MONDAY, DECEMBER 27th IN LONDON

We had planned to tour London after visiting St. Paul's Cathedral. But we spent most of that day inside St. Paul's so on Monday we went back and started over.

We walked around St. Paul's,


onto the Millennium Bridge to take pictures of Shakespeare's Globe Theater





and the Tower Bridge.




Then we walked up the river towards Westminster Abbey.

A slight detour took us to the home of the Horse Guards.





Then past Big Ben - with the London Eye in the background -




And on to Westminster Abbey

Here is the main entrance



and the south entrance



And once again, no pictures were allowed inside. But, again, trust me - it was a marvelous and awe inspiring visit.

A LONG walk took us to Buckingham Palace






We had tickets to "Love Never Dies", Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to "The Phantom of the Opera".

But first , a quick bite to eat and then on to Piccadilly Circus for a view of London's answer to Times Square. Not as many lights as NY but interesting contrast between the hip new lights and the very old buildings.






And our horse lover Emily keeps finding picture opportunities.



On to the Adelphi Theater.





Hop on the Tube and return to Tom's flat - VERY late after a VERY long day. The kids - and we - survived. With almost no drama except on the stage of the play.

Life is good.

CHRISTMAS IN LONDON WITH FAMILY

Emily's and Andrew's teachers had been wonderful in getting their 2 weeks of homework organized before we left. Even though one week of it was for after the Christmas break. And they even stayed in touch during the break via email, especially when the kids had questions about something.

But it still required some coaxing to get them to do it. On Thursday, the 23rd, we "divided and conquered." Carol and Emily went to the city and visited the Victoria and Albert Museum and Harrod's. Tom and Andrew stayed at the flat while Andrew did homework.

On Christmas Eve, we rested during the day and went to St. John the Baptist Church in High Barnet. Just a short walk from the flat for a beautiful Christmas musical service. The earliest part of the existing building was built in 1560, or the late 1400's, depending on your source of information.



The REALLY INTERESTING part of the church history, to me at least is that the dark stone that you see in the building is FLINT ! Hey, it's what they had available and apparently the work force was cheap. I can't imagine trying to cut enough flint blocks to build a church, but there it stands.

Just down the street from the Church is Tom and Ann's favorite neighborhood pub. Ye Olde Mitre Inne, established in 1636.



After the wonderful service, we came home and "hung the stockings with care" thanks to Tom's ingenious apparatus to hold all 9 stockings without putting holes in the mantle !




Our Tree



Christmas Day was a little subdued, giftwise, for the 5 kids. We told Emily and Andrew that we were not going to carry gifts to London just to try and figure out how to bring them back home along with all the souvenirs that we knew we'd buy. So we gave them some English money and each got a new camera before we left.

But Tom and I hit the "Cherry shops" - Picture a Goodwill store of about 400 sq ft, dedicated to a specific local charity. There were at least 8 or 10 of them on High Street.

We found a Griffendor hat for Andrew



And a tee-shirt for Emily



Sarah got some Playmobil, including this van that she and Emily are assembling




To add yet another family tradition to our blended families, Carol made her mother's Lasagna - from memory because she forgot to bring the recipe to London. Carol said it wasn't right but none of us had ever had her mother's so we thought it was great. Except for Casey and Sarah who said, "It's too cheesy". TOO CHEESY ???? Isn't that like "too garlicky" - just can't happen?


In the afternoon, all except Tom and Ben went to see "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" from the "Chronicles of Narnia" in 3D. You will remember, I'm sure that Emily's one "must do" in England was to visit C. S. Lewis' grave which I wrote about in a previous blog.

Just four more days until Paris but we'll stay busy in London. Starting Monday because transportation workers are on strike on Sunday.