London

Jen at Piccadilly Circus (I believe)

Our vacation was a whirlwind trip, and London was our longest stop at three days. As such, we felt like we were able to see quite a few sites. We visited a few of the major art and history museums. Mercifully the majority of these museums have free admission, which was a lifesaver in a city where everything costs double what it does here. We took a quick trip to Windsor castle (where, surprisingly, the highlight was several sketches from Da Vinci's notebook, although tea with the Queen was nice too). We took a site seeing tour, and we attended an organ concert at Westminster Abbey.

Windsor Castle

For Jen the highlight of London was a morning trip out to Hampstead Heath--800 acres of untouched countryside surrounded by London suburbs. At the edge of the heath is Kenwood Manor, an old manor house that has been converted to an art museum. The countryside was beautiful and Jen would be lying if she said it didn't make her feel just a little Eliza Bennettish. She also loved our quick stop at the Dickens Museum.

Kenwood House at Hampstead Heath

Pictures of the grounds at Hampstead Heath

For Alec the highlights were superb Indian food at Piccadilly Circus and authentic Singaporean food at what was (unbeknownst to us) one of the top rated oriental restaurants in London.

Jen at the Dicken's Museum, which is located in one of Charles Dicken's London homes.