Dear London Town

The videos were much longer today since we had the Changing of the Guards taking up most of the morning, so here’s part I of day 3.

Here’s the second video diary of Lauren’s visit to London. Daily dog count was somewhere near 20 when we left Greenwich Park, but I forgot to write it down and we didn’t record the final number on video.
(approx 9min)

Dear Class,

Today is my last day in London. I had eggs on toast with baked beans for breakfast. We dont normally eat baked beans at home for breakfast, but I think it’s good.

After breakfast, we went to Covent Garden and to a creperie and I had a crepe with Nutella. I went shopping and I got a magic trick and my mom got two scarves for us to share. I also got to mix my own tea for my teacher Mrs. DiLeo. It has cinnamon in it. Cinnamon smells sooooo good. I sat in an area between the market and another building and watched a street performer. He made five boys dance and three people be judges and the guys that had to dance were probably embarrassed by what they had to do. It was funny because one of the guys had to do a somersault.

From Covent Garden we grabbed a taxi to the Houses of Parliament because we were going to have a tour of the inside. My favorite parts were seeing the throne that Queen Victoria sat in where she rubbed the velvet off the armrests because she was nervous when she had to speak in front of people. My other favorite thing was seeing where the Queen sits when she visits the House of Lords.

When we finished the tour we went across the street to Westminster Abbey for Evensong. The choir is made up of boys and men. There were some boys my age in the choir. As we were leaving, we looked at the steps where the King or Queen walks up when they are being crowned King or Queen. We also asked one of the Reverends how many people are buried inside Westminster Abbey and he said approximately 3000!

After the Abbey, we went to a pub where I saw a special bell for the members of the Houses of Parliament (a division bell to signal the members when to return to Parliament — km). Then, we got on the tube and went to Chinatown. It had lots of hanging paper lanterns and bright colors like red, yellow, orange and pink.

For dinner, we went to Inamo. It had magic tables. There was an overhead projector over the table that made all these different colors and designs on the table. You could choose which one you wanted by using your finger as a mouse on a round place on the table (like a touchpad — km) and you could also play games like Battleship or picture puzzles, order food and drinks, and even call a taxi. I accidentally called one! I liked going to the chef cam where I could watch what was going on in the kitchen. I ate steak, rice and edamame. Yummy!

We left Inamo and went to Snog for frozen yogurt. I had chocolate yogurt. We walked back to Chinatown and went to a food shop to see all the different foods. Above the check-out desk were some candy toy guns and I got one for Evan and one for me.

We came home and packed because we go home to Kansas City in the morning. I wish we had the London Eye and the [architecture and interiors of the] Houses of Parliament and a Queen in Kansas City. I want to come back to London again some day to see the Thames River, do all sorts of fun things and try all kinds of different foods. I had a wonderful time.

See you all soon!

(More videos coming next week when I have time to finish editing them. As you can see, we have been VERY busy during our visit. Keep checking and I will try to post them within a week. The clips are hilarious. It’s hard to know what to choose! — km)

Dear Class,

Today, my mom and Aunt Kate tried to take me to Hogwarts. We went to Kings Cross Station, found Platform 9 3/4 and tried to push the trolley through the wall, but we’re just muggles. So we went to some museums instead.

First, we went to the Natural History Museum. I saw lots of dinosaur bones, birds and animals (dead and stuffed), and stood in a room that shook like an earthquake. There was also a humongous blue whale (not alive). Then, I went through a really hot butterfly house.

Next, we went to another museum to see dresses (Victoria & Albert — km). My aunt and I played a game where we chose our favorite dress from every case. We did it with the shoes too, and I chose all the ones she didn’t. I also picked out some fancy suits for my dad. My favorite dresses were the newer (more contemporary — km) dresses, not the really old ones. The funniest dress was this one made out of bras. I saw a white dress with pearls that my mom really liked. She says Princess Diana wore it.

