A Very London Birthday

Yesterday (Monday, July 26) was my 28th birthday!  How did I celebrate?  By enjoying the city of London!  Jared and I got an early morning start, had breakfast at our hotel, and then visited a few museums.  First, we went to the British Museum, which is not like you might expect -- there's actually nothing British about it.  It houses artifacts from around the world.  Here are a few pics:

Jared in front of the British Museum

Inside the British Museum

Rosetta Stone, inside the British Museum

After that, we grabbed lunch at a pizza cafe and then made our way to the Museum of London.  I loved this museum!  (Jared will tell you that I fell asleep in one of the film segments, but this is no indication of my feelings toward the museum -- traveling is exhausting!)  The museum gave a comprehensive, interactive overview of the history of the city of London (or Londinium, as it was first called by the Romans).

Then, we made our way to the London Eye (the big ferris wheel along the Thames River).  Admission includes one trip around the ferris wheel, and a 4D "experience" video.  It takes about 30 minutes for the wheel to make one revolution, giving you plenty of time to take breathtaking aerial photos of London.  Each capsule holds as many as 30 people. Here are a few pics from our London Eye flight:

After the London Eye, we came back to our hotel to rest up and freshen up. Then Jared treated me to a birthday dinner at Nando's, which is just down the street from our hotel.  Delicious!  After that, we went to Piccadilly Circus (London's poor attempt at mimicking Times Square) to meet up with Amanda (from my Oxford program) and her boyfriend David.  We went to a nearby pub and had a few beers to celebrate my birthday and catch up on our London travel stories.  Amanda and David headed back to their hotel, and Jared and I decided to walk around the city a bit.  London is so nice in the evenings!  It stays light out late and has a crisp coolness, like autumn in Virginia.  We sat in Trafalgar Square and did some ever-so-entertaining people-watching.

All-in-all, it was the perfect first day of year 28!