The London Tour

29 December 2007

We started the day out with a wonderful continental breakfast that actually had protein. It was much better than just the bread and butter expected. I really liked the eggs and cheese. At 9am (after waiting for 2 ADULTS) we all loaded a coach and when on a "three hour tour" around the city.

On the 4th day of Christmas my vacation gave to me...4 tour stops. The first stop was at Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. It was a beautiful day and the sun was glistening off of the face of Big Ben. The second stop was Buckingham Palace and we took a group photo in front. The third stop was at Prince Albert's Memorial and the Royal Music Hall. The memorial was surrounded on the base by many famous people. Each of the corners had a sculpture for each of the continents. The last stop was at St. Paul's Cathedral. This has the second largest dome in the world.

We went to an Indian Restaurant with a couple adults and had Tikki Masala (this is now the "National Dish" of England). After lunch we walked over to the British National Museum and saw the Rosetta Stone and many mummies. We did some shopping on the way back to the meeting place and then walked to dinner. We ate at Ye Olde Cock Tavern and had fish and chips.

At night we went to the Tate Museum of Modern Art. My impression of "modern art" is a red square painted on a solid black background.. We walked into one of the rooms and there was a huge square canvas painted grey. I looked at Ms. Pauline (the art teacher) and said, "THIS is modern art. Now if it had a red square in the corner, it would be GREAT modern art."

In the minimalist room there was a 9' square floor space, some mirrored cubes, red square paintings, etc. As we walked through, Ian W. (one of the kids) went back in and placed a blank and white patterned bag in the middle of the floor. Then he walked away and hung out in the doorway to see if anyone would walk into the room and look at it as art. A few folks walked into the room and looked at it, but then Ian went in and stood next to it and looked at it closely. Several others came up to look at it with him and then he picked it up and walked away. Great moment. I laughed out loud!!!

The 12 days so far...

1 Warm Coat

2 Delayed Flights

3 Different Tube Lines

4 tour stops