Hampton Court Palace, Westminster Abbey, plus Houses of Parliament and Brittany's Birthday (photos & videos)

Between Easter, the Royal Wedding, and the Bank Holidays, I had two consecutive 4-day weekends. That's why we decided to do our trip to Spain and Portugal in April. To conclude this wonderful season of being untethered to my laptop or Blackberry, we visited Hampton Court Palace and Westminster Abbey. Hampton Court Palace was one of Henry VIII's primary residences, about 12 miles southwest of London. A lot of the videos I took of the interior were even drier than usual, so I trimmed a lot of it out. It was a really interesting palace, though. I think one of my favorite things was the plethora of chimneys. It was like THIS scene from Mary Poppins.

Entrance to Hampton Court Palace

Dragons were part of the Tudor Coat of Arms.

The main quad inside the front gate

Impeccably landscaped courtyard

Guns and swords and spears, oh my!

Reminds me of Ebeneezer Scrooge (McDuck)

William of Orange's orangery

The gardens

Even after hundreds of years in the sun, some Brits still can't get tan.

We thought about making an offer on this house, but we questioned the resale value.

We then headed back to London to do a tour of Westminster Abbey. They still had some of the decorations up from the Royal Wedding, so we figured it would be a good time to visit. They don't allow cameras inside, so we just got some footage outside. The cathedral is interesting because it seems like it's 95% tombs and crypts of famous people from history, including royalty, politicians, scientists, artists, authors, and so on. We discovered two cases of irony.

1. Charles Darwin - We were just amused by the fact that the "father of evolution" was buried in a Christian church.
2. Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I - These two daughters of Henry VIII did not get along well at all. "Bloody Mary" actually imprisoned Elizabeth (who later succeeded Mary on the throne) on suspicion of assisting Protestant rebels. I wonder who decided that they should be buried right next to each other!

Awesome Gothic architecture

Love those external buttresses.

This is the side where William & Kate entered/exited for their wedding.

So we actually went to the Palace of Westminster (aka Houses of Parliament) a while ago with our friends Paul and Anne, but we forgot to post about it. Honestly, this was one of favorite sites we've visited in all of Europe. In addition to really cool architecture, the history here is incredible. They also take you through the House of Commons where lawmakers get to berate the Prime Minister with condescending questions. If you ever visit London, be sure to check if they're doing tours. We highly recommend it.

The iconic clock tower housing Big Ben

Statue of Oliver Cromwell in the middle and Victoria Tower to the right

Big Ben is now commonly used to refer to the tower itself, not just the bell.

The wind picked up, so you can see the Union Jack flying.

Westminster Hall is almost 1,000 years old, and is one of the few places inside you can take pictures.

As we exited, we got a good laugh from the Tweed Run.

With Paul & Anne (Paul's the one that converted me to Arsenal.)

Taken from Westminster Bridge

The cake we got for Brittany's birthday could not have been any more chocolatey. Luckily, this served as a great platform for some pyrotechnics. She had a great birthday, and we're both excited to enjoy one of her presents this week. We'll be doing a tandem bungee jump out near Windsor. Geronimo!

Go big or go home.

I think chocolate is the main reason her hair is naturally brown.