the last

saturday morning and we are off for our last full day in london...a stop at the shopping center ip the street  finds us in the middle of a saturday food market...YUM!!!

after a little shopping and drooling, we are off...it is a beautiful day...the sun is out and the temp is in the upper 50s...to hyde park and kensington palace we go...

 we used the tube for most travel during the week...really handy and very user friendly!

 hyde park was full of people...it was the first warm day of the trip and the city was out enjoying it...people everywhere...

 we stopped at kensington palace...the yards/gardens were beginning to bloom a few more weeks and the gardens will be in full bloom...

 foregoing the classic foot shot for a shadow shot...

 this kid was soooooo cute...a little imp of a girl...barely a pre-toddler actually...cruising the grounds of kensington palace...too cute...

 we stopped to enjoy the sun and do a little people watching...the classic long armed self portrait...

then we took the tube back to the theatre district...mind the gap...

 while out and about we came across byron's "proper" hamburgers...the question is...are their improper burgers out there somewhere?

 a quick trip to st. martin in the fields and trafalgar square...

 hmmmmm....

 we documented our steps at st. martin's...iowa scott...me...gin...and scot-tay...

 one last peek at big ben and we ducked into an English pub for our final meal in the city...

after dinner ginny and i ran off to go and see the hurley burley show (burlesque)...it was a bust (hee hee)...was tacky and tough to watch...so we fled and ended up at a concert at st. matin's...mozart's requiem...INCREDIBLE! 

sunday morning came early and we packed...jumped on the bus...navigated our way through heathrow and boarded a plane...

thank you london

swans...white ones and a black one and lions too!

friday and it is an early start...we are off to covent garden in search of tickets to see swan lake at the royal opera house...tickets have been sold out for weeks and we are off get in the cue for "rush" tickets...

after standing for a while we decide to take a load off...or on as the case may be...ginny is sitting in my lap...

 after a successful venture to aquire tickets for swan lake i escorted gin to the courtald gallery...it was on her list...while she spent time wondering the halls of somerset house i took off in search of more tickets for the final evenings in the city...

this is somerset house...

before the opera we spent a little more time at covent garden...so many interesting people doing interesting things...

 and then to the opera house for swan lake...it was truly amazing...i loved it...

 a walk after the show...and a few more shots...

 in the evening we went to see the lion king...a beautiful show to watch...not so in to the story...but the production is visually spectacular!

holy moly...only one more day....

a little more of london (thursday)

ahhhh...a slow day...or at least a slower start to the day...i set out in the morning with laundry in hand in search of a coin op laundry...while exploring in the neighborhood I came across this little bookshop...a great stop!

 late morning we made our way to the victoria and albert museum...a strange collection...

 the glass display/collection was a favorite....

 who's that fox?

 this is the entrance to the museum...i love this picture...

 from the museum it is a short walk to herrod's...the neighborhood is beautiful...

herrod's was really overwhelming...a site to see.  after a little shopping we returned to the hotel to meet friend jerry...we had a date for dinner at an italian restaurant and then off to the theatre again...blood brothers...the production was fantastic...a nice reminder...I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!

hump day...

wednesday was not a picture taking day...in the morning gin and joce went to the british museum and i spent the morning with friend jerry...we met at noon for lunch and an afternoon of theatre - great anticipation (The Children's Hour staring Ellen Burstyn, Keira Knightly and Carol Kane)...on the way to lunch we encountered more street "artists"...ginny can not resist these people...

we ate at an indian restaurant...in true ginny style we photographed our food...yum!

we made our way to the theatre...ah nuts...it stunk!  poorly directed...we all agreed that it was junk...we found a "sweets" shop and we indulged in cakes...again the camera comes out.

reluctantly we made our way to the tube station...and after a quick stop at boots (pharmacy) for a final shop...we sent joce on her way...so hard to say goodbye...

after parting ways ginny and i made our way to the prince of whales theatre...the marquee read mama mia...

storming the castle...

monday was our trip to the country...

a "quick" stop at Oxford...

 

not sure i like the pace of the "tour"...c'est la vie!  after our visit to Oxford we made our way to stratford...a visit to shakespeare's birthplace and childhood home...really interesting...

on the way out of the house there was an actor doing a monologue...our ginny stopped to give him a audience...way to support the local art scene sweets!

after stratford and lunch we hit the road again...off to warwick castle...a beautiful day and great time (catching up with joce on the bus ride)...

 we are all trying to stay out of trouble....but with this pack it is really hard to do...

 the peacock garden was a favorite stop...something so amazing about sitting in a "flock" of peacocks...here is one of the 40 pics I took of them...

 the afternoon comes to an end and we are on our way back to the big city...

we land at the hotel after six and joce and kirsten hit the street...a short tube ride takes us to the west end and we will rock you (a musical made of Queen's music-that is Queen not "the Queen")...GREAT FUN!

tuesday in london...

the plan for the day included a trip to the Tate Modern (art)...it started out a little rough...i caught myself shaking my head and  engaging in "what the hell" self talk in the first few rooms...not sure if some of the  things displayed qualify as art...there is no wonder and awe in something that appears to be something i could do myself...

in looking back at the pics for the day...we took very few...as the morning at the Tate progressed the camera finally came out and we decided that some of the work would make for great back drops...so here is gal pal joce...love this chick!

 not much for museums generally...but this grew on me as we made our way from  room to room...

 it is ginny's turn....

 after the Tate...we headed to Covent Garden...shopping with joce was a must...gin spent a couple of hours at a coffee shop while we hit the shops...a few great finds and we returned to the hotel to meet up with friend jerry girton for dinner at the Giraffe...great food!  

after dinner we returned to the west end for Priscilla Queen of the Desert...A BLAST!

tuesday comes to an end...and as it always does...wednesday follows...for us this means the departure of joce...ah nuts!