London: Half Day and Final Thoughts

Saturday morning we woke up and wanted to do some last minute things.  On our way to the bus stop, we went by a church that we had walked by just about every day.  As we walked by, I said something about wishing it was open so we could see inside.  Weeeeell, it was OPEN!  And, it did not disappoint:

We took the bus to the Marble Arch to see where  Tyburn Tree was:

I didn't know what Tyburn Tree was until the Big Bus Guide clued me in:  This is where the public hangings took place.  Before the person was hung, they would be taken down the street in a wagon, and were allowed to stop at a pub for one last pint.  This is where the saying "One for the Road" came from.
Then, we walked over to the Marble Arch to get a picture of the Jelly Family Sculpture.  Next to the sculpture is a fountain that gets cleaned every morning.

From there, we went by Speaker's  Corner in Hyde Park one last time.  I think CH really liked that area.  Unfortunately, it was Saturday and things don't get jumping there until Sunday.

We walked through part of Hyde Park, then took a bus up to the Italian Gardens in Kensington Gardens.  We didn't get to see much, because the gardens are undergoing some (what looked to be) major renovations.  We just sat on a bench and took London in.

We saw some unusual/cute water fountains that we hadn't seen before:

We saw a plaque to William Forsyth, who developed the Forsythia.  You learn something new every day!

As we walked back to the hotel one last time, I took some pictures of the sights in "our" neighborhood.

 

My last picture from England:

We had a newer plane going back to DC.  The seats seemed to be larger, so we were glad we didn't spend the extra money to upgrade to the "more legroom" section of the plane.  There was a very sweet older English lady sitting next to me; she was going to DC to visit one of her daughters.  One of the movies I watched was "Bridesmaids".  If you've seen that movie, you know how it starts:  there's a pretty risque scene at the very beginning.  I know my face was red, and I was hoping that the woman didn't look over at my screen until that section was over!

Going through security in DC was a breeze...almost.  I didn't realize what was going on:  they were scanning every other person, so stupid me just walked right on through the scanner.  The lady gave me directions, so I stood there with my arms above my head, and heard a beeping.  I walked on through, and she asked me if I had anything in my front pocket.  No, I knew that I didn't because I had taken out some change that I had.  Anything in my back pocket?  No, I answered, as I felt my back pocket and realized that I had forgotten to take my Oyster Card (magnetic tube/bus ticket) out.  So, that resulted in a little pat down of my right leg.  After that, everything was smooth sailing.  YS met us at the airport to take us home.

Final thoughts:

I felt very safe in all areas we went to, except King's Cross.  The tube was an easy way to get around; the buses were more difficult.  I definitely think being able to use the DC metro prepared us for the tube.   I think if we had a bus route, we would've done much better and would've saved some time.  I feel like we walked all over London!

Even though I had requested 2nd floor or higher, the basement room we had was great.  Everybody we met was so polite; I don't think we encountered one rude person the whole time we were there.  We had people on the bus asking us where we were trying to go (after hearing our "discussion" about which stop to get off) and offering advice.

There were several times we winced as we watched someone turning into traffic.  I could definitely live there, as long as I didn't have to drive in London.  I really hope that we can get back someday and see more of the UK.

Thank you for taking the time to read our London adventures.  It was an amazing trip; I still can't believe I actually saw so many things I had only read about or had seen on tv/in the movies. 

Thank you for bearing with me as I relive my vacation!

London Day 6

This was our last full day in London.  :(  We started out at Harrods.  It was so big, I had no idea where to turn!  But it was so beautiful.  I don't know how many pictures I took of the area around the escalators!

