Monday

Awoke to a beautiful crisp sunny morning. After toast and coffee we gathered out the door to make our way to Buckingham Palace. We wanted to make it by 11:30am to see the changing of the guard. A few paces out the door and Sari was rushing back inside. No one was sure what happened. Sam said it was because he spit his gum in her hand. Actually she picked a plant she thought was mint and pinched the leaves. Her fingers immediately felt like needles pricking at her. We were guessing throughout the day whether it was poison ivy or, God forbid, poison oak. Sari guessed correctly. It was Stinging Nettles.

We finally made it down the hill to Archway. We took the Northern line to the Victoria line to Victoria station.
We walked through a beautiful park, Royal park, as we approached the inlaid gold designs of the gates to Buckingham Palace. There were a lot of people to watch the changing of the guards.

The weather was brisk. It was just cold, or warm, enough to remove a layer but keep a scarf with a t-shirt. I kept a sweatshirt around the waist to use when necessary. It was beautiful out.

After the changing ceremony we walked to the Patisserie Valerie for breakfast (and or lunch). Then we walked around a few blocks, looking right or left as the roads directed us, which was helpful since they came from the opposite direction from what we were used to. We then made our way to Westminster Abbey, taking up-close and personal pictures of Big Ben on the way.

There was a long line for Westminster Abbey, actually two long lines one for cash and the other for credit. I mildly protested the glaringly obvious hypocrisy of money changing. Was it a museum, a church, or both?

The lines were long but went pretty fast. The boys got to run out some energy on the lawn.

The historic significance inside the church was daunting. From King Henry III, V, VII, VIII (other numerals?) to Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, and poets corner with Lord Tennyson, Byron, Shakespeare, Dickens, Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, and many more immortalized in the ground and tombs within the abbey. A lady chaplain called for a moment of silence at 3pm and then spoke a prayer.

The unbelievable art and skill and work that went into the statues, tombs, and other flourishes of the final resting places of these people as though they are gods themselves.

The cloister room had lighted incense that when mixed with the church and the old wood, marble, and stone gave me a happy and calm feeling of nostalgia.

After Westminster Abbey we hurried to the Eye. Fortunately, Grandma had the foresight to buy fast-pass tickets from her phone.

After the eye, Luke got lost. What a sense of dread that is for a parent. A sick feeling I had and I'm sure Sari did too. Here's how these things happen. Sari is taking Sam into a gift shop and Luke wants to go with them, but Sam wants to go down to a carousel we saw earlier. I start to head in the opposite direction with Jake to check out a haunted house thing. Luke decides to come with us. Sari yells, "Luke I thought you wanted to come in here?" Luke changes his mind again and turns back to Sari. Jake and I take off. Where did we go wrong? Where was the hole? Ultimately, I dropped the ball. I saw Sari heading into the gift shop with Sam and Luke going to them. However, Luke didn't actually see them. He walked to the carousel. I should have watched him until he got to Sari. It was so crowded, poor Luke was scared and crying but he found us after walking all the way to the carousel and back.

We all headed down to the carousel ride and were working up an appetite. Sam wanted his picture taken with the street performers pretending to be statues. They paint themselves silver, gold, bronze or whatever. He really liked the guy dressed like a skeleton zombie and wanted his picture taken with him but he was on break as you can see riding the carousel.

We had dinner at Wagamama. After dinner we walked across Westminster bridge, found a store where Luke found a perfect satchel to keep his things in and then headed to the underground and home.