Monday, Monday

Mark came into our room at 8:00am.  We went down to breakfast, and then Axel and Steffi walked the children to school while we had coffee and got ready for our breakfast in Richmond. We got to the restaurant about 10:30am. The choices were many, and all sounded really delicious. I got the vegetarian special, which was quite good.

After breakfast, Steffi and I took the tube to. Belgravia and the German Embassy to pick up her German ID.  We stopped on the way at Peter Jones, a really nice department store. I bought a top and some cute fit flops; Steffi bought a really cool top and shoes.  While she went into the Embassy, I went to a hotel we had passed, planning to sit outside to wait for her. However, it was a 25 pound charge to sit outside, so I went to the bar and ordered a Pimm’s.  I watched a photographer  and a hotel manager  set up a photo shoot of different special cocktails.  As the bartender made a third drink because he didn’t like the look of the second, Steffi arrived at the bar and was offered the second drink for free; by the end of our time there, we had 4 free drinks sitting in front of us. Thanks to James and Liz for an unexpected moment on the way home from the Embassy!

We stopped at Marks & Spencer to buy more provisions for dinner on our way home. Steffi then took Mark and Annie to Mark’s cello lesson while Bob and I sat with Axel.  Our evening meal was eaten outside on a lovely summer evening.  After the children went to bed, we watched the BBC news (always depressing) and then went to bed.

Lazy Sunday

We awoke after 9:00AM and had a leisurely breakfast.  While the family went to church, we stayed behind and chilled.  When they returned from church, Axel set up the tv in the garden so that we could watch futbol. It was a lovely day to sit outside, and we enjoyed the game because we had knowledgeable people to explain things.

Here are some garden pictures.

I helped Annie and Mark with their homework, which included measuring lines, doing mental math with money, and listening to Annie read a story about buttons.

Axel grilled sausages from the Borough Market, and Steffi made a gnocchi, tomato, and mozzarella salad. Everything was delicious. After dinner, Bob played futbol with Mark for quite a while.  After the children went to bed, we sat and chatted until 11:00.

Slow-paced morning, fast-paced afternoon and evening, big surprise at dinner

I was awake by 8:00am; the rest of the household slept in a bit. We had a leisurely German breakfast with many cheeses, hams, and breads.  Steffi had a voice lesson, so she left, and we played with the children and then went to Richmond to meet Steffi at the community college.

We had some water and listened to some jazz at the college; then we walked to the green and sat while Axel went for a dental checkup.

There was also a cricket match on the green.

Our end goal was to get to the Borough Market, which initially was a train trip away.  However, the trains were running late, so we took the tube instead.  It took a bit longer, but we got there with no tub delays.

The market was fabulous! Axel and I had raw oysters (sooo delicious), and Annie and Mark had some exotic meats (kangaroo, ostrich, buffalo).

Axel picked out sausages and cheeses, all of which looked delicious.  Then we had some coffee and cake in a nearby after the market closed. We took the underground back to Richmond and then walked back home.  Turn around time for dinner was less than an hour.  We sat and watched Germany versus Sweden before we left for our dinner at a Michelin star restaurant, the Harwood Arms.

We ubered to the place and were seated right away.  The menu was a 3-course prix fixe.  We added a venison Scotch egg as a starter for all.

It was amazing. Of course, while we were at the table Axel was not-so-surreptitiously checking the scores of the futbol match.  The German team tied the score, so our friends were happy. Axel took a Blackberry break, and we had more delicious food.

Salmon and dill. 

Asparagus , bacon, quail’s egg.

It was while we were eating this course that we heard someone yell; Axel looked at his phone, but there was no update on the match.  A few minutes later, he checked again, and THE GERMAN TEAM HAD SCORED AND WON THE GAME!!  Quite unexpected!  Our meal became even better.

Short ribs and stuffed potatoes.

I hate Apple —- the interface between this blog website and the iPad is terrible.

