Brent and Lynn

Friday, August 31, 2012

Our trip to London with friends. 

Derek could not make it, but Ruth came and also David Hutton. 

David made arrangements for cheaper tickets.  

David is a retired postman and has a "determined" gait.

David also used to live in London so he knew his way around.
Ruth is a history buff and knew a lot about the sights.

 We were able to see a lot of places because of these two wonderful guides. 

I am not sure if you can find Waldo in this picture of Where's Waldo.

 I am not sure I like being called Waldo.

This is, of course, on the train to London (first time for Lynn).

In the next picture you will see the second mode of transportation we enjoyed--

 the tube--again, first time for Lynn. 

Something interesting happened on the tube. A young girl looked at me and offered me her seat. I politely refused, finding it odd that she would offer me a seat. Then, I realized I looked considerably older than her.  I had to contemplate, and reflected on a conversation I had with my dad when he was 90.  I asked him how it felt to be 90 years old. 

He said that he was a 20-year-old in a 90-year-old body.  

How true it is. This girl was being polite to let an "older" person have her seat.

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Our first stop on the tube was Buck House ( Buckingham Palace) to see the changing of the guards.  This picture was in front of the Palace.  Note the flag on the pole.  This indicates that the Queen was in the Palace.  If she had not been there (for instance at her alternate residence in Scotland), the flag would have been hanging on the side of the building.  I wondered, if she had known we were there, if she would have invited us in for tea.  I would have had to disappoint her and ask for squash (punch) instead.  
It is always nice to have a ready response in the likelihood that she would notice. 

The Royal Marching Band marching to the Palace. Notice the Bobby (police) on the horse. There were armed guards all around the Palace grounds.

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Next stop was Trafalgar Square.  Trafalgar Square is part of the heart of London.  

There was a huge screen showing the Paralympics. 

It was fun to see the English people get quite excited for the Paralympics, also.

All right, Andrew.  Here are two people that remind me of you on Halloween.  Can you imagine these guys jumping?  They did!  A little off balanced, yet they did not fall.  Lots of girls wanted pictures with them.  What some people will do to get pictures with girls!

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Have you ever created such a commotion that people around you suck in air with such surprising effort that it is audible throughout the whole room?  Then with a flurry, and I mean flurry, the curator rushes towards you and says, "You can't take pictures in here!"  They were supposed to say it quietly, but they just couldn't do that.  I suppose the shocked audience exacerbated the scene. 

So what do I do?  Just what any other coward would do.  Handed the camera to Lynn and looked around in mock reproof.

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Okay, now you have a chance to find Waldo.  Actually, can you see me and David Hutton?

 Lynn is there but I haven't found her, yet.  By the way, this is Piccadilly Circus.

If you think you're pretty good at spotting us now, find Lynn, Brent and David.

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Tired feet means a ride on a double-decker bus--also a first for Lynn.  Another thing that has changed since I was on my mission is that the bus companies do not allow smoking on the bus at all.  In my younger days the top deck was the only place they (the English people) could smoke while riding on a double-decker bus.

It's kinda freaky how closely the buses pass one another!
Just another side note:  pedestrians do not have the right-of-way.


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As we were walking to Covent Gardens, we came upon a hat vender.  Lynn was concerned about my head, so we looked at some hats and I found one I liked.  The next picture is not me, but I did buy a hat from this place.  It was kind of interesting.  While the others were trying on hats, I took a picture of David Hutton.  I can't quite put my finger on who he looks like.  (If you say it's me, then you are in deeeep trouble).  He does look like a typical old-fashioned English bloke.  I suppose you want to see one of me.  Ha! Maybe later.

Doesn't Lynn look sooo stylish. Notice how she picked out a hat to match her blue outfit.  
That is sooo Mom.

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All day when they said we were going to Covent Gardens, we thought we were going to some "gardens."  
I guess they don't have to have a "garden" because the whole countryside is basically a garden.


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 Covent Gardens is actually an open air mall, you might say.  Again, there are lots of entertainers, each with their "hat" or "donation box" to make a little money.
If you look closely you can notice that the gold man does not have a chair under him.  A bystander waved his hands under him proving there was nothing there.  So how do you suppose he is sitting?  It looks like he is defying the laws of gravity.  What do you think, Kailyn? Hudson? Kelcie? Jordan? Alan? James? Kyla? Boyce? Breven? Caden?

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So you wanted a picture of me and my hat with my girl.  Am I a lucky guy or what!  We are just about to walk along the river front.  There you will see three main scenes.

The London Bridge. 
 We were looking at the bridge and a ship was headed for it, so Lynn moved forward with the hopes the bridge would lift so she could get a picture.  The small ship sailed right under the bridge, so she had to settle for just us three.  Brent, Lynn and David.  Notice the Paralympics design in the middle of the bridge, which had been the Olympic rings, earlier. 

I did not want to get to close to this next place.  This place called the Tower of London is well known for lopping heads off of people. That was a very long time ago. Yes, even before my time. Truthfully it would have been nice to tour the place but time didn't permit it.

Yep the third scene was a ship.  Bet you are wondering what the name is.  Can't remember. If I do remember I will add it on later.  I do remember the HMS something.  So you may be wondering why I even put it on the blog.  Because it is cool looking.

So we realize that we need to get back to Waterloo Station to catch the train back to Winchester.  When we get there we realize that the train isn't due for another half an hour.  So David said to Lynn, "Come on," and we all followed.  Pretty soon Ruth said, "I will wait here for you to come back."  That was the first drop off. We went a little further and I said, "I will wait for you on this foot bridge."  Lynn and David went on ahead and took the following pictures of the Eye of London and Big Ben.  
I went a ways to see the Eye of London but not Big Ben. 
I'd already seen it and I was tired.

Nice picture of Lynn.

So after Lynn and David got back we caught the train to Winchester.  There was literally no room to sit.   Yes another young mother asked if I wanted her seat.  Oh I am such a proud man, and I politely said no and sat on the floor.  About 45 minutes later I was getting humbled, and by the time we got to the Winchester train station I was very humble with two legs that were asleep and a tired bottom. But oh what a time we had in London. I am soo glad I had the opportunity to come to London with Lynn.  I really enjoyed watching her get excited about the scenery.  She was smiling from ear to ear.  Just look above. Happy, very happy. Thanks everyone for the help to get there.