Today held some frustration among the adventures. It started out with a bus and subway ride into London, and a long walk to locate the British Museum. Once we arrived, we stopped outside the gates to get some chili-dogs, and frustrate our husband by feeding the pigeons ;)
The British Museum does not charge an entrance fee, but does have areas set up for donations. We walked through the ancient Roman exhibit, the Viking exhibit (my favorite), the Egyptian exhibits, and much, much more. The museum is massive - and we honestly could have spent several days walking through it. Unfortunately, it was inside the museum that I realized I left my SD card in my computer from the night before - and could not take any photos. This also happened to be the only day on the trip so far that both Angie and I left our backpacks at the apartment - containing all extra camera supplies. This was the first frustration - but to my expensive luck, a Cannon store was nearby where I was able to purchase another SD card to document the rest of the day.
After the British Museum, we set out to locate the Knight's Templar. This was high on Matt's list of places to find, and we probably spent a total of two hours trying to locate it. This marked the second frustration of the day - our inability to locate the Knight's Templar. However, like everything else this trip held - we stumbled upon a pleasant surprise during our search. On a side street, we found a man updating printed pictures and signs on a corner of a small black fence. We asked him for directions to the Templar, and pointed us in the right direction, but not before asking us if we wanted to view his church. We initially said yes out of courtesy, but he then explained that he is responsible for maintaining the small, but private church of the Queen of England. He said that the Queen pays for all maintenance and fees for this church out of her own pocket. The man explained that the church is not open to the public, but wanted to show us around. He proceeded to explain that someone from the royal court visits the church 1-2 times per year, and his faced glowed with pride upon telling us that they are expecting someone very soon - and that they have been working their hardest to make the church look perfect. During our tour of this quaint church, a group of people came to the door to look inside, and they were told that this was a private church - and not allowed inside.
After the Queens church, we set out to find the Templar again - with no success. So we decided to get lunch instead. We stopped at an Australian eatery and marked off a couple more items on our bucket list; tasking kangaroo, and drinking a fishbowl beverage.
We then headed to the London Eye. The lines were ridiculously long, and since we at the end of our trip- we just paid the extra 10 pounds to skip the lines. All I can say about that - totally worth it! It would be getting dark soon, and we had some buses and subway trains to catch back to our apartment. (By the way - the creepers definitely come out in full force at night time. Though my dear husband Charlie didn't notice a single thing, Angie and Matt found it hilarious that Angie and I kept getting stared at. haha). Anyway, the London Eye was simply amazing! Here are some photos from that:
View from the eye
Me and Angie
Charlie and I
Charlie, me, Angie, and Matt
Matt photo-bombing Charlie
Matt and Angie
This was essentially the last of our trip. We slept in the London apartment this night, and flew back to Dublin the next day. We settled in a bed and breakfast in Dublin, walked the Temple Bar District (which I recommend over the other parts of Dublin), got some beers, and relaxed the rest of the day. That evening, we watched a traditional Irish Dancing show, with a local band as the opening act. This was performed at the Arlington Hotel in the Temple Bar District. I did not get photos, but the performance was purely outstanding. If you ever find your self in Dublin - be sure to see this show.
