Friday, April 29, 2011

Royal Kiss

Image from here.


Congratulations to Prince William and Princess Kate!

Update: Oops, she was not given the title of Princess because she was not born into the royal  family, nor did she marry the heir to the throne. Prince Charles is next in line.

Congratulations to Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge!

Oh my, they don't even sound married here - not very symmetric.

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!

But we're used to calling him Prince William, and this sounds like a demotion for him. Buckingham Palace stated "If people wanted to call Catherine 'Princess', they were welcome to do so." Well then:

Congratulations to Prince William and Princess Catherine!

I like the sound of that! Read more about their titles here.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Unabashed Tourists in London

DSC06894 London telephone booths

My daughter has a final exam during the royal wedding so she asked me to record it for her. We decided that we would have a small royal party when she comes home for summer in a couple of weeks. We will brew tea, assemble fingertip sandwiches, bake scones, and serve them with clotted cream and jam.

In the mean time, I will flood this space with photos I took in July 2009. We stayed a few days in London, breaking up the long flights that would take us on our African Safari. It was the first time in London for our kids and they longed to see all the iconic images. Without any attempt to see the hidden gems of London, we became unabashed tourists.

***

We walked to the British Museum...

DSC06872 British Museum

...and were in awe of world-famous antiquities

DSC07214 British Museum statue

DSC07223 The Flood Tablet

We rode the impossibly-long escalators at the London Underground.

DSC06965 London Underground Escalators

We minded the gap as we embarked...

DSC06950 Mind the Gap

... and disembarked at Trafalgar Square...

DSC06897 Trafalgar Square fountain

...guarded by imposing lions at its base.

DSC06896 Lion at Trafalgar Square

We smiled when we saw the decorative tiles at literary addresses.

DSC07156 London Underground Baker Street

We boarded the Hop-On-Hop-Off double-decker bus

DSC07034 Double-Decker Buses

....where we had a great vantage point to admire the Regent architecture...

DSC07120 regent architecture

...in all its sweeping glory.

DSC07161 Regent's Park

We confirmed that the London Bridge was not falling down...

DSC07052 London Bridge

We saw the British Parliament from across the Thames...

DSC06906 Parliament London

...and understood how the enormous Big Ben got its moniker.

DSC06920 Big Ben

We saw relatively new icons...

DSC06913 London Eye from Westminster Bridge

and those that have centuries of tradition.

DSC07041 London Royal Guard

My daughter and I will look for the Coade Lion at Westminster Bridge. It will probably have the best view of the royal watchers...

DSC07065 Coade Stone Lion

...as Kate and William will finally tie the knot in Westminster Abbey. 

DSC06934 Westminster Abbey

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