From Anne Boleyn to the Beatles

Today we did London. And by did London, I mean we saw it all. It was defiantly a great way to get in as much as possible for Lindsey and Larry before they left. We started off at the Tower of London. As I gazed around at the tower, it was so hard to believe that this was a real tower that once had a moat around it and was filled with kings and queens. It seemed fake. But it was as real as it gets. The Tower is also where the crown jewels are kept, including the world’s largest cut diamond. As I watched the video of the Queen’s coronation, it was crazy to see all the jewels she had piled on her. They were so big and glamorous.

After the tower, we had lunch at a pub (fish’n’chips, of course) and then went to Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing St and Buckingham Palace to take pictures and explore. Then it was back on the tube for Abbey Rd. We got off a stop too early, but thank god there was a Beatles Store that we went in and they told us where to go. Plus, we were able to stop by the Sherlock Holmes’ house. We were tired and almost didn’t go the extra stop to Abbey Road, but we decided we were so close that we should go.

The road is actually kind of busy, so all these poor cars had to stop as people walked back and forth, trying to re-create the Beatles photo. We were successful in achieving that photo thanks to asking a pair of brothers (one in a Beatles t-shirt) to take our photo. We then signed our names on the wall and I added” Let it be” to my name with the year.

Then it was off to the pub quiz! We hadn’t been to one since stumbling across the first one and I was anxious to see how we would do. Well, this quiz was considerably bigger with 77 people playing. And it was for sure harder. One of the hardest parts was trying to name all the British TV jingles. We ended up doing the best at the current event section. And so with a total of 34.5 points (the 2nd to last team was 54 points) we left the pub for the night. But it was still lots of fun. Plus, fun fact of the night: Q: Which US president kissed the Queen Mother on the lips? A: Jimmy Carter
Back at the flat, we planned a bit of our trip to Rome next weekend and what we are doing tomorrow. Then Larry and Lindsey began their adventure to the airport – at 2 a.m.