London

We just returned from our latest trip, which took us to London to meet up with my sister Karyn and her family, and Reims (pronounced Rahmes), France to drink champagne and watch Women's World Cup soccer. We have lots to report, so let's get started with London.

Being in London was a little strange for us because nearly everyone was speaking English. We have gotten so used to hearing Spanish at home and a foreign language (usually French) when we travel that hearing English full time actually felt strange.

Although we were there for five days, it didn't feel like we did all that much. Oh well, we may have to go back . . . One thing we did do a lot in London was walk. Public transportation in London is really expensive (about twice as much (!) as in Paris), and frankly was not very efficient when we did take it. So, we walked a lot. What did we see? Well, lots and lots of monuments. There are many. And, right near our hotel was St. James's Park, where we enjoyed seeing all the waterfowl. And, at this time of year, there are many cute chicks:

We even saw a mother coot chasing away the other birds who were trying to steal her baby's bread. In the third picture, Buckingham Palace sits in the background. And, while we decided not to deal with arriving early and waiting for the changing of the guard ceremony, we did catch the changing of the horse guard ceremony on the other end of the Park:

Not sure exactly what the horse guards are guarding, but the pomp of the ceremony was entertaining. Later in the trip we saw one of the guys in the helmets with his sword at his post. But, directly in front of him was a policeman with body armor and an assault rifle. Clearly one of those guys is superfluous.

Other things we saw walking around London include an Egyptian obelisk, called the Cleopatra Needle and seated on the Thames since 1878, with two flanking bronze Sphinxes, "gifted" to England  (notice the London Eye in the background):

Parliament and Big Ben (the latter completely under scaffolding):

Westminster Abbey (2 different nights):

The Tower Bridge:

So, what did we actually do in London? Well, let's see. We had dinner with friends from Spanish school and met their new baby; we visited the National Gallery partly to use their bathroom, but also got to see some great impressionist art; we briefly visited the British Museum to see the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles, although it was so crowded, we wanted to leave almost as soon as we were inside; we saw an hysterical show called The Play That Went Wrong (highly recommended if it comes your way); and we saw an exhibit of vehicles from the James Bond movies at the London Film Museum:

(My brother-in-law Jim and I next to the Rolls Royce Phantom III that was Goldfinger's car in the movie.)

We also visited the Churchill war rooms, which is the underground location from which Churchill and his cabinet ran the British government during WWII. Many of the rooms are preserved exactly as they were during that time, and there is a really interesting museum about Churchill's life as well. Not exactly a great location for pictures, but this is a classic:

One thing we did not do in London was have "High Tea". I don't even like tea, unless I'm sick. But, while Karyn and her family were having tea at Fortnum & Mason, we walked around the store (less chaotic than Harrod's was), and went to the wine bar in the basement for a wine and cheese lunch (much more our speed). Here is the store's homage to the history of the teapot:

(Yes, that is Shana holding a teapot shaped like a cat. Where else but London?)

Finally, although we did not do anything related to Harry Potter, I thought this picture of one of the towers of the Parliament Building with the full moon hidden behind it easily could have come from one of the movies (maybe with a bunch of Dementors coming out of the sky):

Overall, we had a great time in London, although the weather was cool and rainy. We might have to return when it is a little quieter and brave the bad weather to see some of the sites we missed because there were a huge number of tourists in the city.

Cheerio,

Jeff and Shana