London Bridge is Falling Down

We arrived in London on Wednesday. It took much longer than we expected. The train was late and then was so full that we had to stand in the connector for almost 3 hours. I finally put the children's backpacks on the floor and used them for seats for them. I was pretty angry that we had paid full fare to not be able to move our feet two inches and be crammed in the connectors between cars, like war refugees. But I felt a little better when I talked to the people who were sitting in the next connector and discovered that they had reserved, first class tickets. Thank goodness Don didn't pay the extra money for first class tickets for us.

Once we arrived in Euston Station, we had to find the correct subway line and figure out how to do tickets. It took me a while, standing in queue's for information, the route map, then again for tickets, not to mention getting through the gates once the tickets were in my hand. Along the way, my watch got stolen - ripped right off my hand with cut nuckels to boot. But I didn't discover the missing watch until much later. It's frustrating, though, not having a watch. I'm constantly pulling up my shirt sleeve and staring at my empty arm before realizing that there's nothing there.

Check-in at the hotel was 2 p.m. We were supposed to arrive around 1 and thought we'd try and check in early. By the time we changed trains a couple of times and found our way out of the tube station, then got our bearings and made our way about a mile down the road to the hotel, it was about 4:30, and we were just plain tired. We settled in, dropped off our luggage, and headed out for dinner, discovering that the person who had given us directions to the hotel from the tube had sent us the long way around, and the hotel was really only about 1/2 mile away.

Now to the good part. Don had booked a tour for us on a bus tour. The tickets were good for two days and included a free cruise of the Thames' River. We started out the day Thursday taking the tube to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard, then hopped on our bus tour (on the second story of the open-top, of course) and did the entire loop around London to familiarize ourselves with the city. We planned to start seeing the sites first thing Friday, but we wanted to fit the cruise in on Wednesday after dark so we could see the lights of the city. We did all that, and had a wonderful time.

The highlights were Buckingham Palace. We had trouble seeing anything, although the Palace Guard band played showtunes during the whole ceremony, and that was fun. As the guards marched off through the Gate, some Spanish women who were right at the barricade called Dane up to get a front-row look. A belated officer came walking up to the gate and the bobby let him out, then turned to go back through the gate, when he saw Dane. He walked over and asked Dane if he had enjoyed the ceremony, then gave him a button that had fallen off the uniform of one of the Palace guards. Dane was floored. People gathered around to look at the button and oohed and aahed about the whole situation. It was pretty amazing.

By late last night, after we had dinner in town and were catching a bus towards home, we were surprised at how much we recognized about the city from our tour. We went down Fleet Street, past Prince Albert's ( a pub), and turned the corner at Trafalgar Square. "Oh, look, there's Trafalgar!" It was just bizarre - recognizing places in London. We got home to the hotel, exhausted, but happy. It was about 11:30 before we got the children to bed.

Another surprise was that our hotel serves breakfast. We had been told they didn't do breakfast, but it turns out a Continental breakfast is included, which means we can save a little money on food bills. This morning, we rose fairly late. Everyone except me and Daelyn slept in. Once we had all eaten and gotten ourselves together, we headed back into town. We started at the Tower of London, which was where all the children wanted to go the most.

We toured the Bloody Tower and saw the Crown Jewels, which are kept in the Tower. Then we went to the bathrooms and I pulled out dress clothes, dress shoes and nylons for Deanna, a suitcoat and tie for Don, and they changed. Don had purchased tickets for him and Deanna to see a Show and we kept it a surprise for her. We decided he'd take her, even though it was more MY thing than his, because she needed time with her Daddy. She was very excited, although she couldn't even begin to guess what the surprise was. We sent her and Don off to see "Wicked", then the boys and I spent more time touring the Tower. It is officially still a Palace of the Realm and all the 34 Yeoman Wardens live on the property. We spent quite some time talking with the Yeomen (Beefeaters) and found out some amazing things. Later, we saw two young Palace guards walking through the courtyard inside the tower and went to speak with them. I was showing Dane their coats and the buttons that looked just like the one he got at Buckingham when I noticed the guard I was talking with was missing a button. We laughingly told him our story. Turns out, he was on duty at Buckingham Palace the day before (Thursday) and was marching in the Changing of the Guard ceremony when he lost his button. HIS WAS THE BUTTON DANE WAS GIVEN. We couldn't believe it. The chance of being given a button from a uniform when Dane was just one of hundreds of thousands of people crammed into the square in front of the Palace was astronomical to begin with. Then to run into the very Guard who had lost his button at that ceremony the next day at a different palace is truly nothing short of amazing.