Then, we walked to Hyde Park to have a picnic and see a fountain my mom wanted to see, but first we sat down for a snack by the lake. There were a lot of birds that I got to feed. One swan even came up to our table and waited for more food. I counted a lot of dogs in the park. I even threw a ball for one to go fetch. When we got to the fountain, I ran all the way around it and had my mom time me to see how fast I could do it. I touched the water and it was really, really cold.

After the park, we went shopping at Harrod’s. My favorite part was the pet kingdom and seeing the puppies. I wanted to bring home a new pet. Besides puppies, they had kittens, rabbits, hampsters and guinea pigs. My aunt dared me to eat a dog treat, so I did. It tasted so good, like chocolate. I got some for my dogs Boomer and Duncan. I also got a surprise for my brother, but from a different part of the store. I really liked the magic tricks in the toy kingdom. They were awesome. I also tried Spanish ham in the food hall. They cut it off a big pig shoulder. It had a lot of fat. I also saw a giant piece of cheese. It was the biggest I’ve ever seen!

We went to see another play tonight called Billy Elliot. It’s about a boy who wants to do ballet, but his dad doesn’t want him to. It had curse words in the play and I couldn’t understand everything they said, but I liked the dancing a lot.

We stopped at Piccadilly Circus on the way home. It was crowded, even though it was late at night. My aunt and mom say it’s really cool, but I was really tired and fell asleep on the bus. I’m glad I get to sleep in tomorrow.

Dear Class,

We began our day with a visit to the Tate Modern museum. It had a lot of art and sculptures and paintings. My favorite paintings were a big, colorful one by Matisse and Water Lilies by Monet (which we studied in art class at school). I also liked this thing that looked like soap on a rope, and it really was soap, but on a wire. I also thought Thirty Pieces of Silver was awesome because it was all these silver things, like forks and plate and trombones, that were flattened by a steam roller and hung from the ceiling. (There are my faves too — km)

We had lunch at the museum. I had a burger and a hot tea! Then, we walked across the river on the Millenium bridge, and there were no cars allowed on it, only people. The bridge is famous from the last Harry Potter movie from being destroyed, but they didn’t really destory it.

Then, we went into St. Paul’s Cathedral. I took my mom to the very middle and showed her where Christopher Wren is buried (he’s actually down in the crypt — JI) and I showed her the words about him on the floor, because I saw it on my GlobeTrekker video. A priest heard me and he ended up taking my mom and me on a tour to see the American Chapel, some special art, and a famous spiral staircase that you usually cant see because it’s behind a locked door. (This staircase is in Harry Potter: Prizoner of Azkaban as the stairs to Dumbledore’s office, among other movies — JI) I even got to use this really big key to lock up the door. Then, I went all the way to the top of the cathedral. It was a lot of stairs, but we could see all of London from there. It was awesome.

Next, we took a taxi to the Tower of London. I saw the Crown Jewels, they were in a vault. There was a lot of gold in there. Then, I saw Henry VIII’s armor and weapons. We walked all around the tower and saw all the rooms and I dont know why anyone would want to live in the White Tower, it does not look comfortable. (Lauren has said that she thinks it would be “inappropriate” to talk about the executions to her class on the blog, but she sure loves the phrase “off with their heads;” thus, the title of the post.)

When we left, we walked across Tower Bridge to get back to the tube so we could meet my Aunt Kate for dinner at her flat. They say flat instead of apartment here! After, we went back to the Tower of London for the Ceremony of the Keys. This is where the soldiers and beefeaters lock up the tower for the night. We got home really late, but I am always out late in London!

Lauren tried her first raw oyster tonight, as she mentioned in her post. I’m attaching the hilarious results of her culinary adventure. (approx 1min)

Dear Class,

Today I went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. I kinda don’t get it. All the soldiers did was march around and yell and did all these moves: put one hand on their shoulder, then the other hand on their shoulder, then they moved their gun and then they put their hands on their hips. It was kinda boring. The bobbies who rode on horses to keep the crowds back; that was cool. Next we went to St. James Park to have a picnic. I chased the pigeons.

