Advertisement
Published: June 20th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Lake MacKenzie on Frazer Island
My idea of going in the water for a swim So, our first full day in London was fantastic. Carly and Matt took Ben and I on a tour of some of the major London attractions, perfectly planning a few surprises on the side. Despite its reputation, London's weather was sunny and hot. Our first surprise was a festival in Leicester Square, complete with free goodie bags and classical musical show tunes concerts. We passed through and continued down towards Buckingham Palace. Again, Carly and Matt had timed it perfectly so that we were in place for the best views for the flybys, which are basically a series of airplanes that fly overhead in cool formations, some of which even leave red, white and blue smoke, all of which was in celebration of the Queen's 80th birthday. We had a nice lunch in a nearby park and then headed right in front of the palace to look for Prince William and Prince Harry, as well as see the changing of the guards and a marching band of grown men in bright red uniforms and big, furry, black hats. We walked by Westminster Abbey and the Thames in route to Big Ben, where we all sat in front of the massive clock
Ahoy maties
Erica threw the captain overboard and took control of the Whitsunday Island sailboat tower, having an ice cream. That moment was again, perfectly sealed with the clock striking 3 o'clock and Big Ben posing for a fantastic picture in front of Big Ben. It was onto the tube for our bridge tour where we first explored the area of Tower Bridge, with views of the Gerkhin and London Eye and even a visit to St. Katherine's Docks. We crossed over the Tower Bridge, walked along the Thames to the London Bridge before calling it an afternoon and heading back to get ready for the birthday night out. We had a fun dinner in Islington at a restaurant that allowed you to chose your meats, vegetables, and sauces from a bar and then the chefs threw it in the wok and stirfried it all together right in front of your eye. It was a great group of people, lots of people from camp (Lottie, Claire, Steve Bonnar, Carly, myself), our significant others, and Carly's sister and boyfriend and friend and boyfriend. It was fantastic, even if the USA only tied Italy in what was supposedly a very hostile game. After, it was on to the Walkabout for an ugly night of birthday shots and
Scuba Duba Ben
Ben, right after his oxygen tank fell off, but before he saw sharks, turtles and manta rays shaking of tailfeathers.
Sunday, some of us weren't feeling our usual perky selves, but hey, you only turn 25 once and hopefully Ben had a lovely birthday despite feeling a bit less than perfect in the am. It was also Father's Day so happy belated Father's Day to any fathers reading this. It was a lazy, relaxing day but the evening finished in good fun with a beautifully prepared barbeque by Carly and her family out in the garden. We spent most of the night laughing hysterically and no birthday is complete without an M and M cake, so I had to make due with what I had. I made a Betty Crocker chocolate cake with Cadbury chocolate icing and Smarties, which are the British form of M and Ms...We even introduced the Brits to the concept of eating chocolate cake with a glass of milk and now they are hooked.
Monday, while everyone had to work, Ben and I had a great day of touring around London on our own. We visited the National Portrait Gallery, had somen birthday lunch in Leicester Square and then strolled around the National Gallery of Art, where there are some famous
Big Ben and Big Ben
Which Ben is bigger? paintings by DaVinci, Michaelangelo, Raphael (reminding me of my days in Italy), as well as Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, and Cezanne, just to name a few. We went to the Millenium Bridge, the London Eye, Picadilly Circus, as well as repeating some of the sights we had seen on Saturday like the House of Parlement, Covent Gardens, etc. That evening, Ben and I tried to do something nice and cooked the family a nice meal, American style.
It is so wonderful being here and seeing Carly and her family. The English are very excited abou their World Cup success and many houses and cars have the flag of England (the red and white one, not the Union Jack flag) draped outside. Most of the pubs even offer World Cup Widow specials, for those girls who lose their partners to the World Cup hooplah. It is sad to leave this evening for Greece, but we'll be back in a few days. It has been 3 years since I was hear last but it certainly doesn't feel that long and it feels like home here at the Owen household. I know it is hasn't been long since our last update but
Birthday Boy and his cake
Documentation of the lovely birthday dinner we had in the Owen family's Garden. we figured we'd start out fresh in Greece with a new entry. Today, we plan on going to the Body exhibit before meeting up with some more camp friends (Fraze and Alex E) and the rest of the crew before flying to Athens.
We'll be home in no time, boo. Miss you. Enjoy the pictures.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.069s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0423s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
A Brown
non-member comment
B-Day
Happy B-Day,,,,, any karaoke or Saki !?!?!