London - St. Paul's Cathedral, River Cruise, and Wimbledon

Friday, we went to St. Paul's Cathedral, took a river cruise down the Thames, and then to Wimbledon.  Like our last visit to London, it took a long time to get to Wimbledon.  Sadly we missed the last tour and only got to the see a few of the courts and the gift shop.  But it's worth going to if you're a tennis fan, which we are.

St. Paul's Cathedral

St. Paul's Cathedral

                                                               

View from river cruise

River Cruise

Blue Rock with his Granddad with Big Ben behind them

My parents near the London Eye

Wimbledon

Pointing at their favorite player's names

Wimbledon

Us at Wimbledon 

London - Shakespeare Globe Theatre, Rose Theatre, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Harrods

Saturday we decided to do our own things as my parents wanted to attempt going to Wimbledon again (but sadly did not make it.) Lots of the subways were shut down over the weekend as London is preparing for the Olympics. Also there was a protest Saturday and Sunday which caused lots of the buses to not be able to run. My family of 3 took a ride in our first black taxi. It was really cool! First, we went to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre and did the tour. Blue Rock is not much for tours and we are quickly realizing anything that requires standing or sitting for more than 2 minutes will require one of us to miss what ever it is we were wanting to see/hear. Then we went to the archaelogical excavation/recontruction of the Rose Theatre nearby. It was open for a free showing and we listened to a man speak about it for a while but Blue Rock started getting frustrated and we were getting hungry so we left before seeing the video. We ate at a cute and yummy French restaurant right next to St. Paul's Cathedral while TV crews, police, and protesters moved around outside. Then we went to Harrods. We had always heard of Harrods and were glad we finally made it. Everything was expensive and Blue Rock had fallen asleep on the way. We were supposed to meet my parents for dinner so they could watch Blue Rock while my husband and I went to dinner. That didn't happen. We were too tired once we go to Harrods to make it back across town. It was so crowded it took us almost 45 minutes to get to Harrods while it should have only taken about 10-15 minutes. We ate dinner at a pub across the street from Liverpool Train Station.  They had very good food that wasn't very expensive for London.

First Black Taxi Ride

Shakespeare Globe Theatre

Outside the Shakespeare Globe Theatre

On stage at the Rose Theatre - it's a small stage!

The first kind of piggy bank - it was started at the theatre

French restaurant we ate lunch at, protestors outside

Awesome doll house at Harrods

London - Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Princess Diana's Memorial, and Kensington Palace

Sunday we went took another Black Taxi Ride, went to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Princess Diana's Memorial, walked along the parks, and had high tea at Kensington Palace.  My husband and I also took a tour of Kensington Palace, which was the official residence of Princess Diana until her death.  We really liked High Tea.  If you're in London, high tea is something to consider doing.  If you're traveling with your children, there was a nice playground near Kensington Palace that my parents took Blue Rock to while we took a tour of the palace, which was very nice of them.

Buckingham Palace

Military Parade next to Buckingham Palace

View from our walk in the park

Westminster Abbey

High Tea at Kensington Palace

2nd Black Taxi Ride

2nd Black Taxi Ride

Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain

London - Nottinghill

Last Full Day in London

Monday was more of a relaxing day without any set plans except to see more of London.  My sweet husband got sick so Monday he stayed at the hotel so he could get better before he went back to work.  He probably caught a cold from this coughing lady on the bus.  We all hated that he felt so terrible.  Blue Rock and I went to London with my parents and took the 45 minute train ride back to our hotel a little early.  We mainly road the buses and subway around checking out the city.  My favorite stop we made that day was Nottinghill.  It was a beautiful little city and we ate a tasty restaurant called The Giraffe for lunch.

Lunch at the Giraffe restaurant

Walking down the street in Nottinghill

The Husband Project - Online Book Club

I would like to encourage all of my friends and readers who are wives to join an online book club.  The book is called The Husband Project: 21 Days to Loving Your Man -- On Purpose and with a Plan by Kathi Lipp.  If you have never participated in a book club before, here's your chance.  I'm helping Kathi with her book club blog and they are giving away prizes every day throughout the month.  All you have to do is read the book, do the project, and leave a comment on her blog to be entered.  5 prizes are given away daily.  You can purchase the book from Amazon and participate in the online book club blog here - http://thebookclub.kathilipp.com/.  If you are looking for a few more ways to show love to your man, join us!

Appetizing or Disturbing?

I saw this menu at the festival last weekend.  Do you think the picture of the pig is appetizing or disturbing?

Kerwe - My German Town's Fall Festival

Fall is probably my favorite time of year in Germany.  If you want to visit Germany, consider coming in the fall.  The heat of summer is over, the weather is cooler but not yet freezing, there's less rain than in the Spring, and there are lots of festivals.  The most famous festival is probably Oktober Fest, which originated in Munich. Thankfully, you don't have to go to Munich to enjoy festivals in October.  Most cities have their own.  This past weekend our small city had their Kerwe (festival).  Several of the main streets are closed down and venders come and set-up booths.

It seems like many Germans love festivals.  Usually because the weather is nice, there's reasonably priced food and drinks, and lots of live music.  Our town had several bands and lots of options for food.  There were also several rides for the children as well as carnival games to play.  We had a wonderful time.

Blue Rock and I sitting under the tent at dinner

My dinner - gyros, salad, and pommes (fries)

The two person band in our tent

Blue Rock enjoying one of the rides

Lots of people at the fair

Blue Rock having fun walking around

My sweet Husband won me a prize!

My crepe - Nutella and banana - yummy!

It was one of the best crepes I've ever had

Picture of what some of the tents look like