London Day 1

It was Monday the 27th, 3 days before Reagan's 9th birthday.  We were trying to figure out what to buy her.  Around 9am we asked Reagan if she would rather have "stuff" for her birthday or go on a trip. She quickly responded "TRIP!" (a child after my own heart)!!! We started looking for flights that weren't very full to somewhere close but different. Our main idea was Mexico. Unfortunately they were all full, and not a good chance for us to get on. Delta just started a direct flight from SLC to  London. Just for kicks we looked into it. There were plenty of seats open, even in 1st class. So by 11am we knew we wanted to go to London.  We have AMAZING family who stepped up and offered to watch the two youngest so it could be a special birthday trip for Reagan! So by 4pm we were on our way to the airport! 

Reagan with the London Heathrow sign,

not at all excited!

We had told Reagan that there was a good chance we weren't going to get 1st class, because of last minute changes. She said she didn't care. Lucky for her WE GOT 1st CLASS!!!

She tested out all the seat functions

and LOVED the "Harry Potter" looking socks we got!

She was NOT a fan of a few of the 1st class amenities, 

including the hot towel(her eyes started watering), and most of the food.

She did LOVE the ice cream sunday cart that came down the aisles after dinner!

The silly girl acted like a 1st class pro, 

but didn't sleep as much as we would have liked!

9 hours later we were flying into London!

We all couldn't believe it, 

since we had just decided 24 hours before!

Walking off the plane Jared said "all I want is for someone to call me 'chap'". I rolled my eyes because thats like someone coming to Australia and hoping to hear someone say "lets put another shrimp on the barbie". While waiting to come through passport control we went to the only white  passport agent. First thing he said to us was "What brings you chaps to London?". We all busted up. He was looking really confused, so we had to explain ourselves. It was a GREAT way to start our London adventure.

We rode the train into London to none other than 

Paddington Station

A cool old building on the way to our hotel

We rode a few other trains to get to our hotel and then headed out!

We knew our time was limited, and we wanted to see as much as we could!

Tower bridge

One of the first HUGE differences that Jared and I noticed between London and Paris was how the old architecture was mixed right in-between the new. Their buildings weren't just new, but VERY modern. Like this building in the background, its not a straight building at all and its right next to very old buildings!

Reagan liked this alley. 

She thought it belonged in the Harry Potter series.

If you can't tell she is BIG into H.P. right now!

It started raining while we walked across Tower Bridge. 

Really, who doesn't think of rain when they think of London, so it didn't slow us down!

It actually made for cute pictures

Tower of London.

NOT what I thought the Tower of London looked like.

This is a different side view. It was HUGE! It was very interesting to see the different architecture that had been added throughout the centuries. For those who don't know, the crown jewels are kept there. We didn't go through it, but is definitely on our list for next time!

Then we made our way over to Big Ben. We were all blown away at the actual size of the tower.

It is A LOT thicker than pictures make it look. 

Comes to find out, its not actually called Big Ben. That is what people have started calling it now, but its officially called the Elizabeth Tower with a bell inside that is called Big Ben. Shocker, I know!!!!

Just a shot of County Hall and the London Eye.

It started raining harder and we were all pretty beat. So we headed back to our hotel for a quick sleep to explore the next day!