Rambling Engineers: We see London, we see France...

Part 2 of several.

Jet lag is literally the worst thing in the world. It had its talons snared into both of us for most of London. But we managed to push through and actually enjoy the bits for which we were awake.

To get a good look at the city in general, we grabbed tickets for a Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour around the city. Not only did we get to ride on a double-decker bus, but we got a pretty good guided tour at the same time.

Open top buses are great, but rainy.

We hopped off at Buckingham Palace, just in time to be at the very back of the crowd for the daily changing of the guard.

Mary had to scale a wall to get this picture

We made our way to Harrods (Tyler: Apparently it's a famous shopping place?) and wandered around until we realized we couldn't afford anything without taking out a loan. For dinner, we found the most British of foods: Indian cuisine.

On Mary's birthday, we visited the Churchill War Museum, housed in the bunker originally used in WWII. We both thought it was pretty cool, but hard to get pictures (it was underground, after all). For any history buffs planning a trip to London: do this. Making our way to the original Hard Rock Cafe, we stopped to say hi to some fellows in funny hats.

They weren't very chatty.

Although Hard Rock is an American chain, it was started in London, so it seemed right to visit. Their vault had some pretty cool items.

Are you experienced?

I just can't look him in the eyes after seeing the Labyrinth.

We decided to stick our necks out and go to the Tower of London (see what we did there?!). After waiting in an absurdly long line, we got a short tour with a Beefeater, who was very informative and hilarious. The Tower of London is also where the Crown Jewels reside, although we did not want to wait in a 2 hour line to go in for 20 minutes.

No one really knows why they are called "Beefeaters"

Everyone to the right of center is in line to see the family Jewels.

We managed to develop a taste for tea while abroad (while in Rome, etc.), so we stopped in the Twinings shop at 216 Strand, where they've been located since 1706 (no, really).

It's that wide all the way back.

Not to sound like a snob, but it is better than your average American tea.

As nerds on vacation, we also stopped in the Science Museum, London.

As frugal recent graduates on vacation, we skipped the paid tour of Westminster Abbey in favor of attending a free service. After navigating our way through a protest about badgers on the front lawn of Parliment, we entered the church for their evensong service. We both agree that this was the best thing about London. The Abbey was beautiful and listening to the Choir of Westminster Abbey was an experience in itself.