Lots of new experiences!

Here we are, taking it all in in Europe. We landed without creating any international incidents in London and then proceeded to see a good portion of the classic landmarks. The first day, we met a cousin of my dad's at a pizza place and had a marvelous time. It turns out that uncoordination runs in the larger family as a whole! Then we headed out on a walk on the south bank of the Thames to see the London Eye, Big Ben, and the houses of Parliament, which are amazingly complex. This was definitely a great, "Pinch me, I'm in Europe!" moment :-)The next day, we were up earlyish to enjoy a full English breakfast at St. Athans Hotel where we were staying. This turned out to include coffea/tea/hot chocolate, toast/jam, beans, bacon, eggs, sausage, and stewed tomatoes. Darla loved it! Next we headed to the Tower of London so the boys could ooh and ahh over the moats, drawbridges, etc. After tracking down a cell phone store for the boys to get European SIM cards so we could avoid roaming charges, we walked (that's the theme of our lives so far) to the Tate Modern where we appreciated lots of 20th century art and sculpture, including Picasso, Warhol, etc.

Since we knew that London had obviously been blitzed during WWII, but essentially knew nothing about that side of history, we went to the Cabinet War Rooms, part of the Imperial War Museum. This was a fascinating underground bunker where the brains of the British war, Winston Churchill mapped, planned, and strategized. Most of it has been recreated to look exactly as it did in August 1945, when the lights were shut off for the first time in five years. (There were also the obligatory somewhat scary mannequins that always scare me.)

Finally, after a quick look at 10 Downing Street (home of the Prime Minister) we met at Trafalgar Square (crowds of people, hordes of pigeons :-)), we checked out the scene at Covent Garden, a quaint shopping/theater section of town. After poking about for a bit, we found a yummy Indian restaurant and enjoyed. To cap the day off, we went to a pub near our hotel and

tried pints on tap. We crashed at the hotel and packed up for our trip to Paris the next day. While it was a crazy busy pace, we saw a good amount, and fully enjoyed the experience :-)