A Few More Days In One Of My Favourite Cities

I'm finally writing about the last few days of our Europe trip this past summer. I really do blog to preserve our family's memories and these next two days were some of my favourite days of my entire summer!

Is this not the quintessential London photo? A red phone booth and Westminster Abbey in the background. All it needs is a red, double decker, bus!

We spent some time on Saturday morning touring Westminster Abbey. As my dad was having difficulty walking, Rachel and I took turns pushing him around in a wheelchair. I really didn't mind as I've seen Westminster Abbey at least three times before. It was still amazing to visit but I didn't take any pictures this time. Afterwards my dad bought me a beautiful London mug, and Rachel some London magnets for her locker, as a thank you. Every time I drink out of my mug, I remember having so much fun in London with my family!

We left my mom, dad, and Rachel at Westminster Abbey to find their way back to the hotel. Rachel was in charge of getting them back on the tube and did an excellent job!

Sam, Dave, and I headed off in a different direction to watch a preseason friendly (also known as a soccer game)! Sam really wanted to see an actual football match while we were in England and a few weeks before we left, we found one which would work with our timing and location. So we saw Queen Park Rangers play the Brentford Bees. Both QPR and Brentford are playing in the Championship League this season, which is one league below the Premier League.  

We stopped at the QPR store and kitted ourselves out for the match in appropriate gear! And we accidentally ended up with amazing seats. We were midfield and just a few rows back. We had such a great view. 

I loved how the opposing teams fans sang loudly the whole game; I loved watching the guys fixing the field at half time; I just loved the whole atmosphere. Baseball will always have my heart but soccer is pretty fun too!!!

 

After the match we headed back to the hotel, met back up with my parents and Rachel, and headed to another pub for supper.

The next morning my mom, Rachel, and I headed out to explore Tower Bridge. Dave was going to come with us but he wasn't feeling great and decided to conserve his energy.  

Rachel had been looking forward to this moment for three years, ever since our last trip to London when we found out you could walk up Tower Bridge and see life below through the glass floor. 

 

We had a lot of fun learning about Tower Bridge and taking fun pictures on the floor!

The bridge still lifts a few times a week, and while originally 80 people were employed to maintain and operate the bridge, today only 12 people are needed. This was such a cool experience!!!

After Tower Bridge we found a store with the "London, England" sweatshirt Rachel had been dreaming of. And my mom insisted on buying me one too! She thought I should have something to wear from one of my favourite cities. I've worn it so much and remembered our fun day every time.

We spent the morning walking along the banks of the Thames, soaking up the sights and stopping at a few places to check things out. We grabbed a quick lunch and then met up with Dave, my dad, and Sam at The Globe Theatre.

 

We saw The Merry Wives of Windsor. Rachel was bored, Sam actually really liked it, and the rest of us enjoyed it!

After the play, we walked back to The Anchor, an old pub not far from the theatre and on the banks of the Thames. I loved that it was covered in flowers and Dad loved the Sunday roast dinner. This meal was so good!!!

After dinner we walked along the Thames some more to catch the tube back to our hotel. I enjoyed one last Pimms at the hotel bar and Mom decided to join me!

The next day we flew home. I took these pictures as we flew over Greenland. We had such a good view and it was so cool to see!

We ended our trip off in style!

 

This trip was so much fun! It was fun to see what Sam was interested in doing. It was amazing to be in Europe with my parents. There were so many moments from this trip that were just so great.

 

The only problem is that now Rachel wants her turn to plan a trip with Oma & Opa! I really hope she gets the chance because this one was fun!!!