A More Reasonable Day (Mon July 2)

Their whirlwind world tour finally caught up with them and the Three Mighty Men were not so mighty this morning.  Scott said "let them sleep"--they finally crawled from their beds around 11:30 AM.  Since this was just in time to get lunch our itinerary was somewhat limited today.

After lunch we headed for a river cruise on the Thames.  Our colorful captain gave quite the commentary along the way.  We disembarked at Westminster. 

Back for more at Westminster Abbey.

 Today we went back to Westminster Abbey for the full tourist tour.  It was fantastic...worth every pence!   We wish that everyone had the opportunity to make this visit once in their lifetime.  It's just astounding to stand on the spot where kings and queens have been crowned for 800 or so years.  The place is surprisingly accessible.  You can walk right up and touch most stuff...even though you feel you shouldn't!   It was astoundingly beautiful and it is just awesome to see all that history you've read about all your life "in reality" there in front of you.  There is no photography allowed inside--but we think that might be good--everyone was engaged in soaking up the experience instead of framing their next shot.  Scott would have stayed in there 2 more hours but we ended up being gently shooed out in time for the start of the 5 pm service.  This was enough time for the boys, who were just about done by then anyway.

Westminster Abbey--10 Thumbs Up!

 We briefly visited the Wellington Arch.  We heard that you could climb to the top and peek into the Queen's private garden, but it was closed by the time we arrived.

Wellington Arch

 We headed to the nearby Harrod's Department Store, purportedly the largest or one of the largest in the world.  Think Neiman-Marcus on steroids--upscale to the max.  It is slightly ironic that we are staying in the fashionable West End and visiting Harrod's with all the beautiful people.  Can you say "stick out like a sore thumb?"

At Harrod's.  We were pleased to find that this stuffed gorilla toy will only set you back $1800.

The Princess Diana Memorial at the bottom of the Egyptian escalator.  You will recall that the Owner's son was Diana's "friend" at the time of her death.

The Egyptian Escalator

Logan checking out the fresh rabbit in the food section.

We bought some very sophisticated cupcakes and headed home.  We picked up dinner at a local place which shall remain nameless (all of you have eaten there), ate our decadent desert, and settled in to bed.   The Three Musketeers, however, were not interested in an early bedtime and ended up being chased back to bed after midnight--looks like the yo-yo circadian cycle continues!