We arrived in the UK 5 July around 11am tired from our red-eye flight. The kids did great besides a lack of sleep. We seemed to sail through immigration and got our luggage no problem; always a strange feeling….usually things have to have some long ridiculous delay. Maybe we should consider it a gift because I’m sure we’ll have some moments where our patience will be tried.
Checked into our hotel, the Holiday Inn off of Old Street in London. The first day is a blur of sleep, food and “day walking”. Had wonderful pizza, of course!
Today, 6 July, we took the Underground to Tower Bridge with a nice walk through Potter’s Field and a latte stop. The weather waivers between a little chilly to very humid and rainy, so tricky to know how to dress and what to carry. We walked across Tower Bridge to the Tower of London. We had some time to spare before it opened so we trekked to the All Hallows Church where the boys discovered that John Quincy Adams had been married at this Church and where William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, had been baptized.
We visited the Tower of London. The boys’ favorite places were the prisons, the Armory and seeing the Crown Jewels. The highlight of our visit was when we noticed the Beefeater’s organizing and diverting people to alternate paths around the grounds. We sat on a bench for a moment to see what was happening noticing that there were cameras ready for something and then overheard that Prince William would be arriving. So we waited and sure enough he arrived! Got some shots through the throngs of students and visitors crowding to see him. Quite a surprise!
We then took the Thames Cruise to Westminster and got off at “Big Ben/Parliament”, crossed over to the London Eye and walked back to the Tower Bridge Underground . Along the way: ice cream, whining, counting pigeons, Tate Modern, The Globe Theater, The Golden Hinde, more whining, and then to our stop whereupon it started pouring rain! Back to our room for rest then dinner on Regent Street with a visit to the Apple store for a new adaptor….. ahhh…. Just like home (kinda).
Tomorrow- Victoria and Albert? Maritime Museum?.... we’ll see how it goes
Monica
Sounds like a great start to the journey! Can't imagine it going any better than you described (even with the whining because, really...are you ever going to entirely escape that?) And a bonus peek at Prince William to boot! I'd chalk that up to a good day!
ReplyDeleteIf you catch the British Museum (I think free to get in) - they have Holbein's Ambassadors with the trompe l'oeil skull (surely something the boys would like) and Van Eyck's Arnolfini Wedding Portrait - which is like the Mona Lisa in having surprising scale (way smaller than you imagine it should be for all that detail).
ReplyDeleteStarting today is Anthony Gormley's One and Other on the Fourth Plinth of Trafalgar Square - different people standing or performing on it.
Have some fish 'n' chips for me!! - Sam
So glad to see that you guys made it in one piece! We love you and can't wait to hear about all of your adventures. It's amazing how much you packed into one day...Love the photography. Big kiss!!!
ReplyDeleteEverything sounds smoothe to me. I'm just wondering who's doing the whining? Maybe it's not the children!!! Your descriptive narrative is wonderful - I feel like I'm traveleing with you.
ReplyDeleteJoyce