London, Part One

We got back yesterday from London and had a wonderful time. While we did not shake hands with any royalty, we were treated like royalty by our friends, Julie and John, who hosted us in their 100-year old house in Wimbledon.





More about them below.


As we noted in our prior post, Tuesday's trip was notable for all the high speed rail we took to get to London. First, a German ICE train.


This is what it looks like outside when you're traveling at top speed on an ICE train. Note Maya's Crazy 8's hand in the reflection.


Then a French TGV train.


This is what it looks like outside when you're traveling at top speed on a TGV.


Then the Eurostar.

No picture of that at top speed as you're in a tunnel. But Russell thinks the Eurostar is pretty cool.


We last saw Julie and John seven years ago when John was on assignment in Palo Alto for six months. At the time, Jessica and Natasha were toddlers. During their stay in California, Maya was born. Since then, Gabriel was born. When we arrived in Wimbledon, the kids hit it off immediately. Here is Gabriel, another rail fanatic, literally attached to Russell.



Things that were different about them that we liked: they had a bunny, a bird, and milk delivery. (Bunny is in the cage in the second to last photo of this post.) Maya just reminded me that they also have fish in a pond in their backyard.







Wednesday, the moms and kids rode the London Eye, an insanely large Ferris Wheel and relatively new London landmark.


Prior to riding, we had lunch nearby on a secluded terrace across from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Here, Natasha, Jessica, Gabriel, and Maya take turns holding up Big Ben. After I took Natasha's picture, she and Maya had fun taking the rest of the pictures themselves.










Once we got through all the London Eye queues, the views of the city were amazing.


We could almost look down into the courtyards of the Houses of Parliament.


We could see the terrace and table at which we ate lunch.



We were riding in a pod like this one. I took this picture at the top of the arc.



Next, we went to Covent Garden and enjoyed the street performers.



I had to take this picture to match the one Josh and I took 10 years ago on the way back from Israel when I was pregnant with Russell.


We came back to Julie and John's for some playtime in the garden and a fish and chips dinner that we ate on the patio in the middle of a London rain storm complete with lightning and thunder.