London, in detail

Being back in an English-speaking country was almost offset by the huge size of London, at least in terms of figuring where we were going and what we were doing. London outdid even Paris again in terms of size and trying to get around to see everything. And there was a lot to see, so once again we did our best to get around and see as much as we could in limited time.
Our first move, after dropping some luggage off, was to head to the City of London, the main centre and historical heart of the city. We walked past St. Paul's, over the Thames and went through the Tate Modern. As a modern art museum, it was similar to the Pompidou in Paris, but I enjoyed this one more. Some of the rooms with Pop Art were quite interesting. After a nap - necessary after the overnight bus/ferry ride from Amsterdam - we hit Piccadilly Circus, which was hopping on Saturday night. It was really interesting to be among the big crowd. It really made the city seem alive - and big. We also found a good and reasonable Indian restaurant a couple of blocks off Piccadilly Circus.
Sunday we spent going to churches - we went to an Evensong service at St. Paul's and an organ concert at Westminster Abbey. We weren't able to look around much, because we went for services instead of as tourists, but we got in free so that appealed to us. At St. Paul's we did get a pretty good look at the very impressive and very big building, because we had a little bit of time before the service. Before the churches, we hit the Sherlock Holmes museum, which was a real treat and well done, and stopped by Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park to listen to some more-or-less crazy people ranting. I was intrigued by the people who stood there and argued passionately with the speakers. It seemed like wasted effort to me.
Monday, thanks to Chelsey's brother and his family, we went up the London Eye, on a perfect day to do so. We got a great view over West London and a glimpse of the East End. Afterwards, we walked through the heart of British power - from Parliament Square, up Whitehall past Downing Street (which had big gates and guards to keep us out) to Trafalgar Square, then through St. James Park (where we almost got attacked by brave pelicans) to Buckingham Palace. It was an interesting walk, especially when thinking about all the history that centred on that area. St. James Park was quite beautiful, although Buckingham Palace was a bit underwhelming on the outside. Chelsey doesn't think it looks very homey, and we read in our guidebook that the Queen agrees with her. We went back on Wednesday for the changing of the guard, which was a bit overrated. A lot of people, not a lot of action.
Tuesday we hit the British Museum, which was more than enough to take up a whole day. The highlight was probably the Rosetta Stone, although we also quite enjoyed some free guided tours through various rooms that the museum offered. We took tours on the Renaissance, Ancient Egypt, and the Roman Empire. It was very well done.
Before we left Wednesday, we managed to squeeze in one more attraction, the Tower Bridge. We took the tour, which meant we got to walk across the upper walkway. It was quite interesting.
This has become a long blog post, because there was a lot to do in London - and there's still quite a bit we didn't get to or would like to go back for. Next time.
-Jason