I Heart London Part III, or, I Have Been Changed for Good

Well, it's still Sunday.  Ben and Ian are still at Stake Conference.  Naomi has made it through Tinkerbell the movie TWICE and is standing precariously on a ball while holding onto the table while telling me that "This is my talent mom."  I'm afraid that this will only end in tears. *Update* As I finished typing that last sentence, Naomi fell off the ball and whacked her chin on the table.  Fortunately she was more scared than hurt.  And, it did end in tears.

Anyway, the Motrin hasn't worn off yet, so on we go with the final installment of our London trip.  Hopefully I can get this done before sitting upright becomes unbearable again.

Our third (and last) full day in London we spent with our friends.  Our first destination was Buckingham Palace.  You can't go to London and not at least stop by, right?  We decided to walk from the train station, rather than take the Tube, which turned out to be a great idea.  Have you ever seen footage on TV of processions heading towards Buckingham Palace?  Well, there are these wide sidewalks lined by trees all the way to the palace.  The kids had a great time just running.  We walked past St. James Place (I can never hear those words without recalling Sir Lucas' offer to introduce the Darcys and the Bingleys at the court of St. James) and were fortunate enough to have group of soldiers on horses (cavalry?) pass right by us.

                                  

We had wanted to see some of the pomp and circumstance associated with the British royalty and there was no changing of the guard that day, so this was the best we could do.  It was good enough for me - I saw the changing of the guard when I was a teenager and don't remember thinking it was anything special.  The kids loved the horses and the soldiers with their bright red uniforms.  I must admit it was an impressive sight.

One big advantage to visiting London in December is that the crowds are minimal.  We had no wait to see the crown jewels when we visited the Tower of London, and there were no big crowds outside of Buckingham palace. 

  

  

I can guarantee that you can't get pictures this empty of other people in July! 

So after we'd taken a gander at the palace (you can't go inside) we headed onward to St. Paul's Cathedral.  St. Paul's is one of my very favorite cathedrals.  While the outside is nice, the inside is spectacular.  It is truly beautiful inside.  Unfortunately you I couldn't take pictures inside. (Somehow they've got to keep the gift shop in business!  And, it is a church after all.) The ceilings (keep in mind this is a cathedral so the ceilings are extremely high) are all vibrant, colorful mosaics with gold accents.  There are scenes from Genesis - most particularly the Garden of Eden - which include beautifully rendered depictions of plants and animals.  There are also stunning mosaics of scenes from the life of Christ.

Something else I noticed (that I hadn't noticed before as a teenager) was the American Memorial Chapel at the back of the Cathedral.  It is a section of the building that was rebuilt after WWII (the cathedral sustained some damage) which commemorates the American soldiers who gave their lives in defense of the British Isles during WWII.  There is a beautiful illuminated book listing the names of all 28,000 soldiers.  Visiting this chapel was a particularly poignant experience because my husband currently serves in the army.  It was good (and sobering) to be in a country that owes quite a lot to the sacrifices made by American soldiers and to see that those sacrifices are still remembered and appreciated.  St. Paul's was probably my favorite stop in London.

                           

                                              

Our final stop as a family (and with our friends) was the British museum.  Can I just say that saving the British museum until the very end was a BIG, BIG, BIG, HUGE, TREMENDOUS, HORRIBLE mistake?!!?!  The kids were exhausted.  Ian lay down (on the floor!) in nearly every room we entered.  Naomi wanted to be carried the ENTIRE time.  I was really hoping that the mummies and Egyptian stuff would perk them up but no dice.  They just wanted to go home.  So, no viewing of the Rosetta stone.  No viewing of the pilfered statues from the Acropolis.  No viewing of pieces of pyramids from Egypt.  We did get to see some really fascinating old coins which the kids got to hold (they thought that part was cool) and we did see the mummies.  We are definitely going to have to go back.  Maybe summer of 2010.  There is still Wimbledon to see after all!

Oh, and there are no pictures of us at the British museum.  I guess I was tired too.

Here's our final picture from London:

                                            

Granted, this is a horrible picture, but can you tell what it is?  (I know Nicole can.) It's the Emerald City!  Yes, that's right, Ben and I (on our anniversary no less) got to go see Wicked!  Our friends took all the kids (that's 6 kids including theirs - oh, and we had done the same for them two nights earlier) on the train back to the house we were all staying in together and Ben and I got to go on a date by ourselves to see Wicked in London.  It was amazing!  We loved it.  After anniversaries here in Europe, it's going to be hard to go back to dinner and a movie in the States.  We're definitely getting spoiled.  And yes, I did cry during "Changed for Good."  We miss you all!