I had read somewhere that Harrods is the place to get souvenirs.  That would be a big fat NO.  As we were looking for the gift shop, we had to cross the art gallery.  We stopped and talked to the lady that was working, to see if we could take a picture.  She said that if there was a piece that we found interesting, we could take one.  So, this is the piece I chose:

The artist is Lorenzo Quinn, son of actor Anthony Quinn.  We also saw one of his pieces in Mayfair  as we were looking for a bus.  All of the pieces were absolutely gorgeous.  And, if we had £87,000 to spare, we might have considered buying it!
We made our way to the Christmas Shop:

All I bought there was a Christmas Ornament.  Even the cash registers were beautiful:

As we were leaving that department, I stopped one of the workers and asked her what we needed to make sure we saw before we left the store.  She suggested the restaurant on the ground floor (which we had seen when we came in):

She also recommended the pet shop and the Georgian Restaurant.  We went by the Chocolate Bar, but it was CLOSED.  I couldn't believe it.  I really wanted to go in there.  We had to go through the "French Laundry" on the way to the Georgian.

The Georgian:  Oh my goodness was it beautiful!

We saw a show on the television that night that was kind of a nicer version of "Hell's Kitchen.  It looked like it had been filmed at that restaurant.
After we left  Harrods, we made our way to Lambeth to the Imperial War Museum.  We saw a place to eat that was actually in a church.  As in, we ate sandwiches where they have services.

The Imperial War Museum was a bit out of the way, but it was in a quieter part of London.  We saw a cool door in the sidewalk (I'm sure there was a story there), a good view of the London Eye, and a pub called "The Horse", which just happens to be the Small Town's Fight Song.

CH was in heaven.  He saw a tank that he had never seen before.  There was a wonderful Holocaust Exhibit, but I only made it around half-way through before I started tearing up.  The Museum was really awesome with the exhibits they had.  You could walk through a foxhole and sit through an air raid.  There were a few school groups visiting that day, so it was pretty noisy, but definitely a must-see.
After the museum we went to Twinings Tea Shop on the Strand.  If you don't know, the shop has been owned by the same family for 250 years.  Seriously, y'all...that's longer than the USA has been a country.  It smelled wonderful in that shop!  I bought a couple of boxes of tea for a couple of coworkers that I eat lunch with, and then I bought a big box and a smaller box for us.

 We hurried out of there so we could see the Horse Guard Inspection.  Queen Victoria came through the gate to find none of the guards at their post; they were all drunk on ale.  So, she ordered that for the next 100 years, there would be an inspection every day at 4:00.  The 100 years ended about 30 years ago, but the tradition continues.  It was a lot less crowded than seeing the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham (which we didn't go to), and probably a lot less stuffy.  Before the horses went in, they were standing at their place.  There's a sign that warned that the horses may bite, but there was a woman who had her picture taken right next to the horse.  He turned his head and almost got a chunk out of her.  After she moved, a young woman went up to have her picture taken, and almost had her foot stomped on.  Of course I had to go up there, but I didn't get too close.  CH got there just as the horse was going in for inspection:

 The horses were beautiful.  Check out one of the horse's tongue:

It stayed like that the whole time!  And, the one closest to us had just about had enough:

Here are a couple more pictures from the inspection:

We were on a quest to find a church that was very different looking from the other churches.  I could have sworn that the church was on the Strand, it sat back from the other buildings, and it was red brick with white "stripes" on it.  As it turns out, we were in the right area, but not the right street.  We never did find the church I was looking for (which is Westminster Cathedral), but we did happen upon St. James's Church.  It was a nice surprise.  There was a market going on outside of the church:

Inside, the church was gorgeous:

 

As you can see in the first picture, there was a pianist practicing when we walked in.  It was so nice to just sit and enjoy the music, and get away from the noise and the hustle and bustle from outside.  Several people (including a couple of homeless people) were taking advantage of the solitude.  While we were in there, I noticed that my bag from Twinings was torn.  I took a quick inventory, and didn't think anything was missing.  When we got home and I was unpacking, I realized that I had lost the small box of tea that I had bought for us.  At least it was the least expensive thing!  

From there, we headed to Chinatown.  I had only seen a Chinatown (in DC) from the car, so I wanted to walk through it and experience it.  We were going to meet our friends (the ones who took us around Surrey), but they weren't able to make it.  So, we wandered around for a bit.  I think I was expecting more; I was expecting it to be bigger. CH found a buffet for £4.90.  The buffet was small, definitely not what we're used to.  There was just a few things on a round table, but it was good.  The manager/owner/maitre d' (whatever this man was!) was exceptionally nice to us.

