We got upgraded to business class for the flight over which was really nice. I guess all that business travel finally paid off. We stayed at the Hilton in Hyde Park. Well, it wasn't actually 'in' the park but right outside of it. This was an excellent location. The only problem was no wireless Internet.
View of Hyde Park from our room at the Hilton.
Wellington Arch - dedicated to the Duke of Wellington.
Directional sign telling you where everything is. We were in a good location. This is all right outside Hyde Park which is across from our hotel.
Monument to Queen Victoria. She dedicated stuff to herself all over the city. I guess when you are the Queen for a really long time you can do that.
The guard outside Buckingham Palace. We didn't try to hang around for the changing of the guard. That gets really crowded and we'd see it before.
Buckingham Palace. 
John in front of our tube stop sign. 
St. Savior's Church.
Planning what to do on Day 2.
John outside Dickens House - where Charles Dickens lived back in the 1800's.
These little plaques are all over the city to let you know what famous person 'lived here'.
This is the Parlour inside Dickens' house. Tourists were allowed to walk all over the rug but you couldn't sit on the furniture. It was a very nice room.
On the bottom floor - which was below street level - was the library. There was a copy of all the different printings of Charles Dickens' books. I thought I'd read a lot of Dickens until I looked at all the titles.
The rose garden in Hyde Park. Hyde Park was across the street from our hotel. We walked through it everyday to get to the tube station.
One of the many fountains in the park.
The 'Huntress' fountain in the park.
More of the park.
Last time we came to London, we did not go on the London Eye. I was afraid it would be like the Ferris wheel and I'd get sick. This time, I decided that I would take the chance. The views from the top were heralded as being spectacular.
Big Ben is an iconic symbol that will always represent London just like the Eiffel Tower will always represent Paris.
Westminster Abbey. We got there 30 minutes before it opened and the lines were really long. But, once we got inside, it was fine. No photographs inside. That's the pits because it's amazing. This is where Prince William and Kate Middleton got married earlier this year. Last month, I think. President Obama was there the next day. We picked a good day. If we'd waited until tomorrow, we'd have been out of luck.
After the Abbey, we walked across Westminster Bridge and when we turned around we saw this gorgeous view of Parliament.
It almost looks like a postcard or a backdrop.
The tower on the left is Victoria Tower and the long building is Parliament. Then, of course, is Big Bend. Can you imagine seeing this view everyday?
So on the London Eye, which was our next stop, you get on one of these pods. It holds about 20 people and you go around once. The ride takes about an hour and you don't feel the movement at all. The views are amazing but when you got to the top, the sun was beating directly on you and it was pretty warm. I'm glad we did it but I don't think I'd be inclined to do it again.
St. Paul's Cathedral. Last time we came to London the Cathedral was being sand blasted to clean off all the black coating that covered the outside of the building. The coating was caused by all the pollution from the city. No photographs inside. Grr...
The dome of St. Paul's Cathedral. You could go up to the top but that involved lots of stairs similar to the ones we encountered in Rome so we passed.
There is no wireless Internet in our hotel. Without the Internet we felt disconnected. We thought we found a hot spot but it was painfully slow. Also, it was not free.
After dinner, we headed over to the Tower of London. I wanted to see the Tower Bridge at night. I'd heard that it was beautiful. When we got off the train and came out of the station, this is what we saw.
The sun was setting - quite beautiful. The pics don't do it justice.
The Tower of London.
At night, the Tower Bridge is all lit up. It's beautiful. I think this was my favorite part of the trip. We walked out onto the pier and it was very quiet. The Tower was closed so there were no tourists. We just sat there and enjoyed the bridge. It was really cold there at night, though.
The Beefeaters. The ER in the gate is for Elizabeth Regina - Queen Elizabeth II.
A view of the Tower of London from the water.
British Museum. There were so many kids here on school field trips that we had to leave. You couldn't get near any of the displays.
The garden at Kensington Palace.
Back door to Kensington Palace.
William III.
John in Kensington Park.
Kensington Palace. This is where Diana lived. They had some crazy exhibit on the inside - something like Princess & the Pea. This is where Prince William and Kate Middleton will live.
Some guys that were dressed in kilts. I guess they were there for the tourists.
John in front of the National Gallery.
Trafalger Square - The National Gallery.
No. 1 Downing Street. It never occurred to me that it would be fenced off like the White House.
The horse guard.
This is where we had lunch on John's birthday. The Clarence Pub. This was one of the few places that had internet access. We spent most of the time 'off the grid'.
Dolphin Fountain in Trafalger Square.
Traitor's Gate at the Tower of London.
No Face Dude. There's a painting in a museum that is of this guy. It's famous and I should know it but I don't.
Tower Bridge. Amazing to watch the draw bridge go up.
Tower Bridge opening the draw bridge for the ships to get through.
The closing of the drawbridge.We decided to take a tour of Windsor. Last time out we didn't make it to Windsor.
Windsor Castle.
John in front of Windsor Castle.
Another view of Windsor Castle. This is the 'weekend home' of the monarchs.
St. George's Chapel. This is where Queen Elizabeth's parents are buried along with some of her ancestors. I want to say Henry VIII as well.
In the middle of town, there's a statue of Queen Victoria.On the last afternoon of our last day we decided to walk around London. We walked from Hyde Park, which is where we were staying all the way down to the Themes.
This is Vauxhall Bridge. Very colorful.
John with Big Ben in the background. Big Ben actually refers to just the clock, not the whole tower.
The London Eye.
Then we decided to take a boat ride and just enjoy the sights of London. This is Whitehall.
Parliament.
Big Ben, not the leaning tower of Pisa. My camera was crooked...
Parliament again. It's amazing to see. The photographs don't really do it justice.
This is Victoria Tower. Queen Victoria put her name on everything!
These are the traitors stairs. You'd go down the stairs and get on to a barge that would take you down the river to London Tower where you would go through traitor's gate and never be heard from again!
This is Lambeth Palace where the Archbishop of Cantebury lives.
This is St. Paul's Church (the domed building).
The HMS Belfast.
London Tower. Not really much of a tower. There were monarchs that actually lived there for a time. I thought this part of town an interesting mix of new modern buildings and history.
This is London Bridge. Well, technically, this is the second London Bridge. The original is in Arizona.
This building used to be Great Scotland Yard.
This is the Cleopatra Needle.We had a wonderful time and would love to go back again.
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