London 2018 Day 2 PART 3

SCROLL DOWN TO PART 1 first!!! We visited Churchill War Musuem, then dinner at a local pub which was located right next to Scotland Yard. Then it was more fun at the lions in Trafalger Sq on the way back to hotel. We left the kids in the room again and headed to hotel lounge for dessert and after dinner drinks. Finally there is the view of Leicester Sq at night from our room. Another great day.

Audio tour was a huge hit. It really kept Khai and Ally engaged in the musuem for whole 90 minutes we were inside. I thought seeing Churchill's Nobel prize for literature was neat.  

Seriously the girls were enthralled with the audio tour. There was something about being in the actual space where the British lived underground during the London Raids - it really brought out the history and feel.

Above is a list of the bombs.

But outside is good too.

I love how Khai photo-bombed us.

Ally and Mommy selfie as we walked across the grounds at the Horseguards. Ally was starting to loose steam a bit and it was raining. But she managed to make it to dinner. 

The pub & Scotland Yard sign.

Fish & Chips for me. And no one ate my mushy peas!

Great picture of the 3 friends. 

Ally was really into posing for pictures. 

After dinner drinks. 

The 3 kids in our room, watching their friend Erik's YouTube Channel. 

We texted Erik's mom to show him what the kids in London were doing and he texted back this picture of himself. Technology is pretty cool. 

View from our hotel.

London 2018 Day 2 PART 2

I thought the light pole toppers were a riot. Especially the ones with the jeweled crown. I couldn’t stop thinking it was like in Hershey PA with Hershey kisses as toppers.

Flags for every country in the Commonwealth.

  Becky in St James Park.

Some fabulous trees to climb:

Last year we merely drove around this area, in fact Becky took a picture of flowers at this same spot last year but we didn’t explore on foot. It was an overcast day but weather was nice and we all enjoyed the time outside in the fresh air. Next up is Part 2: Churchill War Rooms, dinner and friends.

London Day 2 PART 1

I'm having some technical issues posting. Sorry I can't get many pictures online.

It turns out that our hotel room comes with a breakfast buffet! Ally had pancakes from the MacDonalds near the hotel when I went in search of Diet Coke this morning. She ate her pancakes in the room while Becky and I enjoyed the buffet of traditional English breakfast foods. 

Soon after breakfast we met up with our friends in front of the foundation in Leicester Sq. 

We walked down Piccadilly thru Green Park

To the Wellington Arch

There is a small but nice museum inside the arch which commemorates Wellington and depicts his victory at Waterloo. His boots were on display, the original “Wellies” as we call rain boots now. There was an outdoor viewing deck.

Ally is really loving doing gymnastics at the London sites.

She Khai did handstands. I love how Becky, Andrew and Liem watch them.

Then it was on to Buckingham Palace.

And the Victoria Memorial

Ally with her scorpian move in front of the statue. She had a full audience for that.

Khai showed off her split

We took a snack break on the steps. Had to fuel up for the walk thru St James Park to the Churchill War Rooms.

London 2018 Day 1

We took an overnight flight from Boston to London.

Pictures on the plane. We upgraded to business class and it was great to have more comfy seats for the red eye. 

Selfie on the plane!

Becky enjoyed the free alcohol. 

And we slept. 

Once in London we checked into our hotel, met up with Hanh and Khai (Liem and Andrew were stuck at home for soccer practice).

We had lunch at Shake Shack and walked over to Trafalgar Square.

The girls loved climbing up on the podium of the statue and posing for pictures. 

They look so tiny at the base of Nelson’s Column. The column and statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson at the top was built to commemorate Nelson as one of Britain’s Great War hero’s and possibly most famous naval officer. The lions guard the column.

It’s not a vacation without gymnastics pictures! Khai is a gymnast as well. 

It was such a gorgeous day and the girls loved being outside but after a while we headed inside the National Gallery. It is such an incredible art museum. I like Impressionist paintings but never go to art museums so this was a treat for me.

Monet above

Manet below

Picasso above.

Van Gogh!!!

Matisse

The girls started to get a bit bored. They were really well behaved and patient. 

Cezanne 

By this time our room was ready and the 3 of us wanted nothing more than clean clothes and possibly a shower. So we walked back to the hotel. 

View from our room. And we spotted Khai playing in the fountain. 

After showers and change of clothes we headed back out. A huge bookstore stop and finally made it to our afternoon destination of Fortnum and Mason. Ally kind of crashed here. The walking, the 4 hours of sleep, the lack of good food. She tapped my shoulder and said, mommy I need to sit down. 

So we took an ice cream break and made a new plan. I bought some grapes and bread and water, we walked back to the hotel, set the girls up in our room with TV and the 3 adults went down to the hotel restaurant for drinks and dinner. 

It was a fantastic way to end the day.