England, United Kingdom
We (Al, I and the Beemer) took the EuroTunnel (Chunnel) train over late last night and spent the day in Canterbury. This is a very cute little town about an hour outside of London. We stayed at a very old hotel that had a lot of character to it. Not one of our favorites but it did the trick.
The English countryside is beautiful. In fact, I've enjoyed the countryside in Germany, Austria and England. Amsterdam had beautiful flower gardens and we didn't get to see much of Belgium except the freeways. The traffic in both Belgium and the Netherlands is apalling. Because they both have big ports in these countries, there is a lot of truck traffic. Combine this with accidents, road improvements and 4-lane highways, the end results was almost a missed train ride!Canterbury
The home of the Anglican Church, Canterbury is a neat little town with cobblestone streets and smart shops. The hotel was right next to the church, and we had one incredible view of the building on our walk to the room (you had to walk on the roof to access our room – kinda interesting, yet weird).
Greenwich
Our first stop is Greenwich, home of the Royal Observatory. For those of you who are not geeks, this is the sight where the Prime Meridian was established to set a 0 degree longitude for the entire globe and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is measured from as well.
From my days in military weather, we measured all of our times in zulu, which is GMT. This format is used to have one standard time for anywhere on Earth...it synchronizes all operations. 
Anyway, for a geek like myself, I couldn't help but enjoy the fact that I finally made it to this place. Plus, the walk thru Greenwich Park is absolutely gorgeous – acres upon acres of green grass and trees that are well-maintained in line with the English way.London
Driving in London is a little crazy, but for the most part the major arteries are well-marked and we are able to get towards our destination with few problems. I just forget how enormous this metropolitan area is...we drive for miles on the city streets that takes forever. The London Motorway ring circles the city about 25 miles out...almost all freeways that enter the city quickly become streets once they past the ring. So, it takes forever to get from one side to the other.
Westminster Abbey
We head straight for this attraction since it closes at 2:45pm and all day Sunday. Just as we get there around 1:20pm, we are informed that the line is closed (by about 5 minutes) due to the national holiday. I'm more disappointed for Locke, since I did get to see this place the last time I was in London. But it annoyed me that a busy attraction can just shut its doors with no public announcement.
British Museum
After getting peeved at the Abbey, we head for the British Museum via the Underground. This is one spectacular place with a lobby that was redesigned a few years ago that's truly breath-taking.
Even better, the place is free – yes, no charge! So, we prioritize what we wanted to see: the Rosetta Stone, the Greek statues, and the Egyptian mummies. For those who need a history lesson, the Rosetta Stone was the key that allowed modern-day archeologists to decipher hieroglyphics.
It had three languages etched into it: Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptian demonics (everyday ancient language), and Ancient Greek. It was the Greek that allowed the translation to occur. The Greek statues were interesting, but many were in bad shape or were not in whole pieces. 
The part I enjoyed best were the mummies. The museum is renowned for having one of the best displays the world over... and I was not disappointed. Not only was Nefertiti's mummy on display, but numerous others to display the mummy practice that created this unusual art form. Even the sacred cat had its own little section!Phantom of the Opera
For the evening, we had tickets for a play in London's renowned Theatre District. Locke and I had seen Sarah Brightman a few months back (original star in Phantom of the Opera), so I chose this play which was still running strong after 19 consecutive years. Locke saw the original stars when the play staged a roadshow in LA, but I had not seen it yet (or saw the stupid movie either). What I saw was great – though not at the caliber of the original cast (Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman), the two leads held their own and I was definitely moved by the guy who played the phantom. The only downer was Christine's love interest...his voice was a little weak. Overall, we had a wonderful time on the town and headed for a local English restaurant that provided the perfect nightcap to our busy first day in London.
-- Locke & Al
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