After getting our museum fix, everyone was hungry, but first we needed to check out a few souvenir shops. Micaela and I were set on getting Robin Ruth London bags, inexpensive tote bags with city names on them. We see these bags all through our part of Germany, especially at the kids' schools where we've seen bags from Paris, Prague, Sri Lanka, Istanbul, Amsterdam, etc.
While we waited for James to get a hotdog from a nearby stand, I had Micaela snap a photo of me in a British phone booth. The inside of the booth was completely wallpapered with flyers of naked ladies making all sorts of promises. Lucky I hadn't had one of the kids pose instead.
Emilie loves the
Calvin and Hobbes books almost as much as James.
We couldn't find a more perfect place to have lunch.
Here's a good selection of traditional English dishes. I hadn't realized before that chicken nuggets qualifies as "International Cuisine."
Several of us got the fish and chips with mushy peas. Mushy is an easy, tasty way to eat peas. And don't forget to spritz your fish and chips with vinegar. Mmmm...
The London Underground has very long, very fast escalators. You really need to be careful.
Grandma and Grandpa headed back to the apartment, but we decided revisit Trafalgar Square to get some more pictures. Today was sunny, after all, and we had all four children with us.
This could have been a cute picture if James and Micaela didn't look so annoyed with their mother for making them pose for yet another photo.
The sun was right behind the statue of Lord Nelson. Makes for a nice, shadowy effect. Trafalgar Square ranks as the fourth most popular tourist attraction on earth with more than 15 million annual visitors.
This gives you an idea of how big the lions are.
We know now to take at least five shots of each pose that features all our kids, at least for important pictures. With four children, it isn't easy to get a decent shot of everyone. I figure if I take at least five shots, one of them is bound to turn out OK. If not, you can always photoshop.
If only the weather had been so nice yesterday during the ride on the London Eye!
When the square was first built in 1845, the fountains' primary purpose was not aesthetics, but rather to reduce the open space available and the risk of riotous assembly.
Emilie giving chase to one of the few pigeons milling around the square.
Underground entrance
Hello!
Statue of Charles I who was beheaded in 1645 after a power struggle with the Parliament of England. The statue is famous for being the first statue in England of a rider on horseback, but also for the size of the horse's head. Charles I was only 5'3" tall, so the artist made the horse's head small, out of proportion with the rest of the horse's body, to enable the viewer to see the king's face. This spot also marks the point from which all distances from London are measured.
After a stop to a bookstore (we were all in heaven) we made our way back to the apartment to relax, have dinner and leave Emilie and Becca with a babysitter so we could head back into the city to see a show. Becca picked out this bus as her souvenir of London.
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