just ripe for surfing. And I have to say, the boys were naturals.

Showing the young ones how it's done.

Oh yeah, and we walked through Chinatown the day before Chinese New Year and got this pretty shot. That was cool too.

It really was a great trip to London, and since it was cut short and we got a free round trip ticket from Eurostar, we plan to be back again soon. With a little more time, and less delays (hopefully).