Current London Bridge

Not so pretty.

Old Roman Wharf

From like AD 73, that's old!

Model of old London Bridge

When it had buildings on it, shops and homes.

Tower bridge

London & Tower Bridge photos

Sheep!

Last bit of Horsleys Green - other way

This is going South. See how it becomes a one lane only? And to the left is a public foot path. (Sadly could not take the stroller on it. )

Last bits of Horsleys Green

It only has one street. This is North view.

Sunny but brrrrr

Like a brisk San Jose day in December. Clear days are often colder than cloudy days. In other news, Jenn and I managed to lock ourselves out of the room early this morning. And since it is Saturday, workers bees on site are few. I had to call the duty manager who is sending someone over.

Cold!

Our "Dorm" building

This is where we are sleeping, resting and playing.

Super condensation

Everything is soooo wet. I think Z is almost soaked. Little C will be shortly since she is playing with tree leaves.

Super sunny morning

The sun is out in full bloom.

A little of what we have done

Breakfast is at 7:30am, so early morning wake-up alarm. We all eat together. Then back to our rooms for final prep. Andrew and Amanda went off to their meeting at 9am and nanny duty began. Jenn and I pile up the three kids to go play in the play ground (and sand volleyball pit). At 10:15am, Jenn takes littlest one for his nap and I keep the girls occupied. Usually we end up back at the rooms by 11am, baby boy sleeping until lunch. Jenn and I keep the girls occupied with reading, coloring, snacking and playing with my old iPhone.

At 12:45pm, it is lunchtime! Parents are with us, so our wrangling lessens a bit. Parents go back to meetings at 2pm. Next hour or so is quiet time for the kids. Sometime around 3:30pm, we all head over to the playroom. In here there are lots of toys and a little tv with a VCR. There are also biscuits (cookies) and juice. We usually end up staying here until Andrew and Amanda are done with their meeting around 5 or 5:30pm.

Dinner time is at 5:45pm. Food is less heavy at dinner than lunch. Also, no dessert! After dinner, we head back to rooms (maybe a bit of playtime), then getting the kiddos to bed can take some time. Perhaps later, there is some time for chatting with the parents.

And that has been the basic routine so far. Two more days to go.

English countryside more

We even have had some sun sprinkled in the days of mostly clouds.

English countryside

Views from English countryside

Sorry for not posting much. First, I got pretty sick, no fun. Second, taking care of three kids keeps you super busy!

High Kensington Street 4

In the background, you can see a Claire's. It was my form of rebellion back in 2000, to get second pierced holes in my ears at this location. Oh yeah! ;D

High Kensington Street 3

High Kensington Street 2

The tube station.

High Kensington Street 1

I used to visit this street frequently when I lived in London.

The lobby of the hotel

Where I had wireless, like the only place I had wireless. I really thought a decade later, wireless would be more widely available.

Great name for a cookie?

How about Digestives?

Inside the British Museum

This is the Great Hall, built in the 2000, completed just after I returned to the states. We arrived too late to enjoy the exhibits, sadly.

Outside the church

Holy Trinity Brompton - inside

This is the church I went to when I lived in London. Also where I became a Christian.

The Big Ben

And a lot of cloudiness.

I scream for ice cream!

At Icecreamists, I'm having white chocolate ice cream with pistachio. Oddly, the pistachio was not very sweet but very nutty flavored. Quite good.

Icecreamists

And their crazy menu.

I was actually there, too

Mom always wants the pictures of me, right, mom?

Jenn, my travel companion

A guard

Waiting to be changed. I zoomed in for this shot, and I can't tell if it is blurry from my iPhone.

Changing of the guard

At Buckingham Palace. Neat to watch, I never saw when I actually lived in London.

Heading out

When we left Harrods, it was nighttime.

Harrods at the start

When we entered Harrods, it was daylight.

Triple hitter

We went to a Chocolate Bar at Harrods. On the right are three hot chocolates: Italian (like a very light textured pudding, a creme pot de cocoa), Trinidad (white chocolate, like sweet hot milk), and Equador (pure Ghana dark almost bitter hot chocolate with a hint of orange). Yum!

Liked the look of it

A street in Knightsbridge. Kind of cloudy out, not best for iPhone photography.

Sunset view

Out the backside of the hotel. I'm so tired right now. Though I did not sleep at all on the plane, I rested with my eyes closed for about 80% of the time. Since our hotel has a refrigerator and a microwave, we went to Sainsbury grocery store for some basics in food (fruit and yogurt). I took a nap for two and a half hours but I'm up for a bit now before going back to bed for real. Nothing too exciting yet. I just love being here.

Airplanes are miraculous!

I will be flying on a plane like this in about an hour, whoohoo!

I hope to actually sleep a little. To that end, I'm having a mocha right now since caffeine makes me sleepy.

London Awaits

My top ten parts of London that I am looking forward to:

10) Just being there, walking around and taking the tube.
9) the cement rectangles that make up the sidewalks (they are maybe 1 foot by 1.5 feet)
8) Harrods
7) the buildings
6) the history
5) the Parks
4) Afternoon Tea
3) Theatre, plays!!!!
2) Wagamama's (Asian fusion restaurant, the menu has changed since I last went a decade ago)
1) Holy Trinity Brompton church, I became a Christian in London. So in a way, London is my spiritual birthplace.

I probably forgot something. I'll see if this list changes when I get back.

This one is for the Richey kiddos

Everyone else can ignore.