HMS Belfast - aka freakin me out

 Remember this ship from our little river boat cruise? We had nothing prominent on our list of things to do and this was close - free tour, we'll take it! I will say, I got a little bored and freaked out all at the same time. I was certain we were going to be lost forever (even with all the signs - some be them vague, giving us direction), stuck in the bottom of this massive ship, destine to go down if this ship decided to give out.......yes dramatic, but still I'm claustrophobic on ships at sea, remember Titanic (ironic is I'm listening to that song on Pandora - haha!)

 'My heart will go on......' hahaha

 yes, please, I'd love to sit right here and shoot things.....out in the open.

 at the helm (go cougs!) check out the 'computers'

 Now pictures from Jeff's phone: A BOMB! :)

 do I look scared? this is where I was starting to freak out a little. tight quarters, small walkway, long way down....

 this is where we split up and I refused to go down any farther - I could see this from the level up. there was a small viewing window.

 the other thing that creeped me out were these fake people and then there was simulated sound of them talking, playing games, etc. It was especially creepy when the hammocks started to sway (only because live people pushed them), but I still felt like I was moving with them and waiting for someone to jump out at me. Forget the haunted house, this freaks me out enough. God bless those who serve on these ships, airplanes, on the ground and in the submarines. I couldn't do it.

 photo-bomb

 great, get in here if the ship goes down.......

 So the tour was closing and we were the last ones on there. I high-tailed it back to the beginning and then lost Jeff some where. He went right, I went left and somehow he took another 5 minutes (seemed like a long time when I thought I had to go back in to find him......)

Thank you HMS Belfast and those who served with you.

Buckingham Palace

 To the Palace......for the changing of the Guards. We were there plenty early and had a great spot. Until we had to move back into the crowd because they come out the front gate. Oh well, we got to meet a family on holiday from Spain.

 crowds starting to gather - if you go to London and want to see this even, I'd stand right where the lady in the pink jacket is - just on the other side of the gate, or up higher to get a view over everyone else. That is if you can't get up to the gate for a front row seat.

this lady is our friend from Spain - they left before it all started - we only waited 2 hours.

 I got a little bored and took a picture of my nails....could use some tlc.

 This was the police officer who kept us entertained by repeatedly saying - move back, behind the gate, move back, keep moving, move along and other things that would sound awful if it wasn't for his accent. :)

   all of our friends - I didn't realize just how many people there were until I saw these photos.....a smidge claustrophobic

 not being very tall, we were at a disadvantage to see the actual changing take place.

 

On to other sites.

A tribute to Abbey

Quick story you may not know. I love the name Abbey, Abbie, Abby, Abigail. I wanted to name Abbey, Abigail and call her Abbey, Abbie, Abby. Friends of ours with an Abbie, said words of wisdom - we were just going to call her Abbie, so why not name her Abbie? duh. So our #3 child came and I asked Jeff her name (he has named all of our kids - we've narrowed it down to a couple of names and ultimately he's the first one to see the baby so he's always been inspired to what name they should be called). He said Abbey, Abbie, Abby....Rebekah. Okay I love both those names, but how do we spell it. Knowing my husband is a big, big, BIG fan of the Beatles, I suggested like Abbey from Abbey Road. And there you have it.

We couldn't visit London and not visit Abbey Road Studios (a friend of ours has actually recorded in there - no, not the Beatles, but Rob Gardner of Spire Music) Off to find THE Abbey Road.

here's the album cover: source

We found it!

awwwwwww!

We did what all sane people do when they visit - we did the walk and tried not to get run over or hold up too much traffic.

pretty good. :)

There was another group there trying to take photos, so we took theirs and they took ours.

I don't quite pull of the look, but it was fun trying!

Love my Abbey!

London Eye

To the London Eye - it was getting dark and things were starting to glow. The City is beautiful at night!

As we were approaching the pier to get off the river cruise.

 This is the picture Jeff took - iphones take amazing pictures. seriously.

A little London Eye info: it takes a 1/2 hour for a full rotation. After each 'stop', 3 crew members, search each tube with mirrors to check under the bench to make sure nothing was left behind. They search it quickly and the Eye never stops moving unless there are people who need assistance getting on. I felt like I was trying to enter a double dutch jump rope - go, no, wait, no go, no....go! Hurry and latch that door and I'll be sure to stay away from it. :)

 St. Paul's Catherdal

 getting higher....breathe.

 almost to the top.

 so beautiful! Westminster Abbey to the right of Big Ben, House of Parliment and there you can see the River Cruise boat we road at the bottom of the picture.

 this tube is at the top of the Eye.

 We made it to the top! This is the tube next to us.

 Oh man, I love London