The Weekend that Was

Our guests left this morning after a fun-filled, if somewhat hectic, weekend. I think I had mentioned before that they drove up to Scotland during the week. They returned on Saturday morning, and after breakfasting and returning the car, I went with them to London while Mich took the kids to a birthday party.

We wandered from Victoria station up to Westminster Cathedral and then Westminster Abbey, where my actual knowledge about the buildings was blatantly displayed. Even now, looking at my London guidebook, I can find very little historical information about Westminster Abbey, other than it has been the setting for all royal coronations since 1066, which, I suppose, means that it must date from sometime around that era. Westminster Cathedral, by contrast, was finished in 1903.

At any rate, we then walked on to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and then on to Covent Garden, where I failed miserably in trying to find Rock & Sole Plaice, the favoured chippie of Mich and myself, and so we settled for sandwiches. We did, however, get to watch some of the contest for the Most Fit Firefighter in London, which, I can assure you, was nothing short of titillating.

We headed back home shortly afterwards, and that was when Mich and I headed to the Feathers.

Sunday dawned, and we woke and had a heady breakfast of rashers, eggs (duck or chicken, depending on your preference), and scones (and the requisite clotted cream and jam). After stuffing ourselves, we headed back into London. First, we popped over to Buckingham Palace. There, quite by chance, we caught the tail end of the Changing of the Guards ceremony, and then popped over for a couple of quick pictures with the guards themselves - and a few pictures with a local policeman.

We then successfully made our way to Rock & Sole Plaice, this time with the aid of a map and had our long awaited meal of fish and chips. At that point, we split up as my brother and sister-in-law wanted to go to the British Museum (a good place to go, I might add), while Mich and the kids and I headed in a different direction.

I'm very goal oriented. Give me a goal, and I will strive to meet or beat it to my utmost. I guess it should come as no surprise that "The List" has become a goal of sorts, at least to accomplish as many things on there as possible. And so, what we headed off to do was to knock one more thing off the list - climbing Tower Bridge. In another neat turn, we actually saw the bridge open twice while we were over there. Tired, but happy, we headed home to call it a weekend.

Tower Bridge opening

More of Michelle's photo magic


Buckingham Palace and the Gardens

Admiralty Arch
Us and a guard
Us at Buckingham
Maggie and a "bobby"

From the Mouth of Babes

Well, yesterday we made it in to watch the changing of the guards for the first time since we've arrived. It was pretty neat, but the crowds were really quite large, and it was a bit crazy. Afterwards, we headed off through Hyde Park to Stanley Gibbons on the Strand for Dalton to pick out his stamps. On the way, we came across a couple of pelicans, who actually let everyone pet them. Upon arriving at Stanley Gibbons, Dalton got a big bag of British stamps which we're still sorting through, although Dalton's favorites are the Queen Elizabeth stamps.

Otherwise, not much to report. Although, sometimes, the kids just say stuff that really makes you laugh. Tonight, as we sat down to eat, Maggie announced that she was thinking of things that we (the family) can do. We asked her what they might be, and she said that:

Daddy was good at eating.
Dalton was good at picking apples.
Mommy was good at cooking.
Maggie was good at "muscling". (This means making muscles.)

She further explained that:

Daddy was good at watching TV.
Dalton was good at getting home.
Mommy was good at important things, like cleaning the house.

So now you know our capabilities, in case you were wondering.