At home in London

We arrived in London (a city of 15 million) and felt very much at home in this area: Gloucester Road. Our hotel was right across the street from this picture.

It was quite an ordeal hauling 8 bags from the airport to the hotel via the train and the tube. Nothing could have ever prepared us for this experience!

We went on a double decker tour of the area and were amazed at the history.

The kids favorite stories were about Sir Winston Churchill: One was when he arrived at session drunk and a woman said "You sir, are drunk" to which he replied "Madame, you are ugly but I will be sober in the morning." Another story they particularly liked was one where a lady said to Sir Winston Churchill "If you were my husband I would put poison in your drink" to which he replied, "Madame, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."

They also were amazed to learn the origin of the phrase "laughing one's head off."

We also learned that Big Ben doesn't refer to the clock, but rather the bell within the clock. That bell weighs over 13 tonnes and was made by the same company that made the Liberty Bell. Incidently both bells are cracked. (They should have spent more!)

We went by the school where Daniel Radcliff (the actor in Harry Potter) went to school and we saw one of the buildings they used to film Gringotts Bank in the movie. These details were very significant for the boys.

We saw many things including Hyde Park which is 5 miles around- (and people were riding horseback there!).

We saw the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, the Marble Arch, Westminster Abby, Kensington Palace, London Bridge, Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, Peter Pan statue, Bruce Willis' house and Madonna's house to name a few sites.

We enjoyed hearing about where Sir Isaac Newton is buried, Geoffry Chaucer, and Charles Dickens. We do plan to go back to Westminster Abby in December.