Lawn Tennis and Royal Staterooms - Does it get more British than that?

When we first arrived in London we felt that we would NEVER attempt to drive in central London. Well, we gave it a go after dropping mom at Heathrow yesterday and were pleasantly surprised. Maybe the downpour discouraged the usual weekend traffic but the weather cleared up for the most part and we even found free parking everywhere we went!

First stop, Wimbledon All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. That's a mouthful! This turned out to be a really fantastic tour followed by an interesting trip through the Wimbledon Tennis Museum. The grounds are beautiful and it was fun to go in all of the show courts and the press room and sit as if we were attending the big event. The brackets were still posted from the recent tournament, which was fun to see since we watched it. Megan told us this was worth doing and she was right - thanks, Megs!

Then it was on to Buckingham Palace to tour the Royal Staterooms and gardens, which are only open while the Queen is in residence in Scotland during August and September. The drive from Wimbledon to Buckingham took us through some very nice areas. I can only imagine what some of that real estate sells for! While we were waiting at a traffic light in the circular drive around the front of Buckingham Palace, we rolled down our car window and talked to a cab driver. He told us to try looking for parking in the neighborhood just south of the palace because some of those spaces are free on the weekends. BINGO - we got lucky and were set for the rest of the day.

With tickets to the 3:30 tour in hand, we set off towards the palace to begin. Buckingham Palace is incredibly opulent with ornate, gilded ceilings and HUGE crystal chandeliers in every room. I have decided that I prefer to tour the working castles and palaces. You can just imagine what it would be like to attend an event there. Just as we completed the indoor tour the rain resumed for our walk through the garden. I guess that is what umbrellas are for and it didn't last too long.

To kill time before dinner we opted to walk through St. James Park, new to both of us, and then on past The Guard Museum, Churchill War Rooms, Big, Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey. That worked up an appetite that led us to an Italian restaurant called Zizzi. I thoroughly enjoyed a wood-fired pizza that measured up to what you would find in the states (I am not generally a big fan of the pizza here). After all of the walking, we didn't mind getting in the car for the hour and a half drive home.

We spent some time today planning our next few trips and quickly realizing that we waited too long before booking our Cornwall hotels on the upcoming Bank Holiday weekend! The search is on...