Here Comes the Sun

Good afternoon! I've had a fun day watching the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace and visiting St. Paul's Cathedral. Details to come later, I promise!

I know I'm behind in blogging, but here's what happened yesterday:

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I read the breakfast menu at the hotel yesterday morning. I got my choice of two items, which I selected from the Light and Healthy menu: organic yogurt with sliced banana and honey and porridge with berry compote. It has been far too long since I've had oatmeal and with the chilly London weather, porridge totally hit the spot!

After breakfast, a tour guide picked us up for a morning tour of Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside Westminster Abbey, but it was beautiful! I think I liked it even better than Notre Dame.

The very spot Kate Middleton arrived to her wedding!


It started pouring down rain once we got to the Tower of London. Needless to say, we got soaked.




Henry VIII's armor

With a beefeater, the name of the guards at the Tower of London. Although it is unclear where the origin of the name beefeater came from, some historians believe it was because they received beef as part of their wages.

After our tour was over, the guide dropped us off at a pub called Westminster Arms, where I got the only and only order of fish and chips I will be having in England. It actually tasted pretty decent (especially the chips), but fried food just does not sit well in my stomach. I couldn't not try it though!

The restaurant was just a short walk from Churchill's War Rooms, so we went there after lunch. It was really interesting! It makes me wish I knew more about WW2. Why didn't I ever pay attention in history class in high school?

A Winston Churchill impersonator at the museum.

Intently listening to the headset. I look bored, but I wasn't!

We rested and changed clothes before meeting one of my dad's friends and his family who are also vacationing in London for before dinner drinks at their hotel. I can't remember the name of the wine I had, but it was delicious!

The American Room at the bar.

We ended up having dinner with them as well at Green's Restaurant and Oyster Bar.

 To start I ordered the mixed vegetable salad with walnuts and soft boiled duck egg, which I loved!

The other popular appetizer of the night was the chilled garden pea and mint soup with chili oil. It looked great!

For my main meal, I ordered the line caught sea bass poached in sweet pepper broth with sweet cicely. It was very light and a nice contrast to the heavy fried fish I had earlier in the day.

A couple of people at the table ordered the grilled pork fillet with cabbage and green apple and blueberry salad with cider vinaigrette.

My mom and I split the sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream for dessert. You really can't go wrong with toffee, caramel, or ice cream, so it was a winner!

My dad ordered Eaton Mess for dessert, precisely because he had no idea what it was and wanted to find out. It is a traditional English dessert consisting of meringue, cream, and strawberries. I tried a bite, and it actually has a crunchy texture.

Right now, we're taking a break and getting ready to see The Mousetrap later this evening. I love whodunits!