London Calling

This week I will begin to catch up on the blog. The last month has been very full, including visits to London, Paris, Berlin, and some Belgian locations (Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp). In that time, we also made some excursions with Joe, Eva, and Dom around Almunecar, the kids had a winter concert at school, and we experienced the Dia de Los Reyes Magos parade. As I write, school has begun again and we are returning to the regular routine here amidst the palms, but I am glad for the chance to reflect on a special month for our family.

In coming to Europe, we were excited to visit Christian, Vicki, Gus, Sol, and Xan in London. I had visited them a couple of times since they left Brooklyn, but this would be the first time for the whole family. We made the trip at the beginning of December, in anticipation of the holidays. They live in a cool, modern house in Forest Hill, in the SE part of the city, on a hill just by the Horniman Museum park, with a view of downtown that is especially impressive at night. They are in zone 3, but practically zone 2 (as Christian emphasized).

London is so big and has so much to offer, we realized we just needed to embrace the thought that we would be returning here many times and won't see it all at once. But with good advice from Vicki we laid out a 4-day schedule that would include some old London, some new London, and some familiar places from when I lived there. Let's jump into the photos and I'll add commentary as we go.

The first day began with the Tower of London. We arrived early and headed straight for the Crown Jewels. No photography allowed, but by getting there first we had the place to ourselves and were able to circle back on the moving walkways for multiple views. The jewels are impressive, of course, but what I remember most is a solid gold punch bowl capable of holding 144 bottles' worth of wine.

We then went back to the main gate to catch a Yeoman Warder (Beefeater) tour. Main takeaway for me, besides all the beheadings, was that the White Tower (the palace within the castle walls, behind Abby and the kids below) was begun by William the Conqueror himself. Inside the White Tower was also an impressive display of armor and weaponry.

 

We really liked this chapel within the White Tower.Very peaceful little spot.

Charlotte wasn't sure she should stand under the heavy iron gate:

The Yeoman Warders and others still live inside the Tower. But I also want to note the Shard in the background. In Christian and Vicki's London, even more than in other people's, the Shard looms large. Christian works right next to it at London Bridge, and so we always seemed to keep tabs on its location.

Here's a view with Tower Bridge on the left. Note it was an overcast morning. We didn't get a lot of sun, but actually the weather held out for us and never got too cold.

From there, we headed to Leadenhall Market to find lunch, and a Harry Potter movie exterior location. You have to love how the old gets tucked away inside the new in London. It's a beautiful market, surrounded by modern city blocks, and you wouldn't necessarily know to turn in there from the main roads.

This storefront was used as the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron in one of the Harry Potter movies:

We ate some Mexican comfort food for lunch, and then hopped on the Tube over toward the Strand to see a West End matinee of The Lion King. But, on the way, we also stopped to see a few things.

Perhaps most importantly, we finally got the whole family together:

Yes, that is us in the Temple area near on the Thames, not far from LSE, where we stopped to see the statue of John Stuart Mill. John was very happy to see us, I'm sure. Abby and the kids humored me.

We then walked up to see LSE, which doesn't have much of a campus, but we got a photo outside the old building, which is called the Old Building.

Over the door is a beaver. According to Wikipedia: "The beaver mascot was selected for its associations with "foresight, constructiveness and industrious behaviour". Nice beaver!
 

Just before LSE, Abby and the kids also popped into Australia House (the Australian Embassy) to catch a glimpse of the interior, which was used as part of Gringott's Bank in the Harry Potter movies. Props to Abby for being the parent who is willing to do things like that, not worrying if there are guards and signs saying it's not open to public. Every family should have one Turner and one Norris.

With some time to kill after LSE, we walked up to Covent Garden. This was all my old stomping ground from my year at LSE, and I enjoyed soaking it all in while showing the kids around.

John Stuart Mill, for better or worse, worked for the East India Company. I laughed to see they have a shop in Covent Garden. I wonder if they offer a Mill scholar discount. 

More Harry Potter theme: 

We also walked up to Neal's Yard, and saw a historical marker for Monty Python -- it seems some of the troupe lived there for a while.

And then we were off to see The Lion King.

It was all they hoped, and we expected. Some of the staging and sets and costumes were just fantastic, I have to say. Last year Charlotte was in a school production of the show, and so we all got to know the music well, and it was a real treat to go see the pros do it.

It was now dinner time. We'd had a full day of the Tower, some Harry Potter, John Stuart Mill and Covent Garden, and a West End show, and now were excited to go back and see Christian, Vicki, and the cousins.

Here's a photo of some of the fun that evening:

And then kids' screen time the next morning.

There will be more of the grownups and the home front in the next installments. But one theme is that Vicki got us caught up on some of the food we'd been missing in spain, esp Thai and Indian. We ate very well in Forest Hill.