A Sunny Day in London Town

On Thursday, Jonty and I went into London for the day. We had a rough start to the day, as parking in Oxford (where we caught the bus) was a disaster. Once we got into town, though, we had a great time.

First stop was a little Mexican restaurant Jonty had seen in Soho a couple of times before but always closed. Our luck turned around when we saw it was open! Anyone who has lived in the UK can identify with the difficulty of finding good Mexican food. Even good salsa is pretty hard to come by. Our burritos and nachos (ended up being way too much food) were pretty darn good!


We went shopping on Oxford Street for a while, then headed toward the Embankment. I saw Trafalgar Square, which had a lot of people--tourists and locals--hanging out on the steps and by the fountain.


Next, we went to the National Gallery. We saw lots of famous paintings and several pieces by some my favorite artists. A few we looked at are: Van Gogh's Chair, Sunflowers (Van Gogh), The Water-Lily Pond (Monet), and Bathers at La Grenouillère (Monet). It was amazing to see such well-known pieces of art just a few feet away from my face, and impressionist paintings are particularly amazing to see close-up. Unfortunately, Jonty's favorite painting was on exhibition elsewhere, so we didn't get to see it, but we'll go back once it's reinstated at the end of January.

Thanks to the woman who offered to take our photo!

We then headed back to Oxford Street to meet Jonty's grandparents. They took us out to dinner at an amazing Italian restaurant. The food was delicious, the service impeccable, and the company very enjoyable.

Thanks to the waiter for stopping everything to snap a photo!

After dinner, we said good-bye to his grandparents and hopped onto the London Eye as one of the last passengers for the night. We were lucky to have such a clear day in London. Any other day, we might not get such a clear view, but that night we were able to see the whole city lit up.

Photo taken from the top of the London Eye. Lit up on the left is the Palace of Westminster
(aka the Houses of Parliament), complete with Big Ben, overlooking the River Thames.

We headed home tired but happy after a lovely day in London.

Photo taken from the Golden Jubilee Bridge. Left to right: London Eye, the Palace of Westminster.

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