We went to London this past weekend as well as for a field trip on Tuesday. Since some of the things we did wouldn't allow pictures, and since we're also winding down our time here, I thought I'd put all of it into one big London mega-post.
We visited the Imperial War Museum - twice. Yup, twice. It's a free museum, and we did a lot of it on Friday afternoon, but there were still things we wanted to see so we went back on Sunday. We saw great exhibits about World War I, the time between the wars, and World War II. They had a Holocaust exhibition that was extremely well done, and they also had art from Holocaust survivors. Another art section included British art inspired by war throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. There was also a really nice exhibit that opened last November to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the armistice for World War I.
Jeremy poses with a nuclear bomb replica. At least I hope it's a replica!
This was a piece of the Berlin Wall that was donated to the museum after it fell.
The inside of the museum. They have all the planes and tanks in the big lobby area, and then the exhibits are behind this. It was a very well done museum.
When you've had enough war, you can come right outside into a park where there is a peace garden that was founded by the Dalai Lama in 1999. His goal was to inspire leaving the war-like ways of the 20th century behind us, and move into a peaceful 21st.
Because I haven't included one yet, this is a picture of the famous London tube. It celebrates 100 years this year! Crazy!
It has become somewhat of a running joke that every tour includes some sort of reference to Winston Churchill. In Ireland, the stories were less flattering, but they were there. Even one of the Cambridge colleges highlights a grave that belongs to Winston's great-uncle. When we saw this statue in Parliament Square, Jeremy had to get a picture with him.
Parliament Square has many statues, and we got pictures of Jeremy with many of them. One was Peterhouse - the prime minister of Britain at the time of the American Civil War. We had to laugh, because Jeremy excitedly got a picture with him, and then some other tourists did too... but we don't think they knew who he was. :) There is also Nelson Mandela, some other British leaders, and....
Abe! What are the odds? I still can't figure out exactly why they are honoring him here, but we'll go with it, and it made for a good picture opportunity.
This is Downing Street. Prime Minister Gordon Brown lives at Number 10, which you can't really see because of the gates and guards. You can kind of imagine where it is, though, because you can tell where number 12 is.
This is a fairly new monument to the women who served during World War II. What a cool monument!
The London Eye at night
Big Ben at night. We are still awestruck by this sight.
We went to a wonderful restaurant in the Kensington area called Buena Sera. The fun thing about this restaurant is that they've doubled their space by building booths on top of each other. We sat on a top booth and had the waitress take our picture - which is why my arm looks so strange, I'm leaning over!
Our view from our top booth, so maybe you can tell what I mean. It was very romantic in a quirky way - you had a lot of privacy once you climbed up.
On Sunday, we took in the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. As you know, Jeremy is tall and I am short, so I squeezed around some people to get right up at the gate, and he wandered around a little further back to see the parades marching in and out. What a team! You'll see pictures from both of us here.
The ceremony getting ready to start. A different regiment was on guard than the usual "redcoat" guys.
The first horses coming by, and a good shot of how crowded it was.
The regiment of the leaving guards marched in.
The replacement regiment marches in.
The drummer. Of course I had to get a drummer picture!
Once they got there, the two bands played a little concert for the crowd. There was the typical march, but then other songs like "Imagine" by John Lennon. The bands played really well and were very entertaining - although we noticed that their discipline was not as good as the 4ID band, or even the Baylor band.
"Hey, so, are you ready to switch?" "Sure, sounds like a plan!"
And just like that, the new guy's ready to go.
The band marching around Buckingham Palace
The regiment leaving the palace grounds
The band leaving the gate. (By the way, isn't it awesome that Jeremy is tall and has long arms so he could get this shot?)
Now for the rest of our time in London.
Tuesday's field trip with the kids was to the Royal Courts of Justice. Taking pictures inside can lead to a two year jail term, so this is all you get. The building is beautiful though, so you'll just have to believe me! This building is where Paul McCartney and Heather Mills finalized their divorce, among other things that have been settled here.
We had lunch at a pub called the Old Bank of England which is near the court, and is really what used to be the Bank of England building. The first ever check was written right here. Also, the food is delicious.
