Friday was the day we set aside to visit Buckingham Palace - she wasn't home but we went anyway! On the way we also caught a glimpse of the Changing of the Guard - and when I say "glimpse" it was just that....there were thousands of people lining the streets to see those men wearing bearskins! The tour through BP was quite an amazing experience. Some impressions; net curtains on all the outward facing windows; some stunning portraits - the Rubens of Charles I and the one of Queen Mary; the White Stateroom - gorgeous, ditto the Green one; the nifty mirror/sideboard combination which hid a secret door so that QEII can enter the White room from her own rooms directly; the kitsch thrones in the Throne Room of pink velvet and ER on one and P on the other. The tour showed r0oms which were a mixture of the truly hideous or kitsch and the very beautiful. The views out across the lawns and the Nash ceilings were stunning. The Music Room and the plastic covers over the bits that might get rubbed by the commoners were tatty.The shop which you had to exit through was a rip off - £5 (NZ 12.50) for a pen!! Lambie enjoyed sliding down the railing outside - inside was a bit too much for him I think!
After leaving BP we went on a ramble around Belgravia and Knightsbridge finding a pub (The Wilton Arms - one of our placemat ones) which was founded in 1820 - imagine that! Then we pottered through Harrods. For some reason they did not explain, the Security guys who were everywhere kept on insisting that John carry his backpack in his hand - not wear it on his back! Harrods is amazing - especially the Egyptian escalators. I bet they charge to deliver though!!
Back at the flat we packed a small bag each to go out to visit Angus, Alex and Lisa in their Weston, Herts. house an stay the night. Alex will be two years old in two weeks and he is a real cutie. Though he took a while to thaw, within a couple of hours he was talking and singing - the Twinkle Star song.
On Saturday morning we heard him singing again before his delighted shouts when his Daddy came to get him out of his cot. We ate our breakfast watching the successful first half of the successful All Blacks VS Australia game and then Lisa, John and I went for a walk around the village of Weston - 1000 people, a village green with duck pond, two pubs, a village shop/post office, cricket oval; tennis courts; a school which has a good Ofsted report I am told; a church which was founded in 1290 and has Norman, Elizabethan and Victorian additions. It also has a little lake complete with hopeful fishermen and a pretty wood. We learned that it had a local hero Jack O'Legs who robbed the rich to give bread to the poor. He was rounded up and put to death by the villagers but is buried (in a big grave) in the churchyard and they still keep a chest for bread for the poor inside the church door.Back at home Alex was entertained with a round of bubble-blowing before he had his lunch.
We were taken to the neighbouring village of Willian for lunch at a pub called The Fox. The produce was mostly all local and the food was delicious! Back home we showed Lisa photos of the family - and the Daniel video - she was really pleased to see all of you and very impressed by our Daniel.
At the flat we are spending Saturday night washing and packing while the young ones are out partying. We were invited - but tomorrow is Barcelona!
After leaving BP we went on a ramble around Belgravia and Knightsbridge finding a pub (The Wilton Arms - one of our placemat ones) which was founded in 1820 - imagine that! Then we pottered through Harrods. For some reason they did not explain, the Security guys who were everywhere kept on insisting that John carry his backpack in his hand - not wear it on his back! Harrods is amazing - especially the Egyptian escalators. I bet they charge to deliver though!!
Back at the flat we packed a small bag each to go out to visit Angus, Alex and Lisa in their Weston, Herts. house an stay the night. Alex will be two years old in two weeks and he is a real cutie. Though he took a while to thaw, within a couple of hours he was talking and singing - the Twinkle Star song.
On Saturday morning we heard him singing again before his delighted shouts when his Daddy came to get him out of his cot. We ate our breakfast watching the successful first half of the successful All Blacks VS Australia game and then Lisa, John and I went for a walk around the village of Weston - 1000 people, a village green with duck pond, two pubs, a village shop/post office, cricket oval; tennis courts; a school which has a good Ofsted report I am told; a church which was founded in 1290 and has Norman, Elizabethan and Victorian additions. It also has a little lake complete with hopeful fishermen and a pretty wood. We learned that it had a local hero Jack O'Legs who robbed the rich to give bread to the poor. He was rounded up and put to death by the villagers but is buried (in a big grave) in the churchyard and they still keep a chest for bread for the poor inside the church door.Back at home Alex was entertained with a round of bubble-blowing before he had his lunch.
We were taken to the neighbouring village of Willian for lunch at a pub called The Fox. The produce was mostly all local and the food was delicious! Back home we showed Lisa photos of the family - and the Daniel video - she was really pleased to see all of you and very impressed by our Daniel.
At the flat we are spending Saturday night washing and packing while the young ones are out partying. We were invited - but tomorrow is Barcelona!
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