London 🇬🇧

May 1

We enjoyed London so much more than we thought. To be fair, we knew of the major sights and things we wanted to see and knew we would be thrilled to see Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Kensington Park, and the Tower of London. While all these were truly spectacular and a pleasure to see with our own eyes, London captured our imagination and I dare say our hearts as a favorite destination more than we anticipated.

**We were blessed with wonderful weather for most of our time in London**

As I reflect on our time there, I struggle to put into words the reason other than a “feeling” we had of instant comfort and cheerfulness as well as a sense of wonder for one of the most iconic and historic cities in the world. I am sure that the good weather we had was a big factor as well. Only one really rainy and dreary day.

**Our one gray day lent itself to a decent shot of the Tower Bridge**

Normally, we research quite a bit about places before we go so we can be better prepared to get around the area and have an idea of what we want to see. That being said, we, or more to the point, Annette, had a good list of things to see. I approached it a little more loosely as I knew that there was plenty to see just walking around the city. Walking around the city is something we did a good bit. Our first day, we walked 10.7 miles, and we averaged 7 miles per day during our stay.

We were fortunate enough to have enough IHG points to book a Holiday Inn in Kensington. It was so nice to have a convenient location to see and do so much for the week we were there.

We enjoyed Easter Sunday at St. Mary Abbot’s Church, which was our first Anglican Church service. What a lovely service it was, and familiar. My grandparents were Episcopalian. It is heavy on liturgy and traditions, which of course made me think of my mother and grandparents, all of whom I miss dearly. Easter also reminds me that Christ paid the ultimate price for us and the promise of being reunited again with Him and loved ones.

**Easter service at St Mary Abbots Church was wonderful**

Simple pleasures are what we enjoy more than anything during our stay anywhere we go, there were many simple pleasures to be had here in London. A walk through Hyde Park, admiring the unique architecture, walking to Buckingham Palace, fish and chips at The Goat Tavern people watching enjoying the many gardens and flowering plants of spring. London has so much to offer and we look forward to our return here in July.