Sunday, I made my way out of my comfort zone which is the Westminster area and continued on to The Tower of London. This is one of my favorite sites in London. It was originally a palace for the Kings and Queens, but later was for a prision. Many prisioners were put there for going against Henry VIII for creating the Anglican Church, many were devote Catholics and would not live by his ways. There were others there for many other reasons, some of the women were there for witchcraft and adultery. Most prisioners were beheaded on Tower Hill. When you go to the Tower of London you get a guided tour from a "Beefeater" dressed in an attire from which they would wear back in the 1300 and 1400 hundreds. Everything is pretty interesting, and all so real....the whole time you have this humbling feeling that so much happened on the very ground of which you are standing. I love stuff like that. Also at the Tower of London are all the crown jewels, so I was able to see all the crowns of the queens and kings and so many other jewels that are given when the king/queen is crowned. Here are some pictures!

After the Tower of London I stopped and had some fish and chips! I LOVE fish and chips! I have missed it from the last time I was in England.

Thanks everyone for following, I'm having the time of my life and I'm so happy I can share it with you all! :-)

Saturday was my first official day by myself in London. I was actually very nervous about finding my way around, but I did it!! My hotel is located right besides the London Eye.




Once you past the London Eye all you have to do is walk down a block or so and you come to the Westminster Bridge and that is where you will see Big Ben and the Houses of Parliment. It really is such a incredible site, and I am so excited to say that it will be the first thing I see every morning. Also to say that makes it so sureal, that I am living in LONDON! Here is the view:





Even though Big Ben is always there, I can't help but constantly stare at it. The detail of the architecture is just amazing, plus is is so old and has so much history behind it.





London is so jam packed with things to look at, you will be looking at one thing and then while you are still in amazment of it there is something right ahead to look at. With looking at Big Ben right ahead of it is Westminster Abbey, my mothers favorite. This church has so much history I can't even begin to tell you. What it is most known for is every coronation of every king and queen has been here. The Coronation Chair is here, along with many famous people buried like Geoffrey Chaucer, Sir Issiac Newton, and Charles Dickens just to name a few. With the history it is also tagged with the majestic beauty. It is truley glorious. Take a peek :-)









So beautiful! The rest of the day I just went around the city on foot and established where everything was. I went for a stroll down Whitehall Street which leads right into Trafalga Square. On the way there I stubbled uppon the Queens Quarters which had the changing of the guard going on right at the time I was walking by...what great timing! :-)






My first day in London was amazing. I couldn't ask for anything more. I am so excited about getting to know the town, the people, and the culture.

Cheers!

Later on after relaxing all day, Ashley decided to get a babysitter for the kids so that her and I could go out that night. We went to Covent Gardens, which is like the West Village of London. We ate a little Italian place and had a glass of wine out on the patio. Covent Gardens is such a neat place that I wish Dallas had more of. Everything in London is so unique, I love it all and try to soak up every bit of it. I got a simple ceaser salad that cost 15 pounds, "Welcome to London" I had to tell myself.

We then left Covent Gardens, and decided to have my first tast of a traditional English Pub. We walked up to the pub and all the windows were open with tons of flower boxes on the outside. The place was packed inside, and outside people were just standing with their wine or their dark coffee beer. It was such a cool atmosphere to have my first Pub experience. We met tons of people, one of the main guys we met was a good ol' Aussie. His name was Adam, and he look identical to Dirk from the Dallas Mavericks. He had just recently traveled to Nepal. I guess most of the Aussie's over here are big time travelers. Another chap came along and started a big political conversation about how much he hated George Bush and how Obama was doing so much more in the United States. Ashley and I argued with the man for a little while but realized that his opinion was not going to change, he ended up getting pretty annoying so we deicided to leave. That was my first night it was spectacular, and I loved every part of it.

Hello Everyone!

I'm here!! :-) Finally after a whirlwind of a trip to say the least, I am settling in just fine. The trip coming over was an adventure. It all started when we left the house with my two bags, Ashley's 3 bags (one of which was only full of diapers, rattles, legos, trains, books, etc.), two strollers, and then the adorable two children Jack and Kate. The "Cowboy Cab" (my last taste of Texas) pulled up to Ashley's house to haul us off to DFW, and we quickley figured out it would be a very tight squeeze. With the slam of the last door, we were all in nice and snug with Ashley in the front seat, Jack and Kate in the middle, and me in the very back with all the luggage.

I knew then that the crazieness had just begun.

Arriving to DFW, we all piled out of the Cowboy Cab and into the international terminal. Thankfully we had beat rush hour and got to the airport right in time to beat the crouds. After waiting in line for about 30 min, we got up to the counter to check all of our bags. Ashley and the kids went through and it was now my turn to get my ticket and check my bag. For the past two weeks this was the part I was scared about most, forgetting the most valuable thing when traveling overseas...my passport. I pulled out of my purse my Lime Green Passport holder that Aaron's mom had given me for Christmas. I handed it to the nice gentleman and he took it and began to type away on his little computer. After about 10 min of him typing he opened up my Lime Green Passport holder and said there was no passport. Now, anyone who really knows me, knows that Faith does not do good under stress. With tears in my eyes I frantically searched through my purse, and could not find it. At this point I thought the world was about to end, I was sweating, my heart was beating heavily, and my eyes were like buckets of water waiting to spill over. After looking and looking, I looked at the nice gentleman and through my watery eyes I could see a little grin on the mans face. He had my passport the whole time, and I guess thought it would be funny to play a little joke on me. I snatched my passport back from him and stood there in silence as he proceeded with checking my bags. I think he finally understood that you don't joke with Faith Wallis in a stressful time.

Jack and Kate by this point were already pretty tired and were starting to get fussy. We got past security, and went to our gate to see if there would be seats around us available on the plane. Jack had a little bit of an emotional crisis in the middle of the airport, and it only got worse. Ashley does really well with Jack, but this time he was so tired and confused with what was all going on that nothing could help...except for his toy trains.

The rest of the trip went pretty smooth for the most part, although me and Ashley didn't sleep at all becuase we had both of the kids all over us. I guess this is all a good preview for the life I will have one day with traveling with my future children. I have now decided I will wait for that time of my life for a while :-)

We arrived in London at 10:30 Friday morning. We got to the hotel, settled in and relaxed the rest of the day.