London & Windsor (Winssaaa, phonetically)

London & Windsor Weekend

So, this past weekend we were in London and Windsor.  On Saturday (London!), we hopped on a bus and met our friends Alison and Matt.  We started off by walking to St. Paul's Cathedral.  It's a huuuuge cathedral where people like Florence Nightingale, Sir Christopher Wren, and William Blake are buried.  We walked around (very pretty), and decided we would climb up the Whispering Gallery.  From the Whispering Gallery we climbed up to the Observation Deck, and from there we went up again to the very peak of the dome.  All in all, the steps up and down were a total of 1,056 steps, more or less.  It was a bit ridiculous.  After 2 1/2 hours at the Cathedral we wandered along the Thames (passing Embankment and Westminster--Big Ben, etc.), and went into Covent Garden for some refreshments.  We left London around 8pm and drove back down to Sittingbourne where we stayed the night.

Next day: Windsor!  The drive up to Windsor was ridiculous.  It was the day of the Kent County Fair, which is the biggest fair of the year in Kent.  So alongside sheep, horses, and who knows what else, we inched along the 1 lane for an HOUR before speeding along to Windsor.  Windsor was a very very beautiful city.  We visited the palace- the queen was in, but we didn't see her.  We then walked along the river on the way back to the train station, where we caught a train back to Oxford.  All in all, a very good and relaxed weekend. :)

These are pictures from our experiences this past weekend in London and Windsor with our friends Matt and Alison.  It was a blast, although we walked about 10 miles!  And with this camera, if you click on the pictures it will enlarge them and you can zoom in!  Enjoy.  

“V for Scientology”?  Apparently these guys were protesting Scientology.  They turned out to be benign, nice guys but we were freaked out at first:  These guys in the picture were the last of a hundred, who we met as we just got off the underground while they were going down into it.  Has anyone seen the ending for V for Vendetta!?!? 

 

St. Paul’s Cathedral from the outside (special thanks to Matt for running across the street dodging traffic to get this photo). 

 

The outside of the dome of the Cathedral.  Please note the two balconies with people walking around, one at the base of the dome, and one at the top of the dome just below the cross.

 

Angels at the Gate (inside):

 

Good view of the inside ("no photography" doesn't apply to Kyle Pozza... hope I'm not going to hell for that, jk).

The dome ceiling.  You might be able to discern the varying level of balconies. Focus on the very top where the little bit of light is coming from.

 

 

526 steps later, looking down through a glass floor (special thanks to Ali for this shot so I didn’t have to wet myself trying to take it). 

 

Balcony 1 outside:

 

Balcony 2 outside: 

Random photo with London Eye and Big Ben in background:

 

Outside of the Republic of Zimbabwe.  I should submit this to CNN along with a resume!

 

WINDSOR!!!!

 

Part of Castle:

 

Matt & Ali:

 

All of us:

BFFL!:

Right outside the gates: 

 

Matt and I doing our best impression of Horatio Cane (CSI: Miami):

 

Couples:

All four of us again: 

 

This guy does not look happy: 

My future job:

And that is that.  Until the next post.  Now I have some work to do.  Love to all.