Monday-Tuesday, June 4th and 5th, 2012

      We arrived in London safely after a 7and1/2 hour flight on Virgin Atlantic. It was a bumpy ride, but the pilot got us here on time. We used Gatwick airport for the convenience of a non stop flight. It was a loooong walk from the plane to customs and baggage claim, surpassing all the other airports we have been to. After clearing customs and getting our baggage, we found our driver and we arrived at the hotel about an hour later. 

We requested early arrival and were in our room by 10:30 and sleeping 5 minutes later:) We napped until 1:30, then dressed and went outside to the Westminster Bridge. We are in the Marriott Hotel right by the bridge and about  a mile from Buckingham Palace. We crossed the bridge and that is as far as we could go. The crowds were so huge, they closed off all pedestrian walks from there to the Westminster Abbey. They closed off entry to Trafalgar Square from several different side streets as well. All we could get was a glimpse of the carriage from 3 blocks away:(. We ended up taking some pictures of the area around the hotel. We are across the Thames from the Parliament buildings and Big Ben. We are next door to the London Wheel and our hotel is located inside a building formerly known as the County Hall. it is a huge building that houses an Aquarium as well as restaurants and stores. We ate at a Japanese Restaurant next door and then called it a day as the rains came. We were so tired that we were in bed by 7 PM.

Clicking on the pictures will enlarge them.

Big Ben

 Front of the Marriot

The London Eye and our Hotel is in this building.