I had the opportunity to go to London twice in the last couple of months, and will make time to go back again. I thought it was very interesting.
While there - I saw:
* Tower of London - the Crown Jewels are magnificent, the free guided tour was really interesting, and the architecture is fascinating. I bought the pass that allows me free admission to the Tower, Kensington, the Kew Gardens and something else, and I will probably see them all!
*Westminster Abbey - incredible, and take the audio guided tour. The gift shop has some beautiful items for sale.
* Windsor Palace - what a great way to spend a sunny day. Don't miss the cathedral, and the chapel on the way out. I haven't seen anything like that in all of France.
* Kensington Palace - well, that's a work in progress, so don't get too hyped up about it. I think they might be waiting to renovate Princess Margaret's apartments, to see if the boys want to live there.
* The National Gallery - was INCREDIBLE. The Van Gogh collection was small but beautiful. There are a couple of Caravaggio paintings there, most notably one of his dinner at Emmaus renditions. I spent 4 hours there, total, and went there on both trips. It was worth every minute.
* The National Portrait Gallery was really interesting, with portraits from the 1400s to 2006. The portraits of the queens were probably my favorite, but there was also several "portraits" of Parliament in action, including when Wilberforce was asking for the renunciation of slavery in Britain. The special exhibit of portraits of notable English women was interesting, and mostly black and white photography.
* The House of Parliament - MY VERY FAVORITE. Okay, so I am a junky. I watched the House of Parliament debate for over an hour, and then tried to go to the House of Lords but it was too late in the day. That building takes your breath away, but watching the debate was able to distract me from looking at the architecture. DO IT.
* 221b Baker St. What a hoot. It was well worth the 6 pounds, and the hour I spent plunking around in there. If you are a buff, you will love it. The gift shop was a little too trinket-y, but everything else was very well done.
