London, England

We went into London with very low expectations. After all, it is an extremely touristy city. Unfortunately, it did not even meet our low expectations. Perhaps it would have been better if we had an insider's perspective into the city. Regardless, London has been our least favorite city thus far. For some reason, however, we took many pictures. Have a look :)

The British Museum

I would have loved to see more, but it was far too overwhelming.

A cool view through the ceiling

The first of several cliche London pictures

We thought the Thames River was the dirtiest river ever... Then we experienced Brussels.

St. Paul's Cathedral

We encountered this flower several times. I think it was the Queen of the Night tulip?

Apparently, it's a myth that the guards cannot smile.

I thought it was funny...

Piccadilly Circus

Yep! We found it! Haha. It was a cantina. The menu actually seemed rather authentic to home.

Trafalgar Square

A "living portrait"

Get excited!

The London Eye - £20/person (the equivalent of $32 USD). The first of many rates for tourist attractions that should be considered tourist extortion.

Houses of Parliament & Big Ben

Yep. That's a telephone booth, a double decker bus AND Big Ben. Quintessential London.

Strolling through Hyde & Kensington Parks

Our little duck family. They were quite cute.

Some of the best food ever when you're hungry in a foreign place.

We decided to go to the Charles Dickens Museum... Biggest waste of time & money ever! It was basically a tribute to Oliver Twist full of photographs of original paintings.

Kristina's reaction

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

Tower of London - £20/person. Again, one of many times that London decided to rip off its tourists.

Bangers & Mash and Fish & Chips. Notice those wonderful peas... They were quite possibly the nastiest I've ever had! The English definitely are not known for their gastronomical prowess.

Bath, England

A private park situated immediately adjacent to our hostel. It was nice to look at every morning, though a little discouraging that we could not actually stroll through it.

 

As you will see, many cities have unique signals for pedestrian crosswalks. Bath's was a jolly man :)

The street performers in Bath were surprisingly good: musicians of all sorts, magicians, comedians, etc. However, they were prone to lecturing about how what they do is a craft, so we should give them money (my own brief synopsis).

There was a Boules tournament on the Saturday we were in Bath. Everyone seemed to be having a great time in the wonderful weather drinking champagne and beer. I may invest in a Boules set when I get back (assuming I have a yard). It looked quite fun.

Tree hugger!

The Circus #1

The Circus #2 - it extends in a circle

I got a little picture crazy when we went to the botanical gardens. The design was brilliant, and notice how GREEN everything is. There are no sprinklers anywhere here, just perfect weather.

Our view from the tree we climbed (see below)

We climbed a tree...

The Royal Crescent

Bath Abbey

Inside of Bath Abbey

Ireland - Guinness Factory & Miscellaneous Pics

On our last day in Ireland, we took a trip to the Guinness factory. While there, we learned how to pour the perfect pint!

 

 

 

I even drew a clover in the foam of my beer (we didn't get a good picture)!