The Monument

In London, there are some pretty cool monuments. One of them is cleverly named, The Monument. The Monument was dedicated to be a monument to the great fire. The great fire was in 1666, and it lasted for 3 days. There are only 6 deaths recorded, but it is known that many others died from indirect causes. It has 311 steps to the top.

You are able to climb to the top for a cost of 4 pounds for adults and 2 pounds for children. Last time we were in London, we did not climb The Monument. This time we decided that we would all climb The Monument. 

While we were there, we climbed all 311 steps. Once we got to the top, my mom and I had a little bit of vertigo. The staircase was a spiral staircase, so when you looked down you saw a HUGE drop. I put the picture on here so you can see just a little bit of the experience.

At the top, there is not a lot of space between the wall and the edge. As you can see, now there is a rail and netting. I really enjoyed this, but it is the kind of thing that you do once and then you're done. I would really suggest doing this.

Mom and Dad on top of The Monument.

Knox and I on top of The Monument, if you look closely in the background you can see the Tower Bridge.

The Monument from the bottom looking up.

Knox and me on the staircase up.

The spiral staircase looking down from the top of  The Monument.

Shopping in London

Many of the stores in London have a huge sale in June making almost everything in the store discounted. Being a Boyd, I, of course, love to shop. Though Lafayette does have some shopping, it is not quite the level of shopping I prefer. Since we have been here, I have been introduced to many different stores, many of which are super cute. In this blog post I am going to tell you about a few of my favorites.

This first store is probably my favorite--Cath Kidston. This is a store that sells clothes and bags and decor. It is kind of a combination of Matilda Jane, Laura Ashley, and Anthropologie. My favorite parts are all the bags. They have unique patterns that are super cute and would go perfectly with my Matilda Jane. Though this store isn't unreasonable, it also isn't completely in my price range for everything. 

After going to the some of the actual Cath Kidston stores, I was kind of sad that I couldn't just get everything I wanted. As I was thinking about how sad I was that I couldn't get anything, I found the ultimate steal. At one of the many charity shops (like Goodwill) we go to, I found one of the bigger bags in a flower pattern. Normally in a Cath Kidston shop this kind of bag is about 50 dollars. At this charity shop I got it for about 10 dollars.

Another store I enjoy is called Oliver Bonas. This store is more like a cheaper Kate Spade type store. Although I haven't actually gotten any of their products yet, I think their style is super cute. I am one of those people who doesn't actually buy that much when I go into a store, I just like to look and wish. 

The last store I am going to tell you about is more of a food store. It is called the Chocolate Hotel. This is a store that has walls lined with different kinds of chocolate. So far, I have only tried the passionfruit chocolate, but it was delicious. I also just like to go in and see all the different chocolate.

Although I love all of these shops, I haven't gotten much from any of them, if I got anything at all. I know that I will get to continue shopping (in my kind of way) at many other stores during this long trip.