On Saturday the 13th we went to the Tower Bridge. We took a self guided tour of the engine rooms and glass floor above the bridge. It was really cool learning the history of the bridge. Over 30 people would work in the engine room to power the lift bridge. Now only one person has to press a button to operate the lift bridge. However, it still takes the same amount of time to lift and lower the bridge (60 seconds). It was cool to walk across the glass floor and see the bridge below. Being up there also gave a really good view of the river Thames and the city skyline.

After the tower bridge we headed over to the financial district. We walked around for a bit looking at all the unique modern buildings. It is a stark contrast to the area of London we are normally in. While we were in the financial district we went up to the Sky Garden. It was really pretty with all the flowers and the terrace. My favorite part was the balcony that allowed you to see over the majority of the city. It was a beautiful view.

After the Sky Garden we took the train to Greenwich for fish and chips. We went to a place called the Golden Chippy. It was a really cute mom and pop shop. When we got there it was before our reservation. We told the man behind the counter, who happened to be the owner, that we were early because we were hungry. He then proceeded to rip up fish and give it to us while we were waiting, it was funny but we all enjoyed the free sample. We sat outside and ate our dinner and then decided to explore the town a bit. Mom wanted to see the Prime Meridian that runs through Greenwich. We found out the place where people take pictures was at the Royal Observatory and it cost about $20 to get in and it was closed. After some research I found a place with markers and a sign indicating the Prime Meridian. We headed over there to take pictures and stand in two hemispheres at once. It was pretty cool and it was even better because it was free. We then climbed a hill to get a view of the city. It was a steep hill but worth it for the view. After that we stopped at a pub in Greenwich and headed back to Bloomsbury and went to another pub. It was a really fun day.

Sunday morning we decided to go to Abbey Road to recreate the iconic Beatles album cover. It took us a while to get the picture because there were so many people and cars honking as they drove by. Our picture didn’t turn out quite like theirs, but it was still fun trying. On our way back to the tube station, we walked by where the Cricket World Cup was being played. There were so many people, and the cheering was very loud. It kind of reminded us of a Quidditch match from Harry Potter. We found out they were playing the game on a big screen in Trafalgar Square, so we went to a pub for lunch and then headed over to watch the game. We didn’t really know what was going on, but a few people tried to explain it to us so we could attempt to follow the game. There were thousands of people standing watching the game. It was really cool to be a part of it, even though we didn’t really know what was happening for most of the game. Before dinner we walked to Piccadilly Circus. There were a bunch of shops like Zara, H&M home, and Top Shop. We then walked around a market in the area and stopped in a huge toy store with a great Harry Potter section.

For dinner we went to Hawksmoor at Seven Dials. Sydney wanted to get a traditional Sunday roast. Unfortunately, we found out they were out of roasts, but our waitress was kind enough to ask the chef and he offered to make roasts for us. Mom and Syd got the roast and Sam and Dad got a few appetizers to split. Sam also had the best beer called August Town. The dinner was amazing, we were so happy we were able to get the roast. At dinner we found out that the Cricket match was going into a Superover (overtime). We wanted to make it back to Trafalgar Square to watch the ending so we pretty much ran the whole way there. We made it just in time to watch England win for the first time in a long time. The crowd went crazy, it was so cool to experience it. It was such a great weekend with our parents! -SYD & SAM