Wednesday, January 27, 2010

More Tuesday pictures


More Stonehenge--It was so cold out there. Liz's
scarf gift made England possible. Thanks, Liz.



Town Gate in Salisbury.





Salisbury Cathedral--As is par for our


vacations it has scaffolding on it.





Town Square in Salisbury



Salisbury street

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Jan. 26th


Stonehenge--in case you don't recognize it.

Only one picture for today because it is late. We went to Stonehenge, walked around Salisbury, and went to a great concert at St. Martin's in the Fields church.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Jan. 25th


The end of Westminster Hall in the Parliament Building

On the London Eye

St. Pancras--the Eurostar train station

Today we walked 10 miles and took in the British Library, the Eurostar station, St. Martin in the Fields church, the London Eye, and Parliament.

At the British museum we saw the Magna Carta, Samuel Johnson's dictionary, a Guttenburg Bible, the manuscript for the Messiah, the first Shakespeare folio, the first Greek version of the New Testament, the Lindesfarne Gospels, and so many other rare manuscripts that is was dizzying.

We got to St. Martins in the Fields, and lo, our discussion over whether or not to go to a play and which one was solved. There is a Mozart concert there tomorrow night. The St. Martin's in the Field orchestra is supposed to be the BEST in the world. So we are going to that. We can see any number of plays in LA, but this is a unique opportunity.

The Eye was fun. It takes 40 minutes to go around, and you can really see London.

Non-British folk cannot tour the Houses of Parliament in the winter, but we got to go to the House of Commons and see them debate economic policy. We walked through Westminster Hall which is utterly stunning. It is where Sir Thomas Moore was condemned to death essentially for not supporting Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. If you haven't seen A Man for All Seasons, watch it. It is just about my favorite movie.

There aren't many pictures today. No photography allowed everywhere but the Eye, and I forgot to take a picture of the outside of St. Martin's in the Fields because I was so stoked about getting tickets to the concert. I did take a picture of Westminster Hall before I saw the No Photography sign. The above are a few.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Sunday the 24th


The corner of the Kennsington Palace.




Buckingham Palace--which you cannot go in this time of year.



The other band

They are wearing the winter dress--They don't look like Beefeaters, but they are.

Today was church, the changing of the guard, Hyde Park, and the Kennsington Palace. The royals have had a lot of palaces. This one housed William and Mary up through Victoria, although I don't think she used it for her whole reign.


Church was very American. The bishop was American. We sang the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." The priests who blessed the sacrament were American. The person who confirmed a new member was American. One of the speakers was American. However, I have to say the ward was huge. Also, it was tremendously multicultural. We went to the Hyde Park chapel which is in a very (to borrow a word from Michael) stoosh. There were Americans, Brits, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Philapeno, and African members. It was very cool, but "The Battle Hymn of the Republic"?

The changing of the guard was interesting and mobbed. I would hate to try to see it in July. I finally wormed my way right up to the fence and got to see what they were doing. It takes a long time with two bands and a lot of music. The music wasn't all marches either. They played the music from Les Miserables and Mama Mia.

After lunch, we went to Kennsington. It had a bunch of Princess Di dresses on display. She lived there after she split with Prince Charles.

It was an 8 mile walking day despite 2 taxi rides.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

The Tower Castle from one of its walls.
The Actual London Bridge

From the top of the dome of St. Paul's


Saint Paul's. It is way too big to fit in a single picture shot with a tiny Nikon.

The Aussie Drum Corps

The round part is where they imprisoned Sir
Thomas Moore and Anne Boleyn.
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The London City Hall. It is as strange as it looks. Architecture is not real whippy here.
It is certainly no Chicago.

The Tower Bridge

Replica of Shakespeare's Globe theatre--meters away from the original site.

London Tower Day

Today we walked down to the Tower Bridge and then went to the Tower of London. We went to St. Paul's cathedral and then to Covent Gardens. By the time we got back to the hotel, we had walked 12 miles, and that doesn't count the walking in doors and the 532 steps we climbed up to the top of the dome at St. Paul's. That was 532 up and 532 back down. We saw the royal jewels and an entire family dressed up in Harry Potter garb. One kid kept waving a wand. It made the whole walk to the Tower of London worthwhile. We both thought that the Tower of London was one tower, It is actually a whole castle with many towers. This is where Sir Thomas Moore and Anne Bolyn were beheaded. It is where the royal family went for refuge in troubled times. Anyway, it was cool: armor, torture devices, the royal jewels, tons of history, and Harry Potter people.

The cathedral is gorgeous. It has one of the largest domes in the world. It was designed and executed by Christopher Wren. It is an art book staple, and it was great to actually see it in person. Oh, and on the way, we got to see an Australian drum, fife, and bugle corps marching in the London streets and playing "Waltzing Matilda"--their national anthem. Anyway, here are some pictures.

Friday, January 22, 2010

London Temple

Today, I only took two pictures, both of the London Temple which is at least 40 miles from London. It took an hour to get out there on the train although the return trip was much shorter. Trains just arbitrarily slow down and stop in England also. Anyway, it was awesome to go. It rained all day, so taking pictures wasn't the best activity.


When we got back, we went shopping at Harrod's. It was jammed with other tourists shopping at Harrod's. I did get some nice prizes for the ladies and some cute things for the boys. I also looked at a 53 carat diamond necklace. It didn't have the price on display. As my father used to say, "If you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it." Tomorrow is supposed to be quasi clear. We are off to the Tower of London.
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Thursday, January 21, 2010

Hampton Court







Today we walked in the footsteps of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I and a whole bunch of other royals you haven't heard of with the exception of George III. The palace is not as ornate as Versailles, but it is pretty impressive.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Wicked cool stuff at the British Museum




Tuesday night



The Eye of London at Night



Big Ben at night


Parliament at night


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Big Ben, Westminster Abby, and Parliament










Well, for some reason, it won't let me post more pictures. I will try again later.

This is literally right outside our room. We have to close the
drapes or the riders can get quite an eyeful.

Day one

We are here and have had a lot of fun, but I am about to fall asleep--I didn't sleep well on the plane. Now for some pictures.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

And we are off like a turd of hurtles. Watch for posts from London. We leave tomorrow.