London: Portrait Gallery and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

We are quickly running out of time to take advantage of European adventures.  We are spending our times trying to go through every cupboard and to sell everything that we have acquired here and can't use back in Canada.  Our large appliances are a challenge because they don't fit in the elevator and we are on the 7th floor.

Last week we picked the girls up from school at lunch on Friday and took the train to London.  Rainbow loom has finally made it to France and Sylvia is busy keeping her friends supplied with bracelets.  The train is super easy and makes for a very relaxing ride.

From Ottawa, by train, two hours and forty five minutes will take us to...somewhere in Ontario or Upstate New York--I think.

Despite this, we are looking forward to being home.

 After dropping our things at the hotel, we headed to The National Portrait Gallery.  The Gallery was founded in 1856 to collect portraits of famous British men and women. There are over 195,000 portraits from the 16th Century to the present day.  Ours was a quick trip, but there is much to see and several activity booklets for families.  The modern portraits are also very interesting, but I didn't take any photos of them.

 

  Sylvia learned a lot about the British royals on our last visit and reminded me of who was who.  I didn't need help with the above portrait.

William Shakespeare

 Ayuba Suleiman Diallo (1701-73)  

There was a fascinating video explaining that this was the first portrait of a black man in the formal style used for nobility, in other words a portrait of an equal.  Diallo's story is fascinating.  The portraits definitely help bring history to life.

 What kind of puppy is that?  Right, that is King Charles II.

 And here he is again.

 We were not the only tourists in London.  Convent Garden was teeming with people.  Our guide book said we should check out Ben's Cookies.  Not bad, but we thought we could do better.

 

The girls and I enjoyed Matilda so much last year, that we knew we wanted to see another show.  Charlie was great, but I don't think the music is as good as Matilda.  The sets and special effects were great and kept us all entertained.