Good ol' London Town.

LONDON

A city of so many faces. 

Where do we even begin? Two weeks we were there, and I felt like I received one history lesson after the other. With our amazing Economical London Pass, we saw: The Tower Bridge, The ZSL London Zoo, The HMS Belfast, The London Eye, The Crypts, The Parliaments, Westminister Abbey, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St. James Park,The London Monument, St. Paul's Cathedral, British Music Experience, Camden Market, Stonehenge, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, London Pride Parade and the Warner Brothers Studio tour of Harry Potter!! Are you tired from reading that? Hahah. It was a great two weeks. A whirlwind. You can't possibly keep the pace high enough to see the whole city.  After two weeks we had only scratched the surface of what London has to offer, and with the sore legs to prove it. You can climb to the top of virtually every monument in this city, up terribly tight dizzying spiral staircases, to take in amazing panoramic views of all the landmarks that make London so interesting.  It is amazing to climb a monument like St. Paul's Cathedral that was built in the 1600s to view some of the most beautiful modern buildings like the recently completed "shard", Europes tallest building.

Our Review
Everything you have heard about London financially is true. It is very expensive. We had the great fortune of staying with family, so unfortunately we have no experience with getting good accommodation in London although the most economical, comfortable and clean as far as we can tell would be the YHA in SOHO. If you go for the purpose of sight seeing, we highly recommend getting the London Pass.  You get entrance into a lot of the main attractions of London with the convenience
 of swiping your prepaid card, and most importantly a week long tube card to all zones that you can reach on the subway. Economically speaking you save a ton of money (and as stated EVERYTHING from the zoo to the tower bridge tour is expensive), and the tube pass makes it so that you look for reasons to get on the subway and go.

As far as the city and people go, it is a vast tapestry of faces and sights. There is a very high paced vibe and a hustle and bustle that made us feel like people were very unpersonable and rude at times (especially on the side walks and in the tube stations).  No one seems to say "excuse me" or "I'm sorry", so save yourself the learning curve and check your amazing Canadian manners at home and allow yourself to throw a few shoulders. That is not to say that we didn't meet great people though.
 The shopping is unbelievable, with everyone you are used to and much, much more to accommodate the 7 million plus that consume in the great city.  Keep an eye out for the stunning architecture, we found it so awe inspiring for a 400 year old building to be next to a McDonald's or modern work of art, truly something to behold. If you are a history buff and love to browse free nationally maintained  galleries and museums you will have met your heaven. We figured out early that we are not the "spend a few hours in the gallery types" and thus stuck to things we knew would really interest us.
Some of our favourite sights and moments include:
1. The Warner brothers studios the making of Harry Potter:
If you have even heard the name Harry potter, read a single book or have an attic full of nerdy wizard memorabilia, YOU MUST SEE THIS TOUR. For Christina it was the tour of a life time, seeing so many of the props and sets that inspired her growing up with the movies. For me I acquired a whole new appreciation for Harry Potter, I can't wait to get to watch the movies again! From the tiniest props of the actual Horcruxes to the elaborately gigantic sets of the Ministry of Magic it is a must do on your list for London

2. Westminster Abbey
The history lesson and architecture you get in this amazing building is outstanding.  You can't move two fee with out stepping on a kings tomb or bumping into a creepy monument.  The craftsman ship in the ceilings is truly breathtaking and there is so much to see that truly anyone should be captivated.

After much reflection of this trip here are five things we are grateful for:

1. Creating New Memories

2. Sleep

3. Alberta Health Care - haha! Oh what a story. 

4. Ben's Uncle John, who hosted us.

5. Our family