We met up with Fiona and family the next day across from Big Ben. Fiona's dad is a political columnist for one of the big Canadian newspapers and he thought we should see if we could get inside the parliament building and take a look. We were able to go into the House of Commons Chambers and to see the Members of Parliament in action. We were not allowed to take any photos.
We walked across the bridge to the London Eye. The day before both I and Fiona's grandmother had voiced some reservations about actually going onto the Eye. Family pressure carried us right into line and onto the Eye.
The Eye moves incredibly slowly and does not usually stop even as people are getting on. As a worse case scenario professional, I really wanted things to speed up so that I could be back on the ground. Everyone else enjoyed the ride and I was glad that I had joined the crew.
Can you see Big Ben?
At first, the girls were intent upon being as close to the doors and their big "DO NOT LEAN ON THE DOORS" sign as possible. There was a very cool playground that just happened to be right in that direction. After much reminding by parents, they moved to a better spot.
See Fiona's cool t-shirt from the day before?
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| The lovely lady in the background is Fiona's grandma. I am so mad that I didn't manage to get a good family photo of them all. Anne was wonderful company and I was glad she was along on our London adventure. Fiona's grandma is English and lives in Scotland. |
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| Imagine how cool these photos would have been if they worked! Jubilee Playground |
After playing on the Jubilee Playground for awhile, we ate some lunch, and then checked out the buskers along the riverbank. There was some truly weird people and some very talented ones, too. The kids enjoyed chasing these enormous bubbles.
We walked back across the river, and along The Mall to Buckingham Palace. Along Green Park, I took a photo of the girls by this gate.
Only after I had taken the photo, did we realize it was the Canada gate and that all of the provincial shields were on the gate.
We walked through, Green Park and up Piccadilly to Piccadilly Circus. This was a lot of walking and we did have to stop for a warm drink across from The Ritz to rest and warm up. We walked on to Covent Garden. We watched a couple of entertaining buskers and ate some pizza.
Roald Dahl's Matilda is one of Lillian's and Sylvia's favorites, so when we saw it had been turned into a musical we got some tickets. The plan was for Fiona to join us, but in the end the whole family came along.
The play has won seven Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, and Best Actor in a Musical.... I thought I would enjoy the show and think it was cute, but I was really thought it was amazing and would recommend it to anyone.
When I Grow Up from Matilda
We had a great time spending time with Fiona and her family. John was a fabulous navigator and even helped me get back home safely on the tube. James was a good sport to hang out with his little sister, her friends, and her friends' mother. Most eleven-year-old boys could imagine no worse fate...unless you were to throw in a musical with a girl's name as the title. I was very happy that I had the chance to meet Anne; she was great company and kept our crew happy and moving smoothly. We hope to see the whole family again soon in Paris. There may not be a great chance of this, but we are hopeful. Thank you!
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