London and Wales ~ Part Two

This is becoming a series ~ bear with me, please?
Calvin took nearly 3000 images and Emma
was a close second with around 1000.
So, it has become necessary to break things up a little.

Our friend's Mom kindly opened her home to us.
She graciously allowed us to stay with her for the first three nights
of our vacation so that we might tour London ~ what a blessing!

This is the view looking toward the street from the front door.

Fraser is walking up the main street of the little town
she lives in just ahead of us in the shot below.

Have I mentioned that there was an eight hour time change to deal 

with those first few days of our trip?  Well, there was.

This meant that getting up at the crack of dawn

was a little bit challenging, since back home it was oh ~ 11pm!

The one day when we were down in the city *early*

I took note of the time our bodies were feeling ~ 2am.

It was so much better not to think about it.

So, I tried not to, and forged ahead.  And, forge ahead we did.

Our first stop on day two in the city was The Tower of London.

It was well worth the visit and took more time
to tour than we thought it would.  

The moat filled with poppies was incredibly impressive.
Apparently, there were nearly 890,000 of them placed.
We had no idea that this was what we would see ~
we have since discovered that it was a rare treat!

Each poppy that was placed was to represent a Commonwealth soldier who
died in the First World War ~ My great-great uncle was one of them.

The view of Tower Bridge as seen from inside 
the courtyard area of the Tower ~ below.

Overlooking the crumbling walls and courtyard areas within
the main walls of the Tower of London.

This guard really was guarding ~ yes, he was!

The main *Tower* was directly behind and to the left of us in the shot below.
The building where the crown jewels are kept is in the far back centre.
On a side note ~ we viewed those jewels.  It was difficult to comprehend 
what we were actually looking at ~ one of the diamonds is over 500 carats in size!

We stayed through to closing time at which point we were 
shooed out by Beefeaters ~ not even joking.

However, one of them kindly agreed to have 
his photo taken with the children ~ see?

As the evening descended upon us, we saw this ~ isn't it beautiful all lit up?

We met up with a friend for dinner that evening in the city.

We arrived back at our lodgings late and rose early-ish the next morning

so we could venture out for our last full day of sightseeing

before heading North to stay with our Auntie in Wales.

Our final day in the city took us to Westminster Abbey and the British Museum.

Calvin had his camera in tow once again, and was able to capture many iconic

London sights all in one shot.  This was taken just outside Westminster Abbey.

To get from one location to the other, we rode in a double decker bus ~ 

the top front row seats became available partway through our journey.  Score!

Here's the photo to prove it...

Old buildings on the left and new on the right ~
it is how it is in London.  I found it very interesting.

After the bus ride ~ street view as we made our way to the museum.

See us heading in?
Calvin took this shot, that's why he is missing.

Fraser loves languages and cultures ~
it was a highlight for him to see (and be photographed with)
the actual, real, in-the-flesh (or rock, as the case may be) Rosetta Stone!

A question ~ how did England become the possessor of all these artifacts?  
Don't mean to stir up trouble, but, it is something that persistently crossed my mind. 

The sign directly below the statue pictured above.

Amazing architecture ~ Austin would have loved London.
How much we missed him on this trip!!

We left the city once again on the underground ~

SO incredibly steep to get down to it!

See me at the far left in this shot with the orange hoodie?

At times there would be a few of these escalators to descend.

Claustrophobia, anyone?

They whizz right by you ~ it's an incredible experience.

Then, we took the train in order to return to our accommodations

to retrieve our car and make the nearly four hour drive up to Auntie Mary's home.

To be continued...

Many Blessings, Camille

*Posts in this series ~ Introduction, Part One, Part Two, Part Three, 
Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven, Final Installment

**Photos in this post courtesy of my two photographers ~

Calvin and Emma.  Thank you my loves.  xoxo