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...
We rode the impossibly-long escalators at the London Underground.
We minded the gap as we embarked...
... and disembarked at Trafalgar Square...
...guarded by imposing lions at its base.
We smiled when we saw the decorative tiles at literary addresses.
We boarded the Hop-On-Hop-Off double-decker bus
....where we had a great vantage point to admire the Regent architecture...
...in all its sweeping glory.
We confirmed that the London Bridge was not falling down...
We saw the British Parliament from across the Thames...
...and understood how the enormous Big Ben got its moniker.
We saw relatively new icons...
and those that have centuries of tradition.
My daughter and I will look for the Coade Lion at Westminster Bridge. It will probably have the best view of the royal watchers...
...as Kate and William will finally tie the knot in Westminster Abbey.
