So far all is good! Mom and Dad had a good time Monday on their tour of London. Mom did excellent on her crutches. They got to see all of the major sites around the city including Camilla, Prince Charles’s wife pulling out of their gate. They even saw a lifting of Tower Bridge! Check out the pictures in the gallery to see what they saw!
Yesterday we made a substitute for Black Friday, only a little early. In the morning we went to Harrods. We got to see a good bit of it including the toys and Christmas world. Those are the most important parts in my opinion. We then headed up to the new Westfield Shopping Centre. This is now the largest mall in Europe and we have been there! We took a cab to these places just for simplicity and the people at Westfield were very nice to Mom.
In the evening, after some great pub food, we ventured up to the Winter Wonderland festival in Hyde Park. They have quite a celebration going on there. There is a German Christmas market set up with vendors selling nearly everything, an ice skating rink, food, rides, lights, and of course Father Christmas. I’m so glad that we made it there!
Today Mom and Dad left a 5:15am for their day trip to Paris. This is the same one that Jamie and I took when she was here. I have no doubt they will have a great time. I just hope it warms up for them a little. I’ll be posting pictures once they have returned. Tomorrow is their trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. Again, the same one that Jamie and I took.
Todd Mom and Dad's Visit Bath, Dad, Harrod's, London, Mom, Mom and Dad's Visit, Paris, Stonehenge, Westfield, Windsor, Winter Wonderland
I got the urge to explore a little today. I went to Kensington High Street to PC World. I needed some blank CDs for my road trip. Need some tunes! That was quite an adventure since the train running there is soo slow. I could almost walk to it faster! I then went to the oldest Harley Davidson dealer in the whole or Europe. I immediately switched back into American mode. It was quite weird. It was a nice place and they had a huge amount of bikes.
I then met a friend at Harrod’s. In the center of the store there are several bars which serve different types of food. We both got ice cream which was quite expensive but very good. Definitely worth the experience. We then took a stroll through Christmas World and attempted to see Santa. They have him rather locked away. Quite sad they do such a thing. I guess I’ll have to wait until I get home to see him.
They also had an Aston Martin DBS in the one front display window. This was of course, James Bond’s car in the latest movie, Quantum of Solace. I think it’s the best window display I’ve ever seen!
I’m getting quite excited for this weekend. I have my hotel booked, my routes planned, and I think I’m ready to drive!
More pictures can be seen in the London Randoms album. You can also click on the pictures above to enlarge them.
Todd Road Tripping It!, Second half, going way to fast Harley Davidson, Harrod's, Ice Cream, London
It is incredibly difficult to photograph fish. They move too much and too quickly. Regardless there are still some pictures to check out in the gallery. The aquarium is incredibly small and works it’s way into the basement of the County Hall. It’s located adjacent to the London Eye. It took no more than an hour to stroll through and at £11 I didn’t find it good value for money. Regardless I have gone through the London Aquarium!
Another bit of house keeping: Happy Halloween!
Tomorrow will be a very early morning. I hope to be down in Knightsbridge around 7:30 tomorrow morning to catch the Harrod’s Christmas Parade which welcomes Father Christmas into the store for thousands of kid’s to sit and get sick on his lap! I have chosen November 1st as the start of my Christmas music season. I love Christmas Music!! I’ll be heading east tomorrow afternoon. It’s a large exhibition center in the east of London. This weekend they are housing the Stuff Live! electronics show. I’ll report back tomorrow evening about both of these events.
Todd Second half, going way to fast Christmas Parade, Harrod's, London, London Aquarium
Before I get into anything else there have been several changes in the UK over the past week or so. The most import is the dollar to pound ratio. Its now $1.50:£1. Things are becoming affordable! Fall has also moved into the area. The temperature has fallen over the past week (ask Jamie!) and the days are becoming much shorter. The island has also left British Summer Time after last Saturday. For this week we are only 4 hours ahead of Eastern Time. With the time change the evenings end very early. This hit hard today while sitting in class. The sun had set by 4:30pm!! By the time I got back to my tube stop it was dark. Plus I had to go food shopping. What a depressing place! We have been warned that it will begin to get dark as soon as 3:30pm while we are here.
Without further distraction, back to break week! Wednesday was a London day. We went around to all the important attractions in the city. First off was Buckingham Palace. We were there EARLY and were the only tourists in the area. Made for some excellent pictures and stress free enjoyment of the royal residence. Sadly the queen wasn’t at home this morning.
Next we headed to Tower Hill for a walk across Tower Bridge and spent a few hours within Tower of London. Look back for details on the tower. Not much changed since my last entry, other than a much lamer tour guide. Pictures will be posted however!
We swung back to check out St. Paul’s Cathedral. The size still amazes me. We had lunch next to it at a Pizza Express. We then headed to Harrod’s for some shopping. This is a department store spread out into a building that could house a medium size mall. It is owned by Mohamed Al Fayed, the father of Dodi Al Fayed. On the bottom floor is a memorial dedicated to Diana and Dodi.
After that we walked down Oxford Street and picked up a few nick knacks a long the way. Of course stopping by the Apple Store!! We then snagged some dinner and proceeded to relocate our luggage to my flat for storage and preparation for our early departure for Amsterdam. It will take me some time to type that up. Look for it tomorrow since it’s my day off!
Until then, enjoy the snow Western Pennsylvania!!
Todd Break Week Autumn, Buckingham Palace, Fall, Harrod's, London, Oxford Street, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Tower of London
