Hampton Court

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John's aunt recommended we visit Hampton Court, the palace of Henry VIII and his six wives, so we trained it out of Wimbledon this morning. The train system is amazing over here. They're on time to the second and you can go anywhere your heart desires with little hassle.

Hampton Court is pretty amazing and I've decided I would like a throne over our bed. I think John would like to have separate wings like the King and Queen too! We wandered throughout the beautiful Royal Gardens and happened upon a maze. I felt like Danny in "The Shining". Redrum. A bit creepy!

Now we're having lunch in the Tiltyard Gardens where the king used to watch jousting over 500 yrs ago. There's so much history in England it's amazing. Even the pubs we've gone to date back to the 17th century.

Tonight we're going to Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. Can't wait to see inside. And I hope John enjoys it - it's been playing here for 20 years!

We went into the Royal Opera House yesterday and it was beautiful with a terrace over-looking Covent Garden Piazza. Our visual senses remain overwhelmed.

There was a British-wide 2 minutes of silence at noon today when everything stopped. Even flights at Heathrow were silenced for the reflection time. Things are definitely moving forward but remnants of the tragedy permeate throughout from the daily headlines to excess "bobbies" patrolling the underground and train stations. London is certainly showing her resiliency which is both encouraging and heartbreaking to watch.

Tomorrow we're meeting up with John's uncle Gordon and his wife Anne-Lynne. We'll spend the day with them and then meet up with John's cousin Katie for dinner. It's nice having some locals give us some insight now that we've familiarized ourselves with the areas.

Not sure if there'll be time to write tomorrow but will do our best. And pictures likely won't appear on here until we're in France b/c they're on John's computer. This internet cafe has been great but it limits what we can post - not too mention how long we can take to write. As they say, time is $$$ (or should I say £££ - the keyboards have it all here)!

Miss you all!!

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