On May 30th Mom and Dad arrived in London for their second visit since we've lived here. There were some surprises for them waiting that I had found out shortly before they arrived. Since Dad is the Race Director for the Heart of the Lakes Triathlon in our hometown of Annandale, MN I knew he would be excited to go to the ITU World Triathlon going on in London's Hyde Park. The second surprise that they were going to be here during the State Opening of Parliament which meant we were going to have a chance to try and see the Queen!! (We didn't have the heart to tell my sister Kayla until after the fact since she would have been so jealous and bummed).
On the day of the triathlon we wandered around in the morning and then stopped at Gordon's Wine Bar for a snack of cheese, bread and wine before the race which started at 2:00pm. (Much different then what Dad is used to and the race being first thing in the morning)
Just as I had predicted Dad thought it was pretty cool to see the race!
It was actually a sprint race for elite athletes from different countries around the world. The following day was going to be the race open for public athletes. Here we are getting ready to watch the swimmers...
And here they come on the bikes... It was a fun race to watch since you could stand in one place and they had to make 3 laps around the course in Hyde Park so you could see them multiple times on bikes and while running.
The men went first then at 4:00pm we watched the women's race (didn't take any pictures). Turns out two women from the USA took 1st and 2nd place so that was pretty neat to see.
The next morning we set out on a couple hour train ride to Dover (located in the southeastern part of England) to see the White Cliffs of Dover. First we toured the Dover Castle which turned out to be a bit disappointing, not much to see there unfortunately.
You could however see the port where ferries were loading and unloading cars, trucks and cargo to pass between England and France. Brian was pretty entertained watching all the activity going on.
By mid afternoon the clouds started clearing and it turned out pretty warm while we were walking along the White Cliffs.
The pictures don't really give you an idea of the size but the sheer cliffs are about 350 feet up from the water. The stark white color comes from the chalk limestone. The cliffs really are beautiful against the green grass and turquoise water. We even lucked out with the blue sky too.
The next day we hung around by our place and relaxed a bit. I took Mom and Dad on a walk along the river which is just about 10 mins from our flat. Mom liked seeing lots of flowers that were in bloom.
The following day we took the train about 2 hours north to Cambridge. Dad wanted to go to the Duxford Imperial War Museum to see some of the planes from World War II. They also had a D-Day exhibit and since we were going to be heading to Normandy in a few days he wanted to check it out. Long story short the bus we rode that was supposed to take us close to the museum dropped us off almost 2 miles away... First we ended up walking down a tiny narrow road in the middle of nowhere and had to practically jump in the bushes when a car would pass. Then before you know it we were having to walk down the shoulder of a major highway and trudge through weeds in some spots to get over guardrails and cross the road! By the point of being so mad about taking the roundabout way and wasting time eventually all we could do was laugh at how ridiculous the situation was!
Finally we made it there and the place ended up being huge! Lots of buildings to walk through with planes, aviation and war history. We even saw one of the Concorde planes...
Mom and I had our fill pretty early on made it through a few more hours of being there as we didn't want to rush Dad after it being such a pain to get to...we were going to let him get his money worth! The highlight for me was seeing a B-24 Bomber plane just like the one Grandpa Shea flew in the war. It was so big that we couldn't even get it all in the picture.
The next day was a very exciting one, it was the day we set out to see the Queen! Not only did we see her but we were blown away by the beauty of the horses, carriages and precision of the Royal Guards. It was the State Opening of Parliament so Queen Elizabeth II parades from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament (building connected to Big Ben) where she gives her Queen's Speech and starts the new parliamentary year. Another very important, exciting piece of the procession was that her Crown Jewels also made their way to the Parliament in a separate carriage in front of her. She was wearing another crown when she passed us but when she arrived they place the Crown Jewels on her head before she gives her speech. She was set to begin down the Mall from Buckingham Palace at about 10:30 that morning. We didn't really know what to expect but were beyond excited! Luckily it was to crowded since it was a Wednesday. Here we are getting ready to watch... (Dad was along too just not pictured, poor Brian had to work).
Here come the guards to line the Mall and protect the Queen,
They mean business!
Here come the Crown Jewels...
So impressive...
And there she is! First time seeing Queen Elizabeth II!
To get a better idea of what it was like watch the video below!
Seeing this was by far one of my favorite things so far in London. I'm so glad it happened to be while Mom and Dad were visiting so they could experience it too!
Above is looking down the Mall towards Buckingham Palace after the procession. Below is at the end of the Mall through the archways toward Trafalgar Square. Notice their excitement after seeing the Queen!
From here we did some more walking around central London. Even after living here almost a year I still can't get enough of Big Ben... or walk past without taking another picture.
Regent Street...
Piccadilly Circus...
We finished the afternoon with a pub lunch.
The next morning we left for Normandy, France with Mom and Dad. Separate post on that part of their trip soon!
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