Well, we started off slow again. We finally got out the door here a bit after noon and decided to take a bus and a little more scenery instead of underground like moles.... We took the bus up Oxford Street, turned onto Regent Street, and headed to the Apple Store to see if I couldn't pick up a little souvenir for Will. I regret, my darling, to inform you that there is no such thing as free trade in the UK either apparently...the iPhone is locked here too! The helpful sales people talked amongst themselves for a moment though and came to the conclusion that they think it might be unlocked in Italy....there's a good reason to go to Rome next summer! :-) The store was huge and the sales people were typical Apple sales people though, I'm happy to say....friendly, accessible and helpful.
We then headed back to the tube for our sightseeing stop for the day. Eleanor found a couple of scarves at a street vendor which she bought--she is into scarves now. We took the Tube to Victoria Station and decided to have lunch there before changing Tube lines. It was now a little past 1PM. The place we chose was horrid. Waste of money, energy and time. Live and learn. We certainly won't do that again. McDonald's would have been a better option honestly.
We then headed to the Churchill Museum and War Cabinet rooms underneath Whitehall. Absolutely terrific museum. Eleanor took so many pictures, she wore her battery out in her camera. It is charging as I write. We both agreed that Papa needs to come to London just to see this particular museum. We spent about 3 hours there and both of us stayed interested the entire time. Our legs just gave out.
We headed back to the Tube to head toward Covent Garden at this point. Along the way, we couldn't find the public toilets, and the nice Methodists allowed me to use theirs (it was after hours too--thank you to the Methodists for their hospitality!). On to Covent Garden. We ate at a little cafe there in Covent Garden (pizza and salad, which we shared) and then browsed some of the street market stalls there. Eleanor found a cute little black lace dress for 20 pounds which we bought and we saw lots of irreverent but really funny t-shirts which we didn't buy. I agree that some of them were hilarious, but they not only wouldn't meet the school dress code, they don't meet my parent dress code either (although I did laugh at them).
It was about 7:00 at this point and the market was closing....just in time to head into the Royal Opera House for the ballet. Eleanor felt conspicuous at first because we came in our jeans and shirts because we lacked the time to go home and dress up. We then saw others dressed much more casually than we were--we actually looked o.k. in our nice jeans and shirts--and so we relaxed about that. The only seats I was willing to try and afford were way up in the amphitheatre. I thought they would be so high that it would be difficult to see, but that wasn't the case at all. They were absolutely lovely seats. We were about 10 rows up (in the upper balcony) and in the center. The performance was absolutely wonderful. I can't think of the appropriate adjectives to apply to it, to be quite honest. We are both happy that we had the opportunity to see it.
Now we are home and determined to get up earlier tomorrow! We want to go to the Tower of London in the morning and to the Victoria and Albert Museum tomorrow evening (late hours on Wednesday); maybe we will manage to fit in St. Paul's as well if our legs and feet don't give out (at least for evensong if not a tour).
I'll post pictures tomorrow. Good night!
We then headed back to the tube for our sightseeing stop for the day. Eleanor found a couple of scarves at a street vendor which she bought--she is into scarves now. We took the Tube to Victoria Station and decided to have lunch there before changing Tube lines. It was now a little past 1PM. The place we chose was horrid. Waste of money, energy and time. Live and learn. We certainly won't do that again. McDonald's would have been a better option honestly.
We then headed to the Churchill Museum and War Cabinet rooms underneath Whitehall. Absolutely terrific museum. Eleanor took so many pictures, she wore her battery out in her camera. It is charging as I write. We both agreed that Papa needs to come to London just to see this particular museum. We spent about 3 hours there and both of us stayed interested the entire time. Our legs just gave out.
We headed back to the Tube to head toward Covent Garden at this point. Along the way, we couldn't find the public toilets, and the nice Methodists allowed me to use theirs (it was after hours too--thank you to the Methodists for their hospitality!). On to Covent Garden. We ate at a little cafe there in Covent Garden (pizza and salad, which we shared) and then browsed some of the street market stalls there. Eleanor found a cute little black lace dress for 20 pounds which we bought and we saw lots of irreverent but really funny t-shirts which we didn't buy. I agree that some of them were hilarious, but they not only wouldn't meet the school dress code, they don't meet my parent dress code either (although I did laugh at them).
It was about 7:00 at this point and the market was closing....just in time to head into the Royal Opera House for the ballet. Eleanor felt conspicuous at first because we came in our jeans and shirts because we lacked the time to go home and dress up. We then saw others dressed much more casually than we were--we actually looked o.k. in our nice jeans and shirts--and so we relaxed about that. The only seats I was willing to try and afford were way up in the amphitheatre. I thought they would be so high that it would be difficult to see, but that wasn't the case at all. They were absolutely lovely seats. We were about 10 rows up (in the upper balcony) and in the center. The performance was absolutely wonderful. I can't think of the appropriate adjectives to apply to it, to be quite honest. We are both happy that we had the opportunity to see it.
Now we are home and determined to get up earlier tomorrow! We want to go to the Tower of London in the morning and to the Victoria and Albert Museum tomorrow evening (late hours on Wednesday); maybe we will manage to fit in St. Paul's as well if our legs and feet don't give out (at least for evensong if not a tour).
I'll post pictures tomorrow. Good night!
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