London Highlights

Our two days in London have been wonderful (and expensive, even on the cheap! good grief! :)), and we are packing up to leave from Heathrow tomorrow morning. Here are a few photos from our major activities.

A station on the Underground, aka "The Tube." Learning to use this system was actually easy. We bought an "Oyster Card," which is like a pre-paid card that you use to get through the entry/exit booths (rather than buying a paper ticket). You can refill the card at any station, and if you have money left over at the end of the trip, you can cash it out. No matter how many times you ride on any given day, there is a maximum charge you won't exceed. On the weekends, that max is 7.5 pounds. This gave us maximum flexibility and more than paid for itself each day. The stations were VERY crowded in towards town, like crazy crowded, but we still enjoyed it. Being able to go anywhere for as long or as short as you want is fun and liberating--if you miss a stop, you can just catch the train the other way. The cards also work on the double-decker buses, but we didn't use those.

London has a cool China Town area, near Picadilly Circus (the same area where all the "Broadway" type shows are located). We walked around here some Saturday night, and this is what it looked like on a closed-off street: lanterns hanging in preparation for next weekend's Chinese New Year celebrations, tons of restaurants, zillions of people, and a lot of fun (if you don't mind crowds). Several Chinese groceries are also here, and we worked our way through two of them. People were like sardines all through this area.

The London Tower (main fortress/castle/historic site) is where we spent most of Saturday. It is a complex of buildings surrounded by two walls and (now dry) a mote, bumping up against the river Thames. This is probably the must-see place for a London newbie. The architecture was most fascinating to me, and John took lots of photos of weapons for Jack. The Crown Jewels are on display, but no photos are allowed. We would really love to bring the kids back here.

Friday, our main adventure was the London Eye, a huge ferris wheel. You ride in large bubble-like cars attached to the wheel--maybe 25 people per car?--and the ride takes maybe 45 minutes? This is the view from the top, looking down at Big Ben. It was dusk, so everything was lighting up. We were surprised by how fast and rather turbulent the river is. Yes, this ride gave me some serious vertigo at times, but it was absolutely worth it.

Two tired loony toons on Picadilly. Adios London. (Notice John's shemagh...that's the one from the souq...he was rather a Dapper Dan in it with his wool blue blazer.)

Yippy kie yie yo yippie yo yippie yea, TEXAS HERE WE COME.