Spring Break in London (Part II)

Sorry it's been a few days between posts. We've been busy prepping our house for this week's pack-out. Even though we don't leave Spain until July, our household goods will be shipped ahead of time, in hopes of it all arriving in the States by the time we get there. Anyway, here are more photos and commentary from our London trip...



The boys goof off in the lobby of this tour company as we wait on our guide to take us on a walking tour of the grounds surrounding Buckingham Palace as well as watch the Changing of the Guard.


This, friends, is Barry, our very eccentric tour guide.


I think Barry enjoyed carrying his tour sign. I think it gave him a real sense of power whilst walking among the common folk awaiting the Changing of the Guard. And I'll tell you what else it must have given him... ENERGY! The man wasn't letting any grass grow under him.


Police on horseback were monitoring the crowds and preparing the way for the Guard.


Wow! It was so impressive to watch these men ride by.


This is where Prince Charles and Lady Diana once lived with their sons, William and Harry.


I couldn't resist snapping a quick photo of these policemen wearing their "bobby hats." Those are so very English, aren't they?





We saw several groups of men marching by, some with instruments, others with weapons. The uniforms were a little different too. I'm not really sure who was who.


Here the boys pose in front of Buckingham Palace.


These hats were cool, but they look very hot, don't they? And my head itches just looking at them.

We had a little taste of home by having lunch at TGIFridays. We continued our taste of home kick with dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. We were told London's Hard Rock is the very first one of these establishments. All I know is the burger was very tasty, but the music was incredibly, mind-numbingly loud! Geez, I'm getting old.

And get a load of this... We were on our way to dinner, just getting ready to leave the Underground tunnel, when we ran right smack into friends who were also vacationing in London. Who would have thought in a city the size of London that we'd run into another soul we know. It's such a small world, isn't it? We visited the Tower of London the following day, and ran into the same friends again. No, I'm not kidding.


By the way, the Tower of London was quite interesting. The Tower has served as a fortress, a royal palace, a prison, a place of execution and torture, an armory, a treasury, a zoo, the Royal Mint, a public records office, an observatory, and since 1303, the home of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom.





This is Simon, a Yeomen Warder (a.k.a. "Beefeaters"), who conducted our tour of the Tower of London. Yeomen Warders are ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. They've served at the Tower since 1485, and they have traditionally been responsible for looking after any prisoners at the Tower and safeguarding the British crown jewels, but in practice they act as tour guides. Simon was quite entertaining and sarcastic, which I totally appreciate. ☺


Special Yeomen Warders are responsible for the care of the ravens, which are housed within Tower grounds. Legend has it that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, the White Tower, the monarchy, and the entire kingdom would fall. I guess they'd better take good care of the birds, huh?


I found it amazing that we were standing on the walls of a centuries-old castle, and could look across the street and see all of these modern buildings. Strange!


It was so intriguing to me that within these walls so many people lived, were imprisoned and many executed, including Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey. Man, the British have quite a bloody history!


We visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum, and M was very shocked to learn that Sherlock Holmes is a fictitious character. We thought he knew that all along.


The museum is actually a house that once belonged to an older gentleman. They do a pretty good job of making it look authentic for the period. Here we have to wait to be allowed upstairs to take a peek at Sherlock's personal quarters. They have a guard standing post.


The boys had seen the recent Sherlock Holmes movie, so going the museum was all the more fun for them, as you can see.


Both boys had the opportunity to sit in Sherlock's chair while chatting it up with Dr. Watson. ☺


No words necessary.


These are tiled walls in the Underground close to the Sherlock Holmes museum. We thought these were cool tiles.


Uh... excuse me, M... didn't know you were busy.


Our boys have fun wherever they go.

Stay tuned for recaps on our visit to Windsor Castle, a couple of museums and our unplanned mini-cruise... I have to get back to organizing for our move. The packers come in 2 days, and there's still a lot to do. I'm sure you have things to do as well, so run along. I'll be back in a jiffy. Cheerio!