After lunch, we went back to Buckingham Palace and had a tour inside of the Palace. It was cool except when I had to wait on my mom and Aunt Kate. My favorite room was the White Room because it had two secret doors. The we had tea in the Queen’s garden (or back yard). It was my first tea and I actually liked it. I also ate almost all of my Aunt Kate’s chocolate tart. I asked someone if the Queen has a swimming pool and he pointed out the part of the palace where the pool is. He also showed me where the Queen takes her dogs for a walk and where she likes to sit and read.

After tea, I rode in my first taxi so we could go to Covent Garden and the Transporation Museum. It had a scavenger hunt to find stamps all over the museum; I found all 13 but #1 was coolest because it was a rubber stamp and the easiest to push down. Then I bought two scarves in the market at Covent Garden before we went to dinner.

At dinner, I tried my first raw oyster and it was not very good. The rest of my dinner was excellent. I had a humongous side of peas with my salmon and chips (fries). The waitress said she likes peas, too, and that’s what she would get. We ordered toffee pudding for dessert but it was not like pudding; it was a warm, sweet bread.

Finally, we went to the theatre to see Oliver! Our seats were awesome. They felt like velvet and I got to sit on a gold, velvet booster seat; it felt very comfortable. There were a lot of children in the play. One of the youngest actors was a little bit older than my brother. He could do all these dance moves that were really cool. My favorite song was “I’d Do Anything” and I liked when everyone said “BOO!” to Bill the bad guy at the end ofthe play. When we were leaving the play, we went to the stage door and we saw a lot of actors come out. We saw the actor who played Bill. I “booed” him again and he stuck his tongue out at me. We also saw the actors who played Fagan, Nancy and the littlest boy who did all the cool dance moves. It was awesome.

Dear class,

My second day in London started at noon because we slept so late! The first thing we did was go to the London Eye. I could see Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the River Thames, and Big Ben and the houses of Parliament. The pod I rode in looked like a glass egg with a bench in the middle. The ride took thirty minutes and I got really hot. My favorite thing was when an English lady showed me how to find Buckingham Palace.

After the London Eye, we went on a river taxi to go to see the Prime Meridian line in Greenwich (pronounced Grehn-itch). We went under a lot of bridges, including the foot bridge in the latest Harry Potter movie. I also saw the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge and Canary Wharf (which reminds me of downtown Kansas City).

When we got to Greenwich we went to a museum with some of the royal boats inside. After, we went up to the Royal Observatory to see the Prime Meridian. I got to stand on the Eastern and Western hemispheres and the actual marker for the Prime Meridian too! I also went into a dark room called a camera obscura where we could see the Queen’s house and cars and people moving like little tiny white dots.

We finished our day with a plate of fish and chips. It tasted good. I even tried vinegar on my chips, but I decided I like ketchup more.

Tomorrow we are going to see Buckingham Palace and the changing of the guards and the play Oliver!

[Note from km: videos are coming -- just haven't had time to edit them together.]

Lauren’s Look at London — like all fun movies, it includes a montage of outfits with a Madonna (store-provided) soundtrack! I even kept in a blooper for laughs. Really, Trafalgar is hard to say! Hope you enjoy. (approx 10min)

Dear class,

My first day in London was awesome and fantastic and awesome (yes, she really said it twice –km)! We made lots of videos, but it’s not ready to show you yet. I counted 25 dogs yesterday. I saw a flower market. I ate crepe with Nutella and it was good. I went to see the London Eye and Big Ben. I rode a doubledecker bus and sat in the top and in the very front. We could see everything. We went over the River Thames.

Today, we will ride the London Eye and ride a boat down the river to see the Prime Meridian. So far, I am having a great time.

More soon…