Hot day in the city

We began the day cuddled up nicely in our air conditioned room

Today's big visit was to the Tower of London

A dragon made up of weapons and money - what more could a boy want?

After a healthy lunch in a cool pub we felt ready for a couple more adventures

Robert brought a special friend along for our day out

In front of the Tower Bridge

Here we are at St. Paul's Cathedral - we couldn't get in because they needed a full afternoon to rehearse for a service the next day - so we headed off to Harrods

I've always be fascinated by the food halls in Harrods, but the boys were much more interested in the toy section.

London on a Summer's aftenoon

We had a relaxed morning in Canterbury and then hopped a train to London.  We landed at St. Pancras Station and asked directions for a bus to our  hotel.  In the event we found that it was much more complex than we'd hoped.  There was so much construction around the station that bus stops have been moved about.  In our search we found a McDonald's and so had lunch there which I think was a comfort to the boys.   Then fortified with food and able to think more clearly we found the bus and got to our hotel.

Our hotel is lovely and air conditioned and we are so thankful to the parishioner who has made it possible for us to stay here!  I am sitting on the bed with cool air on me after a hot day of sight seeing. The boys are happily watching television and Kevin and I are having our own downtime.

I will now post some pictures from our first day in London.

Riding the bus is so exciting!

Harry wanted to see the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum, having recently read about it.  We also saw lots of Greek and Egyptian artifacts.

We stopped on the steps to decide on dinner (something familiar - pizza)

And lucky boys got both dessert and cool hats to wear.

Sunday in Canterbury

The Llewellyns have a beautiful house with a great view and a wonderful three tiered garden.  At the top of the garden is a summer house where you can sit and take in the view.  We didn't really sit, but I did take a few moments to really look and enjoy the view.

In the morning we went to Canterbury Cathedral for a Eucharist service.  We really enjoyed it and Robert even went to Sunday School.  He didn't tell us much about it, but seemed to enjoy himself.

In the afternoon we went to their beach cottage in Whitstable.  It is lovely with a pebbly beach and  on the horizon you can see a wind farm.  On the day we were there the windmills were barely moving, but there was fortunately still a slight breeze by the water.

Richard and Robert enjoying a picnic in the beach hut.

lunch :-)

testing out the waters

sitting on the steps.

As a special treat for the boys we got them ice cream after lunch.  The special treat for us grown ups was a lovely Sunday roast which Jennifer had put together and grown up conversation with Jennifer and Richard.

It was nice to catch up and reminisce about our times at Lambeth.

Traveling and arriving

We are now in Canterbury visiting with friends we know from our days living and working at Lambeth Palace.  It is a beautiful place and I will hopefully get some pictures of the house and garden.  Here are a few shots of our day though.

The train station in Hinckley.  Our train was late coming so we only had about a minute to get to our train in Leicester.  We just barely made it.  We had to walk through 2 first class cars and got to see how the better half lives :-)

A walk along the river.

Playground time.  We haven't been to a playground since leaving home and it was a lovely and needed time outside on the various pieces of equipment.

Taxi, ferry, bus, train and car

Yesterday was a travel day for us.  We got up early and got a cab to the ferry.  That was the first taxi ride for the boys.  Then we took the ferry to Wales and after being transferred by bus we took a train from the ferry port to Hinckley where we were picked up by our hosts.  They are heading off on holiday today, but we were very happy to have the chance to meet them and have them show us around the house.  The had friends over to dinner and we enjoyed that very much as well.  We now know at least a couple of faces in Hinckley as well.

Here are some pictures of our trip.

Harry on the ferry.

Robert made a friend who is named Harry :-)

Robert and little Harry

Here we are waiting for the train in Holyhead, Wales.  We had to switch trains 2 times which was a bit nerve wracking but went fine.

On the train - we saw lots of fields and sheep and cows and also a castle or 2.

Harry on the train.

Dinner with our hosts and friends.

