Day 2 - London

Houses of Parliament

 After a restful and much needed night sleep, we toured the City of Westminster on the second day of our European vacation. Luckily, this is in the same neighborhood as our hotel and most of the sites were within a few blocks.

The first stop was the very cool-looking, gothic-style Houses of Parliament. It is a shame that the pictures do not do it justice. The building was enormous. The Houses of Parliament is a single building consisting of 1,100 rooms and containing the two houses of Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Houses of Parliament

As with most of the older structures of London, the Parliament building suffered damage from several fires and the Blitz in 1940. Its last reconstruction was completed in 1941, and the structure was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

Big Ben

Apparently, Big Ben is leaning!  We heard the London icon was in danger of one day tumbling into the Thames River on the news the night we gazed upon the Parliament Building.

Big Ben is the nickname of the great bell atop the tower at the north end of Parliament Square. The name Big Ben is generally extended as the entire tower structure.

The bells inside the 320-foot-tall tower were so loud I debated calling my mom so she could hear their tolling power. Alas, I doubt she would've appreciated a call at 2:30 a.m. Houston time.

We did have a fellow tourist offer to take the picture of both Snoops and I in front of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

Westminster Abbey - North Facade

After visiting the Houses of Parliament, we ambled over to historic Westminster Abbey, which most recently made headlines worldwide for serving as the site of Prince William and Catherine Middleton's royal wedding. Talk about VIP!

The church isn't just an up-and-comer on the celeb scene. It has a long history of being the stomping ground for celebrations and mournings of national and global proportions.





 Westminster Abbey has been the coronation site for England's kings and queens since 1066, and historians consider it as one of the greatest churches in the English-speaking world. The abbey contains 3,000 tombs, including the remains of 29 kings and queens. We visited many of the tombs inside the church, including the tombs of Queen Elizabeth I and her sister Mary Queen of Scots. Also, the tombs of the two princes murdered in the Tower of London were buried in the same chapel as Queen Elizabeth I.



Snoops had a great time exploring the tombs and memorials to some of the greatest writers in Poet's Corner, a section of the abbey designated for literary folk. Some of the writers he had studied in college years were buried at the abbey. We saw the memorials and tombs for William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens, and Rudyard Kipling just to name a few.

Text on the outer wall of Westminster Abbey

"May God grant to the living, 

Grace to the departed, 

Rest to the church & the world,

Peace and concord

and to us sinners

Eternal Life" was found carved into the exterior of the abbey.

 I remember walking into the abbey for the first time and feeling so small. The floors were the typical checkered black and white and just on the inside began the memorials and tombs. The nave is flanked by side aisles which contain rows of smaller, themed chapels. The chapels sometimes were very crowded with the tombs and it was hard to believe that sometimes I was stepping on grave sites.

Inside, near the western entrance contained the tomb of the unknown warrior. The warrior was brought from France in November 1920 to be buried "with the kings because he had done good to God and toward his house." The Queen herself laid a wreath of red flowers around the grave.

Archway over the northern entrance to Westminster Abbey

After we completed our audio guided tour of Westminster Abbey, we crossed the busy streets over to visit Whitehall. Whitehall is the main artery of Britain. It's a road running north-south from Parliament Square towards Charing Cross to the southern end of Trafalgar Square. It is recognized as the center of British Government and is the access point for 13 of its top federal authorities. British authorities found on Whitehall include the Ministry of Defence, the formal Scotland Yard building, HM Revenue and Customs, Department of Health and the Cabinet Offices.

 Right in the middle of Whitehall is the semi-obelisk honoring those lost in World War I and II. The actual war monument is the tomb atop the obelisk, which is without markings except for "The Glorious Dead."

Going through history in school, we had learned about the world wars, but since the United States has (thankfully) never had to fight a war of the same magnitude on home soil the world wars always seemed so far away. We found London and Paris had not yet completely recovered from the two world wars.

The tomb for "The Glorious Dead" is empty and remains so as a symbol for those who went to battle only to never return.

While walking down Whitehall, we came across a heavily guarded gate. This is the residence of the Prime Minister. Of course, he wasn't outside greeting the tourists, but the officers seemed to work with the tourists by allowing photographs. To be honest, I am not sure which window was his. Snoops pointed and I snapped.

Royal Blue - Standing Guard

We continued down where we found the Royal Blues standard guard at the back entrance to the St. James Park of Buckingham Palace. The guards have stood here for over 200 years and they are considered the Queen's royal bodyguards.

