London day 5... Our last day

Dad always talks about how much he loves the British Museum, and today was the day.  There is so much to see it is  all overwhelming. Paige loves anything Egyptian, but soon found some Christian artifacts and that became her focus.

Here is a symbol Christians used prior to the cross to signify their fath.

And then they engraved that symbol " the alpha and omega" on rings, silverware, etc.

Many artifacts we saw were from very early BC, including writing tablets from Babalon. 

We headed for St. Paul's Cathedral, another favorite of dad's. We couldn't take photos inside but it is probably the most amazing cathedral of them all. 

We were lucky to go to a prayer service so we didn't have to pay to get in, and it was a nice service, different than we are use to.

We went back to the old pub we ate at on our visit with us girls and dad in 2013. It was built in 1549. Very old!

We are packed up and ready to go on our early flight tomorrow. Bitter sweet! Nice to see Judy and the boys, nice to have time with dad, nice to see all the amazing sites London and the Cotswolds had to offer, and happy to get away from the hoards of people and craziness that comes from a big city like London. It is clear we are not city people, much prefer the countryside, but you just can't pass up all the amazing history London has to offer!

Start: 6:00pm  End: 7:00pm

London day 4

We headed to Hampton Court today. This was a highlight for Paige, and as it turned out, for us too. It was amazing to see such old buildings with such history.

Paige has studied a lot of English history and Henry the VIII has always fascinated her. And, here we are!

We took this opportunity to have a proper tea at Hampton Court.

We had hoped to take the boat down to the palace or back, but seems we never have enough time. Not sure why things seem so difficult, I guess just dealing with 7 people. We didn't have the 3 hours it would take. But, we did end up having a relaxing day. We decided it was so much nicer being out of London with fewer crowds. That made it a nice break for us. 

We headed home and hoped for a boat ride down the Thames in London, but it was so crowded we settled for a walk.

And of course, more food. I think we've seriously all gained 10 lbs!

London day 3

Another amazing day. We slept in until 7:30, yep, that was sleeping in, and after breakfast and jumping on the tube we arrived to the Tower of London by 10:00. We went straight to the jewels. Very fascinating to see the crowns worn over the years.

Heads chopped at this site!

I don't know how people can see the tower in a couple of hours. I know we are slow, and Paige loves all this, but we were there from 10:00 until they closed at 5:00!

From there we walked to the Tate museum for dinner before our globe theatre show. The views of St. Paul's were amazing, and dinner was good too.

We enjoyed the shaksphere play "As it Goes". The theatre was gorgeous  and we loved it, but we were really dead to the world by then. The play lasted about 3 hours and we made for about 2 1/2 and then we were just too tired and still had to walk home. A fun, tiring day!

Dad continues to amaze us. He walks as much as we do, then today he climbed about 12 flights of stairs, or more, and ten were climbed at one time, including rocky spiral steps. My legs were like jelly at the top, but he seemed to do fine!

London day 1

We wanted to see the iconic London so we headed for Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abby. We planned to get to Westminster when they opened to cut down on crowds. Our tube station right near us drops us off right there in just minutes, but, oh yeah, they were on strike today!  Instead we walked, and walked, and walked. Then we enjoyed our time there. The Abby is so beautiful and so much to see. Paige loved seeing the burial sites of Henry VIII wives.

We had a much needed drink and sit!

From there we went to Trafaglar square, visited the National Gallery, saw Rafael, Leonardo diVinci, and others, then on to the National Portrait museum. Paige really enjoyed seeing all the Tudors.

We were so exhausted and had to walk home due to the strike. Grandpa walked 8 miles today- more than he should have, more than we all should have :-) Feels like we are running constanlty just to try to see what we can. We need to change something because it is really too much, even for the kids, much less grandpa. He just keeps going! So, what to do? Drink more beer!

The scary part is all the traffic and crossing streets safety. Almost got hit by a motorcycle and bus, and they don't care, you are in their way. But, that's the way of the city!

London day 2

Today we went to Buckingham Palace. They say you should plan on at least 4 hours. I think we spent about 8-9 hours including lunch. First we did the Queens gallery and got to see a Rembrandt painting, and many more beautiful paintings. While we were there we were told about tickets available for the Clarence House. We got them with just enough time to run down the street. Only problem was the changing of the guards was going on and we could hardly move! Finally we made our way down. We have no photos, none were allowed. This is currently Prince Charles and Camellia's house. In the past This was queen mum's house and Queen Elizabeth grew up there. Next to that house currently Beatrice lives.

We grabbed a snack and off to the mews and to see beautiful carriages used by the royal family. They each have their own purpose.

From there we saw Buckingham palace in all its splendor. They had an exhibit about dining with the royals and got to see what a state dinner party would look like. The palace was gorgeous. It was fun to see the locations we have seen filmed before like the area of the palace where William and Kate went into the house after they were married.

Paige got her scone with clotted cream and strawberries, and hot tea with milk. Yum!

The whole day was really fascinating! And, we got to ride the tube! And, of course, more beer please!

London... We're here!

We were sad to leave the Cotswolds today! It is such a beautiful area and we had so much more we would have liked to explore.  

One thing we won't miss are all the spiders; like one that was about 21/2 inches long and we found one in each of two bedrooms! One we killed one and the other one got away. I'd have slept on the couch if it were in my room! Very creepy! 

We also won't miss the roads and driving a big van. We actually did very well, but had a few close calls and got temporarily stuck 3 or 4 times were our van couldn't pass the other car, and other times had people pass us soooo close! But, we all lived and are safe and sound.

We returned our car, our taxi was on time and we were off to London! Monte, Dad and Isaac went to the Imperial War Museum while Paige, Aaron, Judy and I walked around the River area.

And of course, stopped for a snack :-)

We finished our day with some great Indian food! Yum, yum! We might be done with all the steak pies, fish and chips, bangers and mash, and mushy peas. I never did get a photo, we were too busy eating!

Tomorrow will be our first full day in London, can't wait for it!

Cotswolds Day 3

Remember how I said our beautiful house is the quintessential English cottage? Well, Monte is up to 9 times smacking his head on the low ceilings!

This morning we headed to Sudeley Castle where Katherine Parr lived and died. She was the 6th wife of Henry Vlll. A favorite destination for Paige.

Isaac really wanted to go to Wyck Rissington to see an organ in a local church played by a very famous composer.

It was very windy today so we didn't end up walking villages like we had hoped. We made a quick stop in Lower Slaughter.

We did stop to see a ring of ancient rocks in Great Rollright. This is the King rock.

We finished with a nice dinner in Hook Norton.

And the newest member of the family!