We went almost everywhere on the tube.
Driving would have had its own problems, anyway. This car is being towed by lifting straight up from where it was parked and then lowering it down onto the truck bed. We were standing there staring and taking pictures - hopefully the car owner wasn't watching.
Make way for the Tour de France. Not only did its second day start in York this year, it goes through London, too.
Didn't eat here, but admired the name!
We did manage to ride a double-decker bus in London. We hopped on this one on a whim and hopped off when the display said we were at the Hamley's Toy Store stop.
One entire day was at the British Museum. We got there early (for us on vacation).
It was the last day of a special Viking exhibition, so we did that first. The sign points out that the word "get" is from the Old Norse geta.
The main room of the Museum is pretty spectacular, plus it has about 400 gift shops.
At the British Museum, in the basement, there's a kids' activity area. The day we were there you could put yourself into the ancient Greek Olympics. Cielo chose to be a jockey and filled in the speech balloon herself.
They also have free "kid tours" that lead the subject through a set of displays based on a theme. Here's Eero completing one of his objectives:
The British Museum is so overflowing with art that it had to hang this great piece in a stairwell.
Another day, we went to the Victoria and Albert museum; it was spectacular, including this reflecting pool in the courtyard.
Every section was overwhelmingly thorough. Cielo and Alison made it to the ceramics room, which was stuffed with beautiful pieces - what you can see in this picture, stacked three deep on the shelves, is just a tiny part of the ceramics room.
Here's another full gallery - Eero was trying to decide if he could throw a coin in the fountain.
Outside the museum, we found this memorial to Prince Albert.
Another of our big events in London was going to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a new musical based on the Roald Dahl book. And on the way, we walked passed the St. Martins Theater, where Mousetrap is in its 62nd year of performances.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was at the Royal Drury Lane Theater. They had the good sense to sell Wonka bars in the lobby.
When we bought the tickets the options were orchestra or seats in a box. On a hunch we went for the box seats, and it turned out to be a classic box seat on stage left with exactly four chairs in it (not fixed seats). It was a real treat - plus the show was fantastic. At the curtain call, Mr. Wonka slips off stage and appears in the box just below us and slightly closer to stage, so for a second Cielo and Eero though Charlie was waving up to them!
A grand time was had by all.
After Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, we came across this street magician while walking through Covent Garden. He was doing a balls-and-cups trick and invited Eero to come over and help verify that the correct number of balls and of cups were in play. He also held the cups up to his chest and asked Eero what they were now. After Eero whispered his answer, the magician stood up and said "You cheeky boy! They're not boobs, they're cups!"
Lots of good food in London. This was after the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory show - two kinds of pies, bangers and mash, and Eero had the mac and cheese.
Borough Market there are a ton of food stalls. Cielo picked out this Scotch egg and best sweet potato fries ever. Not pictured: Vernon's pork sandwich cooked on a spit and carved off the pig at the market.
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Two chicken, two beef, and gravy and chips
A few years ago we saw a documentary about Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, a restaurant that is staffed in part by disadvantaged 15 year olds that Oliver and his team train to be chefs and high-end restaurant workers. The non-alcoholic drinks were imaginative and fun, a part of the menu often overlooked even in good restaurants. Maybe because so much of the staff is under the drinking age?
At King's Cross Station you can see a luggage cart half-disappeared into the wall, in honor of Hogwarts students. The cart is part of the display - the kid pushing it has waited 45 minutes for his turn. We muggles decided to just take a picture from the side.
Because this was the line.