I felt so bad for the poor guards. The had to sit like this while onlookers made silly faces and posed for the cameras. The horses didn't seem amused either. Even though I felt bad for all of the guys having to have their picture taken, I still took one of them and of the horses.

Horse of a Royal Blue

 As mentioned before, we walked south along Whitehall toward Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square was teeming with locals and tourists, like a giant playground for everyone. At the center of the square is a 170 foot-tall Corinthian column adorned with a statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson.

At the corners of the column's base were four huggable lions. From a distance, we could see kids and adults posing for pictures atop the lions, so I was excited to get my own picture with one of the big guys. But as we inched closer to the kings of the jungle, I discovered how big they really were. I had to scale a six-foot-tall marble wall just to reach the base the lions were perched upon, and that's not easy for someone of my size. Snoops was able to help me climb the wall, but the top of the lions' rear ends were six feet above that. Kids were able to reach the lions back with the help of their parents. Despite Snoops' encouragement, I didn't get my picture.

Lion at Trafalgar Square

 Across the square from the column was the British National Gallery. So many people had packed its entryway that Snoops and I became concerned about a chaotic environment similar to the British Museum.

National Gallery

 While standing in Trafalgar Square, Snoopy had a sparkle in his eye about the thought of visiting Emirates Stadium, the home of his favorite football team - Arsenal. When I refer to football here, it is soccer, but since we were in England and they refer to it as football, it is football here. There was no way that I could deny Snoops his chance to tour the stadium, so we hopped into the nearest London Underground station bound for Islington.

Box Office at Emirates Stadium

Emirates Stadium

 We left the Islington stop and strolled through the very diverse neighborhood bound for Emirates Stadium. There weren't as many tourists on this route so it was different seeing the true England and Londoners about their daily lives. As we turned our last corner, Emirates Stadium showed itself between the buildings in the distance in its red glory. I do not get to see Snoopy so excited often, so I was thrilled to be with him while he explored something he loved.

Emirates Stadium

We took a guided tour with about 15 other Gunners fans. We began in the visitors owner's box, where we had an amazing view of the stadium. Emirates is the new stadium that in 2006 replaced its much-loved predecessor, Highbury. In the box, the leaders of the visiting team are greeted unlimited alcohol and flowers bearing the colors of their squad. If Chelsea were  to visit, then the flowers would be blue. If Manchester United were to visit, the flowers would be red and white.

Tunnel on to the pitch

Next, we moved down into the players locker room, where the players prepare for the upcoming match. The players in the home side get luxuries, including rubber floors to prevent slipping, hot tubs and showers. The room itself is designed to fit to Feng Shui standards in an attempt to bring the best of luck to the players.

After the players are ready, they make their way through the tunnel onto the pitch. It reminded me of walking through the tunnel at Rice Stadium before a band competition.

Pitch under false sunlight

The pitch is what Americans call the field. They take extremely good care of the pitch, not only to keep the ball rolling properly but also to protect the players who cannot have the extra stability of taped ankles. The pitch has a mixture of a fake turf sewn into the sod to prevent divots and destruction. They can play several games a week without any damage to the pitch.




Since England does not get as much sun as Houston, they have false light machines that roll over the field to provide the sunlight required for growth.

At the top of Emirates is a replica of the famed Highbury clock. Snoops was fascinated by this because he thought at first it was the same clock that was at Highbury. When he asked the tour guide, she claimed that the original clock was so small it appeared like a wrist watch so they made a replica for Emirates.

Seats for Arsenal Players

 We were sad to leave Emirates, but it was a worthwhile trip to Islington. I am very happy that Snoopy got to see it first hand.

We made our way back into central London and walked London's east end, where we found some dinner. We ended up stopping in an old pub and restaurant where we tried true England beer. I learned here that I actually do like beer, I just like the beer that probably cannot be found in the United States.

Tower Bridge

After dinner, we continued our Thames River walk where I snapped some lovely pictures of bridges that stretch over the mighty river.

Snoopy said that I was obsessed with the Tower Bridge. How could I not be? It looks so neat and takes wonderful pictures. Tower Bridge looked old but it was completed in 1894 so it is not as old as it looks.

London Bridge

London Bridge is consistently confused with Tower Bridge. London Bridge has a history beginning with the first rendition in 55 AD. It was the only bridge to cross the Thames until 1729. The London Bridge is also where the heads of the recently executed were placed as a warning to others not to commit treason. London Bridge has been re-built many times with the most recent being completed in 1973.




One of the last pictures that I snapped from the other side of the Thames River was of the great St. Paul's Cathedral at night time. I later found it to be one of my favorite churches in London.

St. Paul's Cathedral