Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Hello from London, England!

Today we woke Brooklyn up at 5 am and boarded the Eurostar train to London. She wasn't aware of where we were headed until the Taxi cab driver spilled the beans! She was super thrilled! We began the day walking through the falling snow in Green Park which leads to Buckingham Palace. Following a quick tour through the Queens Gallery, and watching the stoic guards, we headed off.
From Buckingham Palace, we meandered through St. James' Park, it was picturesque and breathtaking. The birds, the animals, the snow. It was perfect.
The park trail finishes at Westminster Abbey which was a highlight of our day. We were in awe of the many centuries of sculptures, tombs, and attempts at reverence to God by the English people.
In the Ladies Chapel, a site of many royal services, Brooklyn befriended one of the royal caretakers. After the prayer time he said, "Follow me." He led her beyond the velvet ropes and told her to sit in this chair. He then instructed me to take out my camera, a ROYAL NO NO in the Abbey, and take a picture of her. When we were done, he said, "Now, Go home and show your family that picture, and tell them you had the rare privilege of sitting in the Queen's chair." She was so excited!
From the Abbey it was time to catch a Red Double Decker bus over to Drury Lane for our musical, Oliver! It was fantastic to see a British play with actors with authentic British accents, and especially one about the plight of orphans! It was a fantastic production. By the time we exited the play it was getting dark out, but that didn't stop us from visiting Parliament Square and Big Ben. We then hopped on the Tube and rode it to the Tower of London and The London Bridge. It was a packed in day of enjoying Fish and Chips, the theater, the royal homes, and an amazing country. We all enjoyed the train ride home where we had first class tickets. The wine was amazing, and so was the three course dinner we ate while we were transported back to Paris. Jason and I were a little stumped by what they served us. We've decided to have a blog contest to see if anyone else knows. First person who comments and correctly guesses what this red portion is, will win an exclusive gift from Ethiopia, mailed to you when we return. And yes, Brooklyn did try it.
Up at 5am, and it's now 2am, so it's been a long long day. We have to re-pack in the morning, catch a bit of The Louve, and then we head to the airport and on to Ethiopia tomorrow night! Our next post will most likely be from Ethiopia on Saturday or Sunday, so for now, Cheerio!

14 comments:

  1. Some sort of compressed pork scraps? I'm a bloggy friend of Amy's and am enjoying following your journey! Praying for you guys!

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  2. PICKLED PIG SOMETHING? (I THINK AMY HAS IT RIGHT)

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  3. Nathan says "Cheerio!" (I like honey nut cheerios!)

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  4. Alan guesses a Salmon Croquette - whatever that is but I told him that I doubt Brooklyn would have tried salmon. I am with the blood pudding guess!

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  5. We were just in London!!! on our way to ET!!! What beautiful pictures!!!! The day we left, the snow storms were shutting down the flights out, so its nice to see how beautiful it looks there with snow on the ground. Praying for continued safe travels!!

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  6. Okay, first I am so glad that you had a great time in my country, England!!! It does look pretty with all the snow and it has been here for almost a month now which is really rare!

    As for the food, well you would think I would get it being British and all, BUT even I cannot be sure..... it does not look like black pudding to me, that is usually in a sausage shape and is black. It looks like pork or gammon with apple sauce.

    Looking forward to following you to ET!!!

    www.lydiahope.blogspot.com

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  7. You're all wrong, CLUE #1 It's Sweet, and it's a pie!

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  8. Okay, this is Jeff, Naomi's husband, home from a business trip and this definitely looks like something you would get on a train or a plane!! I am posing a guess of apple and raspberry on a pastry base with a bit of a sauce on it like a toffee, with a bit of double cream (or creme fraiche) on the side. It kinda looks like a steamed pudding a bit as well, which is common here in England. Anyway, that is my guess!!

    Blessings,
    Jeff

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  9. Okay, stop. I just posted that guess and got up from the computer and thought to myself wait, it looks like something else! How many guesses do I get? It looks like a piece of pineapple, with a brown sugar carmelization on top, with creme fraiche on the side. So the guess is a Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Cherries.

    Thanks,
    Jeff (Again)

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  10. Steak and Kidney pie sweetbread with maybe a rasberry or applesauce topping.

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  11. Panna Cotta??
    meuslex958 (at) yahoo (dot) com

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