Sheyda took this great picture of us with our buddy Ben.
This is the ceiling of the Banqueting House. It is the only part of a palace that survived the Great Fire of London, because Christopher Wren saved it. Come on now, you didn't think I'd do a whole London post with no Christopher Wren, did you? The Banqueting House was built by James I, and his son Charles I put up these gorgeous paintings on the ceiling to honor him.
Ironically, a few years after he got it all decorated, Charles I lost the English Civil War to Parliament and Oliver Cromwell, so this was the last thing he saw before he marched out that door onto a balcony to be beheaded. The audio tour gave us the sound effect... twice.
Jeremy and I with the throne in the Banqueting House.
We then walked over to the Kensington Palace. This is where Princess Diana was allowed to live after the divorce from Charles, as it is a lesser palace. I think I could have gotten by okay with this.
A garden at Kensington Palace. Such a pity this is all Diana had to look at around her house. :)
Kensington Palace also has a tea shop called the Orangery which is the nicest place to get a true British afternoon tea. Usually that consists of tiny sandwiches, two scones, and tea, but we did the a la carte option so we could have our choice among all of these goodies and skipped the sandwiches. Now you can all see why I'm not super skinny yet despite walking a zillion miles a day here.
Sheyda and the tiny orange tree
Royal Albert Hall from the view of Hyde Park. If you've watched any of the BBC Proms on PBS or BBC America, this is what you're seeing. If you haven't, you should, they are awesome concerts!
Hyde Park has a Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. This is it. In the words of a British tour guide nearby, "You'd think for 6 million quid, they could have put up a statue or something." The fountain is a circle that starts from the same source at the top and rejoins at the bottom, and is supposed to represent her life. There were some rocky spots that we thought maybe were her marriage, haha. In all seriousness, though, we all thought that Diana was a little more flowery and fashionable than this simple fountain would indicate. What do you think?
Some pretty English roses. The picture doesn't do them justice at all, but I still had to post it.
This memorial is to those killed in the bombings on 7/7/05. It was opened on this 7/7 by Prince Charles, and I happened to catch a story about it on the BBC, so we decided to check it out. It was much harder to find than I thought it would be, but it was worth it!
A close up of one of the pillars. There is one for every person killed, stating the time and the place. All of the names are on a plaque on the side.
I hope you enjoyed this last little bit of London! More Cambridge to come!
These signs are everywhere - Cambridge University is celebrating it's 800th year this year. We really hit the anniversary cycle! It's also the 900th of the Ely Diocese of the Anglican church, the 250th of the Guinness brewery, the 200th of Darwin's birth, the 100th of the London Tube, and the 10th of my high school graduation. Yeah, that last part's not related, but thought I'd throw it out there since I'm missing the reunion this weekend. Hi Mojo grads!
We took the City bus tour and learned many interesting stories about particular colleges as well as the city. I also got this great shot of the Kings College chapel since I had my camera ready... now. :) Yes, it really said that on the recorded tour!
We also visited Sidney Sussex college which houses Oliver Cromwell's skull in the chapel. I'm not sure where the rest of him is buried. Oliver died, and then later was dug up and beheaded for treason. They put his head on a stake on a bridge in London, where the birds and the elements had at him... yuck!! Some lucky guy found his skull later and brought him back to the college. What a gift huh - here's a skull of a famous alum. I'd like to see what the guy who received that gift said in return!! 
A grave of an unknown soldier. It's a little hard to read, but it says "Here lies a comrade in arms known but to God."
The view from the flagpole towards the chapel.
This wall has listed all of the troops who are either missing in action or buried at sea. Names of note include Glenn Miller of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and Joseph Kennedy Jr - son of Joe Kennedy and brother to John and Ted.
The graves
Another nice view of the graves
Inside the chapel
This map is made of stone and brass and is located inside the chapel. It shows all of the military movements of the war.
Aww, aren't we cute?
Trinity Hall from the Backs. I learned that this library was made to look like a ship coming out into the river.
Another view of Trinity Hall.
Our punter. He was very chatty - we learned later that he was half Irish. I'm telling you, it's in the genes.
Another cute picture of us, in case you're not sick of us already! :)
