Happy 4th of July!

Kevin took off early from work and we celebrated with a bike ride through Battersea Park. There's a bike docking station half a block from our flat. We registered our credit card, paid a pound and off we went!

The park is quite extensive: fields, ponds and bike paths throughout.

We came home, ate dinner and had a festive dessert of scones, clotted cream and berries.

Happy 4th to all back home!

Tower of London

Hey, Laura here. A few days ago we went to the Tower of London with my aunts and cousin, who have now left. It was very interesting and gruesome.

I had hoped that they would still have the heads of people mounted on the spikes, but I guess the people thought that it wouldn't be very good decor.

The Tower is the most visited attraction in London. Apparently a lot of people like death as a host.

Traitor's gate is a gate (duh) that led into the River Thames. The soldiers would row the prisoners into the Tower of London via the gate.

Here I am, waiting for the executioner to come and...well, you know. As the red queen in Alice in Wonderland said, "Off with her head!"

This was a really cool model of the Tower of London that was in one of towers we got to tour.

This is the story of two princes who were brought to the tower and never came back. We actually got to go in the tower where their bodies were found. Ooo....creepy.

Later we went into the torture room in the White Tower, which is probably the most infamous tower of all. This particular kind of torture was called the Scavenger's Daughter. It squeezed your body together so tight that blood sometimes came out of your eyes and ears. Remember...obey the King!

Also in the White Tower was this dragon that was made out of all sorts of medieval objects like scrolls, guns, armor, and other cool things.

I look miserable in this helmet that weighed more than a helmet should. I can't believe people had to wear this stuff.

This is my cousin and I with a beefeater. They're like information guys and tower guards at the same time. Don't you just love the outfit?

We went to a room where wild animals were kept back when the tower was a fully functional execution place and a zoo. You could actually pet tigers and I bet you can figure out how that charming story went.

After we finished in the tower, my aunt and I wanted to see the execution area, but the rest of our party didn't. We agreed to meet back at a tea shop, and my aunt and I went off to see the execution place. It took us longer than we expected, and when we went back to the tea shop, my mom, cousin, and other aunt weren't there. We figured they were somewhere else inside the Tower of London, and so we waited by the exit gates  until closing time. When they didn't come out, we just went back to the flat, feeling abandoned. We found them there, waiting for us, and we had a lot of good stories to share. So don't ever split up in the Tower of London, because you may never come out!

Visitors

My sister Jean, sister-in-law Wendy and nephew Michael are here for a week! Pam and Vicky, good friends from Portland who are working for a few months in England, came for a long weekend. We all had a wonderful time traipsing around town while enjoying the warmest weather London's had since we've been here.

Everyone arrived on Saturday. We gathered at our flat, caught up with each other and took off to a local pub for dinner.

Sunday we walked all over: down by the Thames, 

past parliament...

and the protesters,

through Soho

 and ended up in St. James's Park.

 

Along the way we popped into Foyles (a bookstore) and Hamleys (a toy store).

 

 Laura bought some Harry Potter jelly beans, and tasted one that was the flavor of centipede.

On Monday we visited the Tower of London...

 

and saw a production of Wicked.

 

We waited at the stage door afterwards and Laura got all the lead characters' autographs. She's pictured here with the actor who played Elphaba. So exciting!

Tuesday was our day for shopping. We went to Piccadilly Market and several souvenir shops before meeting up with Kevin for dinner at Google. 

Our neighborhood

Pimlico is the area in London where we're living. It's close to Westminster, Buckingham Palace, and other famous sights. Our neighborhood has old elegant buildings and lush garden squares; too bad they're all private. We love this area and have already found many great shops, markets and restaurants.

Many of the buildings in the area have columns framing the front doors with balconies above. This picture shows a private garden across from the homes. I was told that generally only those who live around the garden square have keys to the gates. Darn!

This view of a terrace garden is from one of our windows. We're lucky to be on the third floor and have five windows, each with wonderful views for watching the goings on of our neighborhood. I drink my coffee watching our neighborhood wake up every morning. I love it!

These girls are walking to school. It's still in session and they don't break until mid July, and then only for six weeks.

Most little kids ride scooters to keep up with their fast paced companions. 

London is a city of walkers and bikers. Bike stands like this one are all over the city. You pay a pound to use a bike and when you're finished you drop it off at any similar stand. We haven't used them yet, but we will.

Laura and I shop nearly every day. We can only carry so much, plus our fridge is very small. At first it felt like a chore, but now it's just part of our routine. Sainsbury's is a grocery store a few blocks away, very similar to a Safeway. Even closer to us is a farmer's market we prefer for fresh produce and baked goods.

This crossing reminder is at every corner. Good thing because we need it!

St. Gabriel's Catholic Church is just a block away. We have a view of its steeple from our bedroom window.

Some famous Brits have lived in the Pimlico area. Winston Churchill once lived right down the street from us.

Father's Day

Hey, Laura here. On Sunday we took a riverboat cruise on the Thames to Greenwich. We saw a lot of interesting sights along the way, and we had a funny commentator that made the trip seem less long. It was very cold on the top of the boat when we started to go, and I eventually had to wear three coats. Here I am with my dad before the weather turned.

One of the sights that we saw was Cleopatra's Needle. It was given to London by the Egyptians when Cleopatra ruled (hence the name "Cleopatra's Needle"). There is a duplicate of it in New York.

When we got to Greenwich, we saw a crowd gathered in front of the Old Royal Naval College. We heard music, so naturally we wanted to check it out. There were folk dancers and musicians accompanying the dancers. It felt like we were in some small European town. Oh wait.....we are! 

When we finally climbed up the hill to the observatory, we noticed that there was all sorts of information about the Prime Meridian and Greenwich time. So of course my mom made me read it. Sigh.......

We then proceeded to notice that there was a line to get tickets to see the Prime Meridian (which, in case some of you don't know, is the line that divides Western and Eastern Hemispheres). My mom and dad were completely shocked to see that it actually costs money to get in to see the Prime Meridian. The reason that they were shocked was because Rick Steves, who is this travel dude they practically worship, said that it was free. I mean, how could the genius Rick Steves be wrong? Was it even possible?  Anyway, after we got in there was another line to take a picture on the Prime Meridian. Here I am with one foot in each hemisphere.

After we walked back down the hill, we got some ice cream and got on a speedy ferry that took us back to London. We concluded a great Father's Day by having a great dinner at a great restaurant called Grumbles. The food really hit the spot after a tiring day, and we even had enough room in our stomachs for a lemon tart with fresh raspberries. Yum!

Big Bus Tour

We finally have internet at our flat! Hopefully we'll post more consistently now.

On Saturday we took one of the tour buses around the city. We had a great commentator (named Kevin), who was fun and witty. It was a wonderful way to see an overview of this diverse city. Here are some of the highlights...

The bus: we sat up top.

Kevin - our guide.

Interesting fact: Big Ben is named for the bell inside, not the clock tower.

A city of contrasts: from old structures to new ones, the London Eye.

It's the second tallest ferris wheel in the world.

View of Tower Bridge over the Thames. 

In it's heyday the bridge was raised 5 times a day and now, maybe 5 times a week.

St. Paul's Cathedral: where 'Feed the Birds' was sung in Mary Poppins

(but you musical lovers already knew that).

The bells were ringing as we drove by (Laura says for a wedding, there was a bride and groom on the steps). Really spectacular to drive through these narrow streets, full of history, with so many sights and sounds all around us. The weather was rainy at times, but in typical London fashion it changed quickly. We were able to hop off and on the bus, so when it rained we'd hop off, eat, drink, and shop, then we'd hop back on.