After Disneyland, the children would prefer the trip to be over, but they have soldiered on to London. Ann-Kristin found us another conveniently located apartment in Westminster, roughly between Parliament and Buckingham Palace.
We covered a lot of ground in London, mostly on foot, but also via the Underground, double-decker buses and a Thames River cruise. London is not very bicycle friendly, nor pedestrian friendly for that matter. It may require 4 separate, seemingly unsynchronized pedestrian crossing lights to get across a single street.
Jack took to reading late in the trip and was happy to find books sold in English.
The kids on the Westminster Bridge
The clock tower holding Big Ben, a huge bell that's pleasant to hear
Buckingham Palace
The British Museum - the kids had some "Night in the Museum" agenda here that we were happy to follow
A giant scarab at the British Museum, one of many items pilfered from Karnak and elsewhere in Egypt
Some of the marble metope sculptures taken from the Parthenon by Thomas Bruce, Earl of Elgin. The ones we saw in Athens were reproductions. Elgin removed them from rubble when Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1800s. Portions of the original pediments are also in the British Museum.
Piccadilly Circus
Westminster Abbey
We spent a beautiful and memorable day with Peter and Ingrid Bentley in the village of Layer Marney, Colchester, Essex. Ingrid is another of Hakan's cousins and sister to Lawes and Bengt. We ate well and I napped in the sun.
Thee Bentley's pond
The Layer Marney Tower, a Tudor palace a short walk from the Bentley's
The Bentley's gardens
"Mind the Gap" - We've made good use of the Underground. Before we found out we were traveling in 150 year old tunnels, we had been commenting amongst ourselves how some of the lines seemed cramped compared to other subways we had been on.
The Baker Street Underground Station, one of the first dating to 1863 and just blocks from 221B.
The National Gallery and Trafalger Square
Inside the National Gallery
St. Paul's Cathedral
The Tower Bridge
The north bank of the Thames at the Tower Bridge - the building on the right is the Swiss RE Tower (aka the "Gherkin")
The ramparts outside the Tower of London
The actual Tower of London, built by the Normans ; )
Armor in the tower - we saw the crown jewels, but no photos allowed. The 530 carat Cullinan diamond in the Sovereign's Sceptre was as big as Jack's fist
The Tower Bridge - tides on the Thames varied 7 meters this day
The "Shard" from the Thames
Big Ben and Parliament from the Thames
The London Eye from the Thames
Big Ben again
Westminster Abbey - different day and angle
The south bank of the Thames at the Tower Bridge - the building on the left is City Hall and the pointy one on the right is the "Shard"
Jack and a lion at Trafalger Square
We covered a lot of ground in London, mostly on foot, but also via the Underground, double-decker buses and a Thames River cruise. London is not very bicycle friendly, nor pedestrian friendly for that matter. It may require 4 separate, seemingly unsynchronized pedestrian crossing lights to get across a single street.
Jack took to reading late in the trip and was happy to find books sold in English.
The kids on the Westminster Bridge
The clock tower holding Big Ben, a huge bell that's pleasant to hear
Buckingham Palace
The British Museum - the kids had some "Night in the Museum" agenda here that we were happy to follow
A giant scarab at the British Museum, one of many items pilfered from Karnak and elsewhere in Egypt
Some of the marble metope sculptures taken from the Parthenon by Thomas Bruce, Earl of Elgin. The ones we saw in Athens were reproductions. Elgin removed them from rubble when Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1800s. Portions of the original pediments are also in the British Museum.
Piccadilly Circus
Westminster Abbey
We spent a beautiful and memorable day with Peter and Ingrid Bentley in the village of Layer Marney, Colchester, Essex. Ingrid is another of Hakan's cousins and sister to Lawes and Bengt. We ate well and I napped in the sun.
Thee Bentley's pond
The Layer Marney Tower, a Tudor palace a short walk from the Bentley's
The Bentley's gardens
"Mind the Gap" - We've made good use of the Underground. Before we found out we were traveling in 150 year old tunnels, we had been commenting amongst ourselves how some of the lines seemed cramped compared to other subways we had been on.
The Baker Street Underground Station, one of the first dating to 1863 and just blocks from 221B.
The National Gallery and Trafalger Square
Inside the National Gallery
St. Paul's Cathedral
The Tower Bridge
The north bank of the Thames at the Tower Bridge - the building on the right is the Swiss RE Tower (aka the "Gherkin")
The ramparts outside the Tower of London
The actual Tower of London, built by the Normans ; )
Armor in the tower - we saw the crown jewels, but no photos allowed. The 530 carat Cullinan diamond in the Sovereign's Sceptre was as big as Jack's fist
The Tower Bridge - tides on the Thames varied 7 meters this day
The "Shard" from the Thames
Big Ben and Parliament from the Thames
The London Eye from the Thames
Big Ben again
Westminster Abbey - different day and angle
The south bank of the Thames at the Tower Bridge - the building on the left is City Hall and the pointy one on the right is the "Shard"
Jack and a lion at Trafalger Square
The family on the Tower Bridge
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