Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament

I visited Westminster Abbey today and then the Houses of Parliament. Westminster Abbey was crowded but I saw the tombs of Elizabeth the first, Mary, Queen of Scots and the Coronation Chair. Every inch of the Abbey was full of monuments, tombs, etc. I enjoyed seeing everything, but thought St. Paul's was more beautiful.

The front of the Abbey
Side View of the Abbey
Another view of the Abbey
St. Margaret's Church outside of the Abbey
Big Ben
Another view of Big Ben
View of the Houses of Parliament from the South Bank
Another view of Parliament from the South Bank of the Thames
The London Eye
Statue of Abraham Lincoln in front of Parliament
Office building where I intern

Kensington Palace

Today I went and toured the state apartments of Kensington Palace, where both Princess Diana and Princess Margaret lived. I saw a small collection of Princess Diana's gowns, the apartments where Queen Victoria lived as a girl and the state apartments of William and Mary. They had also cleared out Princess Margaret's old apartment and you could walk through part of it, I don't think they have decided what they are going to do with it. The funny thing is, there was a lot of information about Lord Snowden, but no mention of their divorce!!!

Public Entrance of the Palace
Side view of one of the wings
Another view of the Palace
Over the wall is the former garden of Princess Margaret
Some of the gardens
A few of the mansions around the palace
A playground outside the palace

Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens

On Saturday, I visited Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. (They are connected so it seems like one huge park). I saw all the main sites- Marble Arch, Speakers' Corner, the Serpentine, Peter Pan Statue, Royal Albert Hall and the memorial fountain to Princess Diana. I also saw the gaudy Albert Memorial and walked to Kensington Palace, where Princess Diana, among others lived.

Marble Arch
View of Hyde Park
Fountain in Hyde Park
Boats at the Serpentine
A view of the Serpentine
Another view of the Serpentine
The Serpentine Gallery
Front view of the Albert Memorial
Side View of the Albert Memorial
Royal Albert Hall
Princess Diana Memorial Fountain
Peter Pan Statue
Kensington Palace from the gardens
Statue of Queen Victoria in front of the Palace
The Italian Fountain

Mayfair Shopping!!

I had to go shopping today to find the rest of the books for my program. I didn't find them and ended up ordering them from Amazon. Anyways, took several pictures of Mayfair and Holborn while I was shopping around.

Selfridge's department store
A street in Mayfair
A private garden in a square
A narrow alleyway in Holborn, near Lincoln's Inn Fields
Part of the Campus of the University of London
A street in the Lincoln Inn Fields area, where many of the city's lawyers work
A park in the Lincoln Inn Fields area

Hampton Court

Today brought me to Hampton Court, famous for being the home of Henry the VIII. The palace is huge, it covers six acres and the gardens cover at least sixty acres. Needless to say I did not see everything, but I saw a lot. I saw the Chapel Royal, built by Henry the VIII and the King's state rooms. The king being William of William and Mary fame. I also walked through a lot of the gardens, although I didn't get a chance to go through the maze, though I did see it.

The Front entrance to the Palace
Another view of the entrance
The large clock tower in one of the courtyards
Another tower
The outside view of Henry theVIII's great hall
The Fountain Court, part of the palace that was remodeled by Christopher Wren for William and Mary
Another view of Fountain Court (You can just make out some of the Tudor part of the Palace)
The Tudor part and the Wren part of the Palace side by side
View of Wren addition from the gardens
The King's Privy Garden
Fountain with Palace in the background
View of Palace from Garden
Closeup of Fountain
The Tudor part of the Palace from the garden
The entrance to the maze
Two ladies in Tudor dress
The Thames from the Palace