 From there, we headed to the tube to ride out to King's Cross.  On the way, we saw Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, M&M's World London, and the theater where James Earl Jones & Vanessa Redgrave are acting in "Driving Miss Daisy".

 The reason for our quest to King's Cross was to see the Platform 9 3/4 from Harry Potter.  It took us a few minutes and a bit of wandering around to find it, since it's actually outside and not in the actual station.

 I also wanted to see St. Pancras Station.  I wish we had gone during the day, because the building just looked amazing.  We got there around 7:00 on Friday, so there were a lot of crowds and policemen.  This was the only place I didn't feel real safe.  We saw more policemen in that area than we had the rest of the week put together.  My pictures of St. Pancras didn't turn out because of the darkness.  :(

As we were leaving, CH saw this plaque in the tube station:

There were a couple of girls from the big city next to us who were on that train when the bomb went off.  CH just happened to see it as we were waiting for the train.

When we were checking the map to make sure we knew where we were going, a lady asked us if we were from London.  We said no, and the lady asked us how to get to a certain station.  CH explained how to read the map to her, and then a young man asked how to get to another station.  It just happened to be the same station we were going to, so he followed us to the train.   

We got back to the area of our hotel, got some souvenirs for the boys, and then called it a night.  Here are a few pictures from the day:

Wednesday Hodgepodge

If you're looking for my London post, click here.

1. How do you typically react in a sudden, extreme, pressure-filled crisis? Would we want you nearby in an emergency?

Hmmm...probably not.  I guess it would depend on what it is.  If it involved blood or other bodily fluid, a big, definite NO.

2. Caramel apple-caramel sundae-caramel corn-caramel macchiato...of the four, which carmel treat would you choose?

Caramel Macchiato.

3. Is there such a thing as destiny? Explain.

I think God has a plan for your life, but it's up to you to choose to follow it.  

4. What's your favorite piece of furniture? I'm referring to something currently in your possession as opposed to something on your wish list.

My bed.  I LOVE my bed.  Especially on cold winter nights when I have the down comforter over me.

5. Wednesday night marks the start of the 2011 Baseball World Series. Did you know? Do you care? Will you be watching? Ever been to a professional baseball game? If you're not an American do you find the title 'World Series' annoying or amusing?

I had no idea.  I seem to remember hearing that the Cardinals and the Rangers are playing...is that right? Obviously I don't care.  Baseball is the most boring sport in the world to me.  I went to a Braves' game once, back before they won the Series in the 90's.  That was exciting; we were living an hour north of Atlanta, and everybody had Braves' Fever!  There was an awful lot of coffee drunk that week at school!

6. A sound that takes me back to my childhood is____________.

Children playing outside in the summer.  That takes me back to playing Hide 'N Seek, Kick the Can, and Roly Bats.  The kids in the neighborhood would come to our house  and play.

7. On average, once you've linked your hodgepodge post to mine how many other participant blogs do you visit? Do you ever come back to the Hodgepodge later in the day or even the day after to read posts?

I try to read as many as I can, but there are "regulars" that I always read; probably around 10.  I always try to get to the ones who read my post and commented.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

MS' fraternity had family day last Saturday before the football game.  CH was taking a class, so he couldn't go.  YS was in Helen, Ga. for Oktoberfest with the German Class.   I hold the title of being the only mom to get up on the roof, only to have to get down about 20 minutes later when the police came by!  (As I was climbing down, I thought, "This could be bad"...good thing it wasn't!)   It was nice to meet his "brothers", but I was a bit surprised that there weren't more parents there.  Only 2 local parents (counting myself) were there, and there was a family from Md., and 2 from Ohio that were there.  It was a beautiful day, and the boys were all very sweet and respectful.  I stayed until about 30 minutes before the game, then I headed home.  I was able to miss most of the traffic this way, and watch the game on tv.