So anyway — dessert of doughnuts and cream.

And Bob acting silly — no surprise here.

We ubered back to the house and stayed up chatting until 1:00am!!

Tower of London

So the opening of our hotel door awoke us at 8:30 — apparently, we had forgotten to lock the door when we went to bed.  Oh, well.

After gradually getting ready for the day and eating breakfast, I finalized our packing, stowed our luggage at the hotel, and made our way to the Tower of London. The evening before and today, we noticed women in nice dresses and fascinators and men in top hats and tails.  Multiple weddings?  I finally asked one of the groups of women — the races at Ascot!   Just like My Fair Lady!

It was a gorgeous day — we walked along the Thames, crossing the London Bridge and arriving at the fortress at about noon.

We waited in the moat area for a tour to begin.

There was quite a crowd in the tour, and by the time we got to the second stop, we couldn’t hear the guide at all, so we just followed the map and wandered to different points of interest around the Tower.
There were a number of metal sculptures representing various soldiers’ positions.

We also toured the king’s bedchamber.

We took pictures in various parts of the fortress as we continued our tour.

 The White Tower —the original building.

There are ravens living on the grounds, too.

We finished our tour and crossed the Tower Bridge

We had lunch on Butler’s Wharf — good meal and people-watching.

After returning to the hotel, we met up with Axel at Waterloo Station and traveled to Richmond to see our German/English”family.”  We had Lebanese food along with champagne while sitting outside in their garden.  Their children are so much fun!  Bed at 11:00ish.

Sam’s birthday, Westminster Abbey, the British Library, etc.

I woke up at 7:30ish and let Bob sleep while I got ready for the day.  We headed down to a nice breakfast at about 8:30.  I was having trouble using the iPad mini for this blog, so I went to the business center while he took a shower.  I still had problems with the blog and lost a bunch of stuff that I had created at the business center computer. Crap!!!!  I gave up for the day.

We finally left for Westminster Abbey at 10:30.  It was another beautiful day and an easy walk from the hotel to the Abbey.  We only had to wait a few minutes since we had bought tickets online. I decided to get the free audio tour so that we could just look up stuff if we wanted to — we opted out of the one hour guided tour.  So we slowly walked around the different parts of the church, stopping at places that caught our interest.  You can’t take pictures inside the main part of the abbey, so there weren’t hordes of people taking zillions of pictures.  Bob said it was like the Hollywood Walk of Fame for all people British: from Isaac Newton to Chaucer to Handel to Queen Elizabeth I.  We spent about 2 hours looking at tombs, plaques, and memorials.  At the end of the tour, we lit a candle for Sam, whose birthday is June 21.  We picked out the spot for the candle and lit it together and then sat there for a little while.

After we left the nave, pictures were allowed.

We walked around the building, stopping to look at the martyrs’ wall.
https://youtu.be/8w-U6spYX5g
We went back to Locale for a late lunch, which was delicious.

Then we boarded a bus to check out the British Library, which I had seen last in 2003. The famous collection was as I remembered it except that the Beowulf manuscript was no longer on display. There’s an incredible collection called the King’s Library.

And, from the country that caused his death, a tribute to Alan Turing, complete with Enigma machine.

We were so close to King’s Cross Station and Harry Potter land that we started out in St. Pancras Station, the international part of King’s Cross. This was part of an amazing sculpture in the main station.

And a side trip to Track #9 3/4, where we also found a Harry Potter shop.

I even texted Colleen and Sarah to see if they needed anything!!

We planned to go back to St. Pancras and check out one of the restaurants right by the Eurostar terminal, but the word “German” caught my eye as we were getting ready to cros the street, and it turned out to be a cute restaurant with German food and outdoor seating.  We were sold!!

After dinner, a tube ride took us back to Waterloo and another visit to the Underbelly Festival. This time I had some Pimm’s.

Then it was home and to bed — the view from the window by he elevator on our floor.