The Tower of London (holds us captive)

...The Tower of London.
I envisioned the Tower of London to be more along the lines of the towers in The Lord of the Rings.  Some great white tower looming above a flat field.  When I read that it housed museums and the crown jewels, I pictured a great white tower, with rooms off of a circular staircase.  But as you can see, the Tower of London looks suspiciously like a castle. 
We saw the moat where Anne Boleyn's coronation procession came through, and then passed the tower green where she was beheaded several years later.  We saw the Beuchamp tower where prisoners were kept and saw the six resident ravens whose prescence somehow preserve the integrity of the tower and the kingdom (Legend says that if they ever leave they will both fall).  There is a metal Menagerie of beasts to represent the time when mideval kings exchanged rare and strange animals as gifts, and this is where they kept them.  The white tower was built between 1075-1100 but was built on Roman ruins that were even older.  Inside was an amazing museum of swords, guns, and armor.  The kids really loved that. 

According to my carefully timed schedule, we had just enough time to see one more site at the Tower of London, and then we had to race to St. Paul's Cathedral.  The Beefeater on duty impressed upon us the importance of not skipping the Crown Jewels--"It is like going to New York without seeing the Statue of Liberty" he said.  We looked at the line winding for a quarter of a mile and he promised us that long of a line moved through in 15 min. Forty-five minutes later we were almost at the front of the line.  Meanwhile, we listened to our virtual tourguide tell us about how most of the crown jewels were destroyed and melted down when they got rid of the monarchy but new jewels were made in the 1660 when Charles II restored the monarchy.  The line finally fed into a huge room where we saw the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II on a huge flat screen tv.  She looks so young and vulnerable going in, then at the end, draped in cloaks and carrying scepter and ball, crown on her head, she suddenly turns into a queen.  Then we are funneled into a room, where you stand on a moving walkway that roves slowly past the jewels--crowd control, I suppose.  But you are not allowed to take any pictures or apparently sit and study them either.  They looked nice, I guess, but in the end, we were completely off schedule.
We had 2 hours until closing time, so when faced with $12.50 a person to see the Cathedral or free entry to the Tate Modern, I chose the Tate Modern.  Though in hindsight, I should have gone to the Cathedral. 

This red staircase was the only really remarkable work we saw.  Most people were congregated in this room.  It was very peaceful for some reason.  It looked different from different angles.  Once we were done, it was closing time everywhere so we could only look at the cathedral and hope to get back some day.  (Arrgh, to only have a time turner and be two places at once!)

We could only take pictures of the Globe Theater as well.

So we tucked into some fish and chips, slept in our quaint flat for one more night, and woke up early to take the...

Europe--Going to Londontown

I liked Edinburgh so much, and it was so nice to see Mom and Dad, that maybe it was a good thing that it was pouring and cold and nasty the morning we left.  The Hambelton Edinburgh Tour van dropped us off at the train station, and they braved the weather to park and see us off on the morning train to London. 

Just as we were all on the platform, they announced that we must cross the train station and board a different train that was set to leave in 5 min.  So we set off with the hurrying crowd, up stairs, down stairs (Europe is sorely lacking in escalators), across streets, and finally to the new platform with all 4 kids and 6 trailing suitcases accounted for.  Brian chucked the suitcases aboard and we scrambled for seats.  The kids sorely missed the table we had reserved, but I was grateful we had seats.  There were several people forced to stand the entire 4 hours.  Apparently there had been a  train crash earlier in the day.  With fatalities. 

At last we made it to London, took 2 trains on the tube, and ended up at our rented flat.  It had a red brick front and an elevator that looked like it hearkened back to the Victorian age.  But since we were on the 7th floor, we used it.  It was a nice, roomy flat that looked like the last serious update was somewhere in the 40's.  It would have all been quaint and charming if we hadn't seen a mouse go running across the floor when we walked in.  I quickly put all of our food in the fridge and scrubbed any dishes before we used it.  That night I swore I saw a bug moving when we opened the fold-out bed, and refused to let the kids sleep in it.  We pushed the two single beds together in the extra bedroom and slept all four kids across from headboard to foot board.  To be fair, the rest of the sheets were scrupulously clean ( I checked), and to my pleasant surprise, the shower stayed hot through 3 showers. 

After a snack, we headed back out to the British National Museum. They have the Rosetta Stone here as well as impressive Assyrian, Egyptian and Greek artifacts. We only had a couple of hours, but we were overwhelmed with the amazing things we saw. It is a definite must see. (It is also the place where Sadie and Carter have to steal an artifact in Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan--who knew I'd be drawing on my literary references from my kids' books)

 Rosetta stone

 Athenian Parthenon

 This is Athena watching a procession with Hephaestus.

 Assyrian

 Egyptian

We walked past the hotel Brian stayed at when he went to London for work, so he recommended a pizza place for dinner and the kids loved it. 