He kindly told Dane to keep the button and commented that if he had eaten less Christmas Dinner, he might not have popped his button.

Needless to say, we had a wonderful time. The boys and I then made our way to the London Eye, a ferris-wheel type observation point, that lifts you around 500 feet into the air in a glass capsule over the Thames'. We got there after dark but the view was beautiful and the boys loved it. Then we took off to meet Don and Deanna at Victoria Station.

We stopped at a little bakery stand for pasties for dinner and sat in a bus shelter to eat. Then we hopped on a bus and went to Trafalgar Square so I could look at the fountains and sculptures. Tomorrow morning, we're hoping to head for Westminster and, maybe, the replica of the Globe Theater. I can already see there's far more in this area that I'm going to want to visit than we have time for. Don pronounced tonight that we won't be going to Stonehenge - no time. Deanna wants to see St. Paul's, and I simply must walk through Piccadilly Circus.

We head for home Sunday, far sooner that I would like, but Don wants to get some rest before he has to go back to work on January 2. I'm sure glad we didn't try to cram Paris into this trip, as well. We would have had to really shorten our time in London, and I wouldn't have been able to see nearly enough.

London is a big city and, like big cities the world over, people are in a hurry and are much less friendly than up north. But there are more tourists here than natives, and we've found many very nice people. Lots have been kind and helpful, and then there were the Spanish women who pulled Dane up and the New Yorkers who squooshed us into their places at the fence so we could take pictures through the bars. People everywhere are kind is you just give them a chance.

It looks like we're not going to get to Bath or Stratford-upon-Avon this trip. The children and I will have to plan some day trips.

Deanna was thrilled with her Opera, the boys were delighted to see weapons of torture and the chopping block that was used for beheadings. I had a wonderful time talking with the Yeomen and the Palace Guards about Dianna, Charles, and Camilla, as well as Harry and William. According to the young Palace Guards, the Queen Mother used to bring glasses of ice water out to them on hot summer days. She was dearly loved by the young men who were honored to guard her and is deeply missed since her death in 2002. Public opinion about Camilla seems to be shifting and there's speculation that Charles may declare her the Queen once he's crowned King. Lots of interesting stuff to talk about over here.

Once we get home and sleep for a few days, I'll post again from the Culcheth Library. Don's been informed that the government has extended the time for companies to submit their bids (what he's over here doing) until Feb. 21, so we may be staying longer than anticipated. Don won't know anything for sure until the middle of January. I'm missing the puppy terribly and am just about ready to come home. I'm tired of being cold and muddy, very tired of 4 hours per load of wash, and am ready to get back to our real life, although this has been an amazing experience.

Hope all is well with all my family and friends and that each of you had a blessed Christmas.

One last funny story - on Christmas Eve, we went to the 5 p.m. family service at Church. It was a candlelight service and we were expecting somberness. Instead, we sang the Holy Hokey (to the tune of the Hokey Pokey) and some song about "Little Donkey". It was very different and not quite what I would consider serious and thought-provoking. But it was Christmas Eve, and not much would deter our excitement.

We had a wonderful Christmas. The children were all very pleased with their presents and surprised with how much they received. We were all very thankful.

God is good and His love for us is evident to us everyday. It's only because of his great love for us that we're in England now enjoying the marvels of his creation.

God bless you all and Cheerio until we meet again.