Lots of Visitors!

Our good friends, Josh and Angie, got here bright and early on Thursday morning. Josh is Jordan's best friend from college, and he was also a groomsman in our wedding. He is the one who is living in our house for us while we're here in London, which has been such a blessing! Angie and I played volleyball together at Whitworth for 3 years, since she was a year younger than me, and have maintained a great friendship ever since. So Jordan and I decided to play matchmaker, which is something we rarely do, and now Angie and Josh are dating! :) 

Now that you have the background... 

Josh and Angie were troopers from the time they got to our flat, determined to beat the jet lag, and wanted to hit the ground running! Our first stop was the Tower of London, which is something Jordan and I had been saving to do for when visitors were here. The Tower is one of London's oldest standing buildings, and has been used for everything from a castle to a jail. Most people know it as the place where they held executions, most famously for Queen Anne (aka: Anne Boleyn.) For those of you who don't know a ton of history (like me), go rent the movie The Other Boleyn Girl with Natalie Portman -- this movie explains a ton of England's history with a little Hollywood mixed in. :)

Right across the river from the Tower of London is the city hall building, which is one of my favorite buildings in London. It is totally modern, and shaped like an egg -- I just think it is so cute and random!

Also by the Tower of London is the well-known Tower Bridge. Although we walked across it and went up in the towers with Kelli last week, we weren't able to get any pictures from far away. It really is magnificent!

Josh and Jordan of course had to seek out all the war weapons and torture chambers within the Tower. Is this just a universal boy thing?! At any rate, these two have way too much fun together. :)

Not only did they seek out all the weapons, they volunteered to participate in a demonstration in front of everyone to use this ancient catapult! They actually had a "guys vs. girls" competition, and Angie volunteered for the girls team. Yes, you guessed it, I was the mom holding everyone's bags and taking pictures. :) It was pretty hilarious watching all of them partake in launching this catapult in the Tower of London... with water balloons, of course. I actually took a video of it, which is at the end of this blog post, so check it out!

Here are Jord and I in front of Tower Bridge. If you can't tell, it was windy, rainy, and COLD...

Angie and Josh currently hold the record for how late they stayed up on their first night here, 9:30pm! Jordan and I made it until about 3:45pm, and Josh and Johanna made it until about 5:30pm. I was seriously impressed!

The next day we split up and had some girl time/boy time. :) The boys went to the Imperial War Museum, while Angie and I did some shopping and got sundaes at Harrods. Yes, I do realize I just posted this exact same picture a week ago. And yes, I do realize this is two gigantic sundaes in one week. What can I say... I choose my friends wisely! :)

Jordan's parents and grandparents arrived that same afternoon, so we met up with them afterwards at their hotel and helped them get settled in so they could rest that night and get caught up on sleep. Josh, Angie, Jordan, and I had a big double-date night planned -- we got dressed up, and went and saw the play Wicked, which was unreal! It was unlike any of the plays we have seen so far -- the most amazing sets and talented performers. We are starting to realize that it's pretty impossible to see a bad performance in London, since London's theater reputation is said to be as good or better than New York's broadway performances. You really do get the real deal here!

The next morning, we all met up with Jordan's parents and grandparents to go on the London Eye, which is the highest viewing point in London. Basically, the Eye is a giant ferris wheel that takes a half hour to go around once, and each of its capsules holds up to 25 people. I can't remember exactly how high it goes, but it's somewhere around 450 feet tall at the highest point. It's an awesome way to see London!

Even though a couple people in our group aren't too fond of heights (I won't mention any names...), everyone managed to enjoy the ride. The Eye really moves so slowly and quietly that you almost don't feel like you're moving at all!

Here is the capsule in front of ours at one of the highest points of the ride overlooking the whole city.

Jordan's parents, Russ and Brenda, enjoying the view...

The view of the Thames River on our descent from the London Eye...

Here is a photo of the London Eye as we were walking away from it. It's really hard to comprehend how big it really is through pictures. I have another photo of it from a previous post that shows the whole thing; click here to see it. 

After the Eye, Angie and Josh went to do some more exploring while Jordan and I went with his parents to track down their rental car. His parents and grandparents are staying in Bedford in a timeshare for the rest of their trip, which is about an hour north of London. We got them situated and on their way to Bedford, and met back up with Josh and Angie for their last night in London. Josh treated us to an amazing dinner at an Indian restaurant, which was so nice of him! And as a side note, Jordan and I are starting to LOVE Indian food! Yummm...

Then we wandered down to Piccadilly Circus to see all the billboards lit up at night. Piccadilly Circus is like the Times Square of London -- it is such a crazy, fun atmosphere down there!

Josh and Angie left really early Sunday morning to go to Spain, and then later to Scotland before they go back home. It was sad to see them go, but we were so glad they were able to come visit us!

Jordan's parents and grandparents found their way back into London, and we all headed down to Westminster Abbey for an Evensong service that afternoon. Afterwards, we did some wandering with Jordan's parents around Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace.

I made Jordan's parents do the cute, red phone booth picture. :) I think this is almost a right of passage when you come to London. 

It is Monday morning now (even though the date of this post says Sunday because I started it yesterday), and Jordan is taking a final exam as I type this. He has one more on Friday, and then he's done! We sent Jordan's parents and grandparents out to Windsor Castle for the day, and then they are going to meet up with us tonight to see Oliver, which is the musical of Oliver Twist. I was in charge of buying the tickets this morning, and I am super excited because I was able to get us box seats for the same price as 2nd level seats! I have never sat in a box seat for a play, and I am always secretly jealous when I see the people in the box seats. :)

We have a day trip planned to Dover tomorrow with the whole gang, and then we will be staying out in Bedford with them that night. Lots of fun to come!

Here is the video of Jordan and Josh volunteering for the catapult demonstration at the Tower of London. You will hear me gasp after they pull the ropes because Jordan actually fell down... he claims that he was just giving it a 100% effort. :) Enjoy!