Day Three in Dublin

Robert has sucked his thumb since he was a baby.  He tried so hard to get it in his mouth the first few months that we were very happy when he could finally manage to keep his thumb in his mouth.  For the most part it is a comfort object and he doesn't suck his thumb as often anymore.  He will do so when tired or upset, but otherwise not much and usually only when he has puppy and blanket with him.  On this trip we have noticed that although he is enjoying himself and quite a trooper, he has been sucking his thumb quite often.  It is sort of the sensory overload helper.  He'll sit down, stick thumb in mouth and watch everything going on with big eyes.

In the above picture we were on a bus in Dublin heading to the natural history museum.  On day three we went to the Natural  History Museum, took a walk in St. Stephen's Green and then went on to the Guinness Warehouse.  The boys were troopers.  They enjoyed looking around and even the GW held their attention somewhat.  After that we took them to a toy store in Dublin and they both got some little things and then we picked up some food for dinner.

We then walked back to the hotel and relaxed for the evening and had a picnic in the hotel's courtyard.  We knew we'd have an early and long day of traveling the next day so it was a good end for our time in Dublin.

When you come upstairs to the upper hall of the Natural History Museum you come into a bright hall with all these deer and other animal heads along the wall.  It is quite overwhelming.  The picture does not give it justice.

Smiling or smirking pretty!

Admiring the cool fountain on a warm summer's day!

Harry on the bus - the commentary was automatic, but later in the day we had a live driver and he was quite funny and Harry listened carefully to all he had to say.  

Look who we met in the toy store - made out of Legos.

Dublin Day 2

After 12 hours or sleep or so we were feeling a bit more energetic.  Harry even agreed to try out some breakfast.  Robert was still on a bit of a food strike, but he will never refuse milk so he started his day with that.  Kevin and I enjoyed a full Irish breakfast.  Good thing we are at least a year away from any cholesterol tests.

It is always nice to have happy faces at the breakfast table.

After a relaxed stop we figured out the Dublin bus schedule enough to jump on a bus to Christchurch Cathedral.  It is a beautiful building and we took a leisurely walk through.  We lit candles for our parents, requested prayers for parishioners who are struggling with health issues and then settled in to watch a video.  On the video it had a shot of Archbishop Carey's visit to the Cathedral.  Harry was almost impressed that somebody we knew and worked for was important enough in the church world to be mentioned on the video.  

After lunch we went to Dublinia which is a little museum connected with the cathedral about the history of Dublin starting in Viking times.  There were lots of hands on things and so that was a good fit and the boys had things they could touch and put on.  Here they are with Viking helmuts.

Harry wanted to try this one on but it was too heavy and big, so Kevin did and it was still too big!

Here is Robert sitting in the bed of a model Viking home.   A nice gentleman took a full family picture but it was a bit dark, so I'll have to try to photo edit it and add it when we get home.

Harry in his medieval mail helmut.  

One thing that I have found very interesting so far, is that I am consistently being mistaken for an Irish woman here, that is until I open my mouth.  It has happened a few places when I am off on my own a bit away from the family or when I am simply with Robert and Harry.  I find it interesting because in most of my travels abroad, I have been easily pegged as American because of my dress, even before I open my mouth.  I think it has to do with a couple of things.  The most obvious being that my Irish heritage is clear on my face.  The other is that clothing has become less of a marker than it was even 30 years ago when I first came to the UK.  There is less regional style.  It is still there, but just not as obvious, especially not in a big city like Dublin.

I have also been somewhat pleased (because of my picky eaters), that we have easily found fast food, Subways and foods that are somewhat familiar to the boys.  I know this will change when we are not in the city anymore, but when I am cooking in a kitchen that will be easier as well because my forays into markets here show me that aside from snack foods the foods are similar and the boys are usually willing to try different snack foods to find the things that they like.  What they are craving is goldfish and cheese its.  I wonder if we'll find an equivalent.