Sunday, 1 July 2007

After a much-needed rest, we awoke this morning to the sound of baby steps pursued by Grandpa steps. Isabel and Steve, the Hardman's daughter and son-in-law had left early in the morning to participate in a 10k race in the city. Chris was off to the cathedral for ordination ceremonies. After a leisurely breakfast with Roger and Georgina, we all headed into town on the train for some touring. After train lessons, we strolled along the