We began at Westminster Abbey. This is the official church of the royals. They are coronated, married, and buried there. Many of the kings are buried beneath the church, as well as Charles Dickens and Charles Darwin. Next to the Abbey is the Academy, where James, our tour guide, attended school.
We were able to see some of the sights of the city from the tour bus. We had an additional guide to show us around the city.
Then we joined the hundreds of people watching the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, The guard marched directly in front of us. We could tell from the flag that the queen was not in the residence today.
We at lunch at a 15th century-styled hall. It had long banquet tables and food was served family-style. Henry VIII greeted us and was gracious enough to pose for pictures. Polly was happy because she was able to meet up with her daughter, who is in another delegation touring London today,
The Tower of London was our next stop. It's immense!! A couple of the areas were used for torture. One huge building houses the crown jewels. It also had video of the queen's coronation.
There are ravens on the grounds of the Tower. The British believe that if the ravens leave, the monarchy will cease to exist. So they clip the wings of several ravens to assure that they always will be there.
Keeping with the water theme, we took a cruise down the Thames. This also helped to bring us closer to where we needed to be for dinner. We spent some time in Trafalgar Square and Picadilly Circus before heading to dinner. Along the way, we passed the street where they found the car bombs last week. That was a little eerie.
We had dinner at Rainforest Cafe and then headed to the theatre. We saw "Lord of the Rings" which is in it's initial run in London. I'm not a big fan of the books, or the movies, so the story was pretty trite to me. But, the set design and special effects were another matter entirely! Spectacular does not begin to describe it. They did things with that set and stage that I've never seen done before. I can't imagine what it must have cost to accomplish all they did. There was even some unexpected interaction with the audience.
It was a very full day (that isn't over yet at midnight) and we have another one tomorrow.
2 comments:
Paula, thanks for the update! London sounds exciting and exhausting, I'm sure you will all sleep for days once you are home. Would you do me a favor and help Emma change her picture card on her camera? If it needs initialized go to format; Press the arrows on the menu button to select ok for the xD picture card; then press the menu/ok button.If it doesn't work have her call us with her camera and we will talk her through it. Thank you so much for doing this program with our children and for keeping us updated with this blog. You're the BEST!
karen downie
Paula,
Thanks for the London updates. London is my wife, Rachel's dream vacation! Here's a little info on what the delegation saw at the theatre last evening.
The stage adaptation of The Lord of the Rings is the most expensive theater production ever. The production cost is stated to be over 24 million dollars.
There's a cast of 55, an orchestra of 18, and a set with a turntable and 17 elevators. Tree roots from the proscenium arch envelop the auditorium. Actors fly and appear on stilts 10 feel high.
There's even a massive spider puppet. Producer Kevin Wallace says the show's gargantuan budget has allowed the creators to bring their fantasies to life.
Director and co-adaptor Matthew Warchus describes it as "a Shakespeare play and a Cirque du Soleil show sort of woven together."
WoW!
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