London Catch-up on Day 2 & 3

Largest photograph on display of the Queen - put up in honor of her Diamond Jubilee

Trying to stop and catch our breath tonight - just arrived a few hours ago to Milton Keynes, where our host teacher, Lucy Howard, lives.   Since we had learned to "master" the underground tube system in just 2 days, we were confident we could handle the train out of London.  SUCCESS!
     Let's begin with yesterday - we started off the day on the hop-on-hop-off tour bus to get us around town.  We found a booth with cheap theater tickets, so we bought tickets to see a very popular London West End show - Wicked!  Something we looked forward to all day :) Then on to the National Portrait Gallery where we viewed a special gallery dedicated to the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and then to the National Gallery to see several amazing works by van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, and Degas just to name a few.  It was quite crowded at the galleries because several schools were there on field trips.  After leaving these galleries we headed off to Kensington Palace which was the main residence for Queen Victoria, Princess Diana, and soon to be the residence of William and Kate.  The grounds and gardens are beautiful and the inside held exhibits such as Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee from 1897 and an exhibit displaying a few of Princess Diana's dresses.  From Kensington we went to the famous Harrod's Department Store (too expensive for a couple of teachers from Ok),  then RUSHED back to our hotel to change for the show.  Once again we successfully managed to navigating through the underground tube to the theatre with 2 minutes to spare before curtains up :)  Amazing performance by the cast of Wicked!  After the show we finally made time to stop and eat dinner . . . at 10:45.  Back to the hotel by midnight which is the main reason for the delayed post :)

Kensington Palace

Fun London cab

Aboard the London Eye / Parliament across the Thames River

Olympic countdown clock in Trafalgar Square

Part of the gardens at Kensington Palace

At the Tower of London - Thanks Fund for Teachers!

On the Thames River cruise in front of Tower Bridge - this trip is only possible because of FFT!

Westminster Abbey

     Today's adventure took us to the London Eye by way of the Thames River cruise.  The views from the London Eye were spectacular!  It takes 30 minutes to rotate the entire way around with it never stopping, not even to let you off - just slows down for you.  We walked along the river area, then stopped for a nice lunch at a cafe along the south bank.  Weather here has been beautiful for us, but we hear from Ms. Howard that rain is expected for the next few days of our visit.  We'll keep you posted :)