The Journey Home

We were sad to leave London, and especially Aunt Emily, but also looking forward to being home.  After the 11 + hour flight, we made it to San Francisco.  We arrived at 3:00 pm SF time, but felt like it was midnight.  By the time we got to our hotel, we tried to stay awake as long as we could, but were out cold by 7:15.  I'm not sure I have ever fallen asleep that fast.  

And, the last leg of the journey, the drive home.  You know you're close to home when you get stopped repeatedly for roadwork. 

And our last photo, a little tired, but filled with great memories from an amazing trip!

The Royal Sighting

On Wednesday, our last full day in London, we set out to see Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard.  However, there was no Changing of the Guard because there was an official state visit, the King/Queen from Spain were coming for a visit.  And when other royals come, everyone has to show off their own pomp and circumstance, which was out in full force, and we were lucky enough to see.

The Queen's motorcade. 

On the roof of Buckingham, keeping watch. 

So many horses. 

The Queen!  And Prince Phillip. 

Canons. 

And Kate!

Flags lined the street, Great Britain and Spanish for the visiting royals. 

The Knight's Templar Church.  If these walls could talk, the stories they would tell. 

Matt wanted to find this street, Gracechurch, as this is where his Pop, his dad's dad, grew up. 

Squeezing every last minute out of our London time, we went and had afternoon tea at Bea's.  Tea and yummy treats.  Delish. 

My favorite was the clotted cream, but a close second were the macaroons ordered by John.  Abby had a brownie, Matt a lemon brownie and Emily a peanut butter and jelly yummy thing. 

Our next stop on our last day in London was to attend Evensong at St. Paul's.  It was so nice to have some quiet time in the Cathedral to sit and listen to the choir.  It really is quite something to attend a church service in a place like St. Paul's.  

Outside of St. Paul's, there were ping pong tables set up, as well as chairs and a large screen, showing Wimbledon.  So, playing some table tennis while watching real tennis.

We then walked along the South Bank, enjoying a nice London summer evening. Dinner was at Wahaca, one of the very few good Mexican places in London.

And, since it was our last night in London, one more stop for treats, these crazy popsicles that John desperately wanted to try. 

We had started out our day trying to get a good family picture at the Warren Street tube stop.  You may see one of these on our Christmas card.

The Oxford Day

7.12.17

On Tuesday, July 11th, we took the train to Oxford.  Matt has a friend from Seminary who now teaches at one of the colleges at Oxford.  We met up with her at a famous pub, one where C.S. Lewis and J. R.R. Tolkien would meet up, and then she took us to Christ Church.  Christ Church is one of the colleges of Oxford, very cool that much of Harry Potter, the first movie, was filmed there.

On the train ride to Oxford (which was packed by the way, even leaving London at 9:50 a.m. we were lucky to get a seat).  Emily continues to read Harry Potter to the kids. 

Man, we look tired.  And this is at the beginning of the day, although day 13 of traveling. 

Famous foot bridge in Oxford. 

Emiy at the Boolean Library, she was very excited to see the birthplace of this article search method.  

Next stop, the Eagle and Child pub for lunch.  The place where C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien met up. 

One of my favorite things about England in the summer, Pimm's.  Delish. 

Next, we went to Christ Church, where many scenes from Harry Potter were filmed. Here is where the sorting hat scene was filmed.  We later took the sorting hat quiz on Buzzfeed and found that we fall into the following houses:

Kristy- Gryffindor

Abby- Gryffindor

Emily- Gryffindor

John- Hufflepuff

Matt- Ravenclaw

Abby in the dining hall.  This is still used three times a day for students to have meals. 

In the quad, practicing for flying lessons. 

Photobomb by Abby. 

Matt and his two friends from Seminary. 

A beautiful stained glass window.  Interesting, if you look closely, you see a toilet in this one.  Can you find it?  The stained glass depicts a scene far earlier than when the toilet was invented, but the stained glass window was created the same year the toilet was invented, so it got put in the stained glass.  

Just steps off the busy and shop filled street, you get to scenes like this one, beautiful flowers, gardens and very old buildings. 

Back on the train for the return trip to London, Emily continues to read to Abby and John. 

Snacks for the train ride. 

Back in London, we decide to find the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Park.  Only hear will you find a Rolls Royce ice cream truck.  Even though it was raining, Matt wanted to try the ice cream. 

We found the Peter Pan statue. 

Abby now is into photo bombing. 

Next, we head to Piccadilly Circus and then to Leicester Square, where we come across a Lego Store. 

John is pretty tired at this point. 

We find dinner in Leicester Square, checking off two things on the to do list in London.  Matt wanted a Kebab and I wanted a jacket potato.  Emily thought this was strange and not on her recommended list.  18 years ago, this was a good meal.  However, not so much this time.  We checked it off the list, but there are now much better places to eat across London. 

Emily and the kids had wanted to have a sleepover at Emily's flat, so after they took an Uber from our hotel to Em's place, Matt and I had some drinks.  We were so tired at this point, (this had been our highest step count day, over 17,000), we considered going out on the town in London.  We went into the pub next door, but it was loud and trivia night, not really what we wanted.  We ended up at the hotel bar and had some yummy drinks where we could talk and relax, just what we needed.