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It's an adventure. Our family of five is taking a year off from... the normal. Less work. More travel. Even (gasp!) homeschooling! We invite you to come along with us as we head West. Then on to Europe. Even grand times at home in between! Our goals: Rest. Connect. Experience. We hope to grow closer as a family and gain a deeper appreciation of all that God is, does, gives. Scaled back commitments. Scaled up adventure. Come along with us as the story unfolds!

The big sights!

4/11/2012 03:57:00 AM |

I'm trying to lump in some of the big sites that we've seen in London.  These are the ones most people have heard of - Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster, and Tower of London.  So here goes.

Big Ben:  Wow, so cool!  I didn't realize that Big Ben is actually part of Parliament (or, Houses of Parliament).



Unfortunately, Parliament was closed for Easter break (the week before and the week after Easter), so we didn't get to go inside for a tour.  Oh well.  But we ended up going just down the street to see The Jewel House.  It was built in 1365 as part of King Edward III's palace for his private treasury.


Westminster Abbey:

Beautiful and amazing (and can't take pictures inside - oh well.)  Westminster was full of monuments of all the people who have been buried there, and it also had memorials to others.  Mary Queen of Scots was buried there, and she probably had the most ornate tomb out of all the ones there.  She stood out to me, just because we had learned about her in Scotland, and saw where she spent a lot of her time there.



The kids had fun filling out a "trail" through Westminster.  It was a great kids' activity that really kept them engaged while Kevin and I listened on our audio guides.  And their prizes at the end were these huge chocolate coins!

Tower of London: 
So amazing (sorry I keep saying that!).  Even though I've heard of the Tower of London, I didn't realize it was an actual castle - I just kept picturing it as one tower!

old weapon - maybe a trebuchet?
We had a fun tour with one of the "Beefeaters."  Historically, beefeaters were the guards at the towers, guarding the crown jewels.  But now they're really just tour guides.  Their title came from the way they were paid part of their salary - in chunks of beef!  Anyway, our guide was really good - interesting and funny.  And he told lots of gory stories about all the beheadings that took place at the Tower (including Anne Boleyn)!

Traitor's gate - where they'd bring the prisoners in to await their beheadings

When we got to the center squarish building (behind Justin, in the picture below), our guide told us that was the first building built when William the Conqueror arrived in 1070.  Justin, who had studied William, leaned over to me with his eyes lit up and said, "I'm standing in the shadow of something William the Conqueror built!"  Loved that moment!
And it's a good thing that we had that nice moment, because, well, the rest of the day wasn't so great.  We paid for audio guides, but they ran out.  It was so crowded, and the kids were goofy, and Kevin and I were annoyed and frustrated. We really saw hardly any of the tower.  And, we didn't even walk across the Tower Bridge, because the kids had pretty much reached their limit.  I know, you're thinking, what do you have to complain about, you're on this great trip?!  When things aren't going great, we try to remind ourselves of that as well!  We did get to see the Crown Jewels, which was pretty amazing.  But we had to stand in line for so long, and the kids were restless and goofy. Okay, I'll stop complaining.
Sorry, no pictures allowed inside the Crown Jewels.  But it was so cool to see the  various crowns and scepters  and all the history and wealth they represented

reading about the ravens - there's a old saying about the ravens at the Tower, that if they ever leave, then London "will fall." So now the ravens wings are clipped, so they don't ever leave!


And lastly, the Tower Bridge!

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Posted by Kelly

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