21/2/11 Mom and Dad Visit London: Day 2

      I am not sure how we all woke up early.  Everyone was so tired last night.  Dad was practically snoring at the dinner table.  But we did it.  We were up and out of the house around 9am and of course we took my parents out for  their first official Full English Breakfast!

Buttered toast, two eggs, grilled tomato, baked beans, bacon,
sausage, grilled mushrooms, hashbrown, and a cup of coffee
to attempt to wash it all down. 

Dad enjoyed it. 

    The meal was cheap, filling and exactly what we needed before our busy day in London.  We all took the tube down to central London where we headed for the start of the open top bus tour.  It was quite chilly out, only 41 degrees and cloudy but we decided to brave it and sit up on top.  It.Was.Cold.  I bet this tour is fabulous in the summer with the sun shining down and the wind in your hair. But boy oh boy! I was so cold.  We did a loop around and listened in to the tour on our headsets.  After a while we decided to bail and hop off the bus at the stop near Big Ben. I was so cold that I was getting really antsy and uncomfortable.  Time to walk and get the blood flowing.

On top of the bus joking about how cold it's going to be
and how silly we were for sitting up there.

  

      We got off the bus after it crossed the bridge and the walk back over was even colder.  Great views but still a little windy and cold.  Dad and Mom really wanted to check out Westminster Abbey so after checking out Big Ben and Parliament we crossed the street and headed over.

Mom: "It's cold, I'm frozen, wow this is cool"

Mom:  "The line is a mile long and I can't tell if we have to
pay to get in or if it's just a donation.  Will we burn in hell if we
don't pay? At least it'll be warm."

You get a good idea of the scale here.

   We thought we could get in and get a tour but the line was a mile long and we were all too cold and in need of a bathroom to stand in that line.  Someone had the brilliant idea to head to the National Gallery to warm up, look at some art and use the bathroom.  It wasn't too far of a walk but of course there was so much to see between Westminster and Trafalgar Square.

Dad sees the horse, the horse sees Dad.  The sign
says to beware.  Sideways stare. 

Zoom zoom scooter!

The sun ALMOST came out at this point but
at least we were shielded from the wind!

The Queen and King in their secret garden castle, waiting
for their tea time guests. 

Trafalgar Square.  Lions, buses, Big Ben Oh My!

    We spent a long time in the National Gallery.  There were so many great paintings and so much to look at.  (My favorite was Gaugin's still life of mangos...I may have to replicate it for our wall) It really got me excited to think about coming back here with my sketchbook and doing some studies of these artworks.  Mom was impressed with all the little kids walking around the museum that were just rattling off artists' names.  We could have spent the whole day in that place but by that time our English Breakfast had been totally digested and we needed a late lunch.  Sean lead the way to our next stop.

Hey you all know that look of Dad's....

We were having fun with my camera and taking
low light action shots.  I think this was take number
32. "no no ma, let's move our hands slower. no no you
have to smile and stop concentrating so much. no I know,
let's try moving the candle to adjust the light.....dad take
another....no no we weren't ready......." etc etc etc

"I've got my eye on the bottle..."

We destroyed this cheese. 

A cave. 

Dad is saying "ANOTHER photo?
Mom is saying "Are you sure you want to leave? Should we get another bottle?"

     This was a pretty awesome place.  It was a little wine bar/pub in this old basement that was pretty much a cave.  The walls were drippy and it was dark and super cozy.  We drank a bottle of wine, devoured some cheese and listened to the underground trains rattle by, somewhere close to our heads.  It wasn't a full meal but enough to stop our rumbling tummies and hold us over for one more site before heading home.  Again, Sean navigated us back onto the tube, a couple stops and a line over to Buckingham Palace.  The queen was waiting for us, dinner would be served soon.

This is right before they went inside for dinner. 

  It was getting dark quick and our feet were throbbing.  Almost done!  We walked down a really long and really straight road (Sean's description) to an arch then to the tube and headed home.

Zoom zoom bike!

Zoom zoom black cab! (keeping myself occupied while waiting
to cross the street)

   The exhausted Americans crawled onto the packed train and headed home.  We saw so much,  walked so much and we were all starving.  I took my parents to the grocery store and got ingredients for homemade pizza.  Mom was awestruck by the three aisles of chocolate, cakes, and tea biscuits.  Sean prepared us some dough while Dad rambled off the schedule for tomorrow.  Then, we all crashed.
    Can't wait for tomorrow!