Good Times, People

Dan and Beth visited this past week, and it was a total blast!

On Monday we started out by seeing the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. It was very cool. The guards all marched in from each side of the gate, and there was a band too. They played "Mama Mia" and "Singing in the Rain," and if you don't believe me, just ask Dan or Beth. (I also caught part of it on video!) The whole thing took about half an hour, which I thought was surprising because they do this every other day in the winter and every day in the summer. I wonder if the guards ever get sick of it. :P Later we did a mini walking tour of London. We saw Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, Theatreland, the British Museum, Oxford Street, and dozens of little side streets too, including one that was full of vintage bookshops.

On Tuesday we saw the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Going up to the top of the bridge was pretty cool. I got lots of pictures of the city from up high. We went down into the engine rooms to see how they raise the bridge to let ships through. There was this little gold box on the wall--and I'm not even sure what it was for--but it provided probably the most entertaining part of the trip: we each took turns standing in front of it and taking pictures of our warped reflections in the metal. So if you're wondering what those funky-looking pictures of us are, that's what they're from.

On Wednesday we went into museum mode. We saw the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. I think the Natural History Museum was the most gorgeous, architecture-wise. It had this incredible bi-color stonework that was amazing to see, and on the inside there was a huge vaulted room with all these arches. The Science Museum was more modern looking, but still very cool. We didn't have a whole lot of time to spend in there, so I mainly saw the space exhibit. What I remember most is that there was this really loud annoying ring every couple minutes, and I never managed to figure out where it was coming from. Weird. Then we moved on to the Victoria and Albert Museum, which Beth said has something like 7 miles worth of exhibits. It was like the British Museum all over again, with just tons and tons of stuff to see. My favorite part was the Cast Court, which had plaster casts of all these famous statues and monuments, including Trajan's Column from Rome and a really neat Celtic cross. Across the hall they had another Cast Court gallery, but it was closed, which was a bummer because I could just barely see the top of the David statue peeking above the closed sign. I bet they had a bunch of cool casts in there too.

All too soon, it was time for Dan and Beth to catch their flight back home. But it was really awesome to have them here! And I can't be too bummed out, because Mike and Alyssa are coming tomorrow!

Dan and Beth's Visit