First stop was the Tower Bridge. It's safe to say this is one of the top ten most recognizable bridges in the world. (The other nine being in NYC, the greatest city in the world.) Right next to the bridge is the Tower of London. Pretty amazing place. If you're in London, this tour is not to be missed. The 90% of London's history happened within these walls. Originally, it was used as a palace, with many kings and queens living here. Even Sir Issac Newton lived within these walls (as a guest only.) Then, as we all know, the Tower was home to some of England's most famous prisoners. I found the armor and crown jewel exhibits to be fascinating. Ellen, on the other hand, really enjoyed the torture chamber exhibits. But enough about the Tower of London . .. off to the next stop.
No trip to London is complete without seeing Big Ben. For the record, Big Ben is the bell in this clock tower. It's sister bell, the Liberty Bell, is in Philadelphia. Interestingly, both bells have cracks in them. The tour guide said that this is the most accurate clock in the world, but we didn't have time to verify this statement. We were off to the next sight. . . .
Trafalgar Square! The home of the Lord Admiral Nelson column and the four biggest lion statues I've even seen. Ellen didn't hesitate showing off her climbing abilities. She quickly scaled the eight foot base wall, then she crawled on to the lion's back. It was pretty wet, so I was sure she was going to fall, but she surprised us all! 
This is one of the last remaining portions of the London Wall. It's the city wall that the Romans built around 200 AD. Ellen loves Roman history, so she wanted to get a picture of herself touching the stones.
Unfortunately, you can't really tell from this picture, but when Ellen "touched" the wall, one of the stones fell out! She had to carefully put it back into position. As soon as I saw what was happening, my first instinct was to grab my passport and run. I knew that Scotland Yard would send a bunch cops to capture the American tourists. Fortunately, we escaped. I'm thinking I should wait about 7 years before it's safe to go back.
As we were walking around the streets of London, we noticed a big crowd. We were wondering what was going on, when all of the sudden I notice my buddy Matt in the crowd! Seriously, what are the odds.
Matt and I graduated from UW's masters program together and we both worked at PwC for a couple years. Most times I got in trouble at work are directly attributed to this guy. Skipping work to go golfing and see movies were his ideas. Matt will also be making an appearance at the wedding in August, so be warned.
This is a great picture of Ellen's job interview. She applied to be a guard. Unfortunately, she didn't get the job. They said she smiled after only three hours. It's a good thing she hadn't quit her job at Morgan Stanley yet.
With her dreams of being a guard crushed, Ellen decided that archery is a growth industry. So, she tried her luck at pulling this mechanical bow. It tests for strength and stability. Surprisingly, Ellen actually scored a perfect! No joke. However, due to lack of health benefits and a sub-par 401(k) plan, Ellen passed on this job offer. Speaking of great jobs. . . .
Here's a picture of PwC's finest! Starting from left to right: Casie and I worked in Seattle together. I probably worked more hours with Casie than anyone else at PwC, probably some of the best times, as well. She's a Cougar, though. Next up is Chris. Chris worked in the Portland office. If your power is on right now, you can thank Chris for keeping the Northwest utilities in business. Chris is a Duck, even worse. The third accountant in this line-up of usual suspects is Moritz. First of all, Moritz is Swiss. I'm sure he'd like me to say right now that Switzerland is the home of the greatest tennis player and the only land-locked country to ever win the America's Cup. Moritz wishes above all else in the world that he could be a Husky.Casie and Chris live in London and were great tour guides. Also, congratulations to them! They just got engaged. Very exciting. Moritz just happened to be in town for the weekend staying with them, so it worked out great. We all got to meet up and tour the city.
Here's a picture of the ladies causing trouble. Ellen is attempting to ring the bell at Sting's house and Casie is cheering her on. I took this picture as evidence in case the police came that it wasn't me who rang the door bell. After touring around the city, Casie and Chris gave us a tour of their private garden. Moritz was quickly distracted by the toys at the playground.
Moritz couldn't resist. He had to take this new toy for a test drive!
However, the toy proved to be too challenging, so Chris had to provide a hand to help Moritz turn the shovel machine. After seeing how challenging this toy was, we all decided not to even bother trying. Instead, we decided it was time for a drink!
Here is the group cheersing and having a drink in the private garden in the Notting Hill neighborhood. It doesn't get much better than this!
At the end of the night and the end of the trip, there was only one thing left to do. Go out from some drinks. Here's a great group shot. Only problem is that we took this picture before Matt arrived. Matt met up with us later that night after we saw him at the Tower of London. Pretty small world.
What a great weekend! Special thanks go to Casie and Chris for being great hosts. I'd also like to let Moritz know that we're running low on delicious Swiss chocolates, please send more!
