When
you're in London, you have to eat at Standard Indian
Restaurant (we did)
Big
Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey and some nice tourist
shots
Sarastro
is a restaurant where the booths are all opera boxes and the
tables are all family style, all crammed in as tightly as
possible. Live opera is performed in and about the tables
by performers, the waiters, and various random people. It
is a lot of fun. Also the paintings on the walls of the bathroom
were very naughty.
This
was a pub we had fish & chips at (not pictured -- either
the pub or the fish & chips)
Royal
Albert Hall - apparently it takes 4000 holes it to fill
the Albert hall (or so I've heard)
Downing
Street
Buckingham
Palace & the changing of the guard
Piccadilly
Circus - Circus as in rotary, not as in lions, clowns
and trapeze artists
Tower
of London: The original fortress on the Thames. The
crown jewels are kept here. It was originally built by William
the Conqueror in 1066, who built the White Tower (the castle
at the top left) to inspire awe and obedience. It has housed
kings and criminals, and is home to some of the most nefarious
legends in England.
Kensington
Palace: This is another royal palace - meaning another
home for the royal family. It is in Kensington Gardens at
the end of Hyde Park, and was walking distance from our
hotel. This was Princess Diana's home, and for some time
after her death was quite the vigil site.
Shakespeare's
Globe Theatre: This isn't the original Globe, but in
some ways it's better. It was constructed as a mostly accurate
replica of the original, however it is also a working theatre
(and must conform to modern building codes) so it has some
modern amenities. The wall slates (top right) were in a
tunnel on the way to the theatre, and tell a story of a
time when the Thames froze over (and what happened when
it did). The kids were a school group doing 'Double double
toil & trouble' - the 3 witches from Macbeth. Finally,
if you look at the stones on the lower right (they're a
little hard to read) - they are stones that commemorate
people that contributed to the theatre when they were fundraising
for it's construction. The stone on the right is John Cleese.
The one on the left is 'Michael Pallin'. Apparently Mr.
Cleese paid a little extra to have Mr. Palin's name spelled
wrong (true story).
London
Eye: this was designed as a landmark for the Millennium
celebration. It's basically a huge Ferris wheel. Each
compartment is a big pod, large enough to stand in. It's
right on the banks of the Thames, so you get a great view
of London.
Windsor
Castle - the Queen's house (one of). When the Queen's
standard (flag) is flying, it means she is at home. You
can't tell very well in the pictures but the standard was
flying when we were there. We also saw the changing of the
guard at Windsor Castle. Also at the castle is St. George's
Chapel, where no less than 10 sovereigns are buried. Some
of the stones inscribed on the tombs are so old and worn
you can't even read them. We also saw the changing of the
guard here.
Here
we are starting our trip to France. Those are the 'white
cliffs of Dover', and one of the channel ferries.