That night as we were taking the tube home, the train we were on was delayed and we had to transfer to another line and take a slightly longer route home.  There was a fatality on the track.  Two fatalities in one day on the train.  What are the odds?

The next day we did the We Only Have One Day to See Everything Tour of London. Which meant we got up early and got a taste of as much as we could, though we didn't get to really experience much.   We started at Buckingham Palace.

 Then took a walk through St. James Park to Big Ben.

And Westminster Abbey

And the House of Parliament

But we couldn't take the time (or the money) to go inside because we had to get to...

European Vacation--Part 4--the Britannia

Monday we left the ancient behind and went to the recently retired (1997) royal yacht, the Britannia.  It was very interesting to see how the royals relaxed, and hear how they entertained.  Prince Charles and Lady Diana honeymooned on board the Britannia, but it clearly has the queen's taste and style.  The queen slept in one cabin, made up with the 80's floral and wicker, while the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Phillip) slept in a more manly and sparse cabin.  The piano was bolted to the floor, and the sitting area could be transformed from a cozy family setting to a more formal setting by opening certain doors.  The dining room was huge, and had mementos from all sorts of dignitaries. 
What was really interesting was seeing the stark difference between the royals quarters and the crew's quarters and hear of how they had to do work in the early morning so they wouldn't have to keep stopping and standing at attention every time a royal walked by.  They had their own laundry facility to keep their uniforms in mint condition (and even hired laundry out).  They had a rather large hospital bay, since the yacht was originally built with the thought that it could be used as a navy medical ship if needed during the war. 

After seeing the opulence of the palaces during King James' era, it was interesting to see that that level of opulence still exists for the royals, only modernized a bit.  I never did really understand why it was decommissioned, and I wonder if Prince William lamented not being able to take Princess Kate on it for their honeymoon.
We ate at the mall that afternoon at a "Real American Italian Grill"--which I thought was an interesting descriptor for a restaurant in Edinburgh.  I wonder if there are "real Scottish Chinese buffets" or "real English Indian eateries" here in America....

Afterwards we went to Princes Street which is lined with shops.  To be truthful, I would have rather seen a Georgian home in New Town or toured Hollyrood Palace or Rosslyn Chapel, but I was outvoted by the shoppers in our family...Athena being the prime advocate. 

Scottish women as a rule are curvy.  In fact, in every shop Athena looked in, the smallest size we could find was a 6.  I thought it might be nice to live in a place where curves are celebrated, and not everyone was trying to be a high-school cheerleader (stick-thin, bleach-blond, tanned and manicured). 
In fact, I really loved Edinburgh.  Maybe it was having Mom and Dad there, and them being such excellent tour guides, but I really liked the old grey buildings with the brightly painted doorways and flowers on the stoop.  I liked the sweeping landscape and the charming people, who would chat you up in the supermarket or wherever.  Despite being so grey, Edinburgh is really a cheery place.  Now if it would just be a bit warmer....

Europe Part 3--Edinburgh

That night we went to South Pacific.  Edinburgh has a prestigious theater district and South Pacific is one of my favorite non-Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals--the guy with the coconut bra, the soldier in love with a girl he can't talk to, "I'm going to wash that man right out of my hair..." but the staging was a little too "adult", especially for our kids and so left during intermission.  I felt bad that Mom and Dad payed for tickets we didn't really use, but hopefully our kids will realize that if you feel uncomfortable in a show or wherever, you should leave, no matter what. 
The next day was Sunday and our flat was close enough to the church to walk.  It was a nice, sunny day.  It was nice to meet all of the people Mom and Dad talked about.  Everyone was really nice, and their small ward full of interesting characters reminded me of our ward in Medford, NJ.  We got to see where they worked during the week in the employment center.  They put on workshops periodically that are several days, and then run a walk-in clinic a couple of days a week.  It sounds like they are making some good progress.  They often talked about the people they helped during the week and even got a business card from a shopkeeper who was looking for workers.
It was Easter Sunday so Mom cooked lamb in the slow cooker and had Easter candy on hand for the kids. 

Then we bundled up and went to Arthur's Seat.  It is an extinct volcano made famous in Chariots of Fire and known in the Scotland Mission as Pratt's Hill.  Parley P. Pratt climbed this hill at the beginning of his mission and dedicated the mission and set a goal to baptize 200 people.  He made the climb repeatedly to rededicate himself and to report to the Lord his progress.  By the time he left his mission he had baptized 200 people.  So now the new missionaries hike the hill to set goals and then come back at the end of their mission to report on their progress. You may remember Mom and Dad's climb in driving rain at the beginning  of their mission.

Our little family made it to the top, though Brian commented that he wondered how many missionaries set the goal not to get blown over while they were up there.  The wind blew cold and icy up there, but the view really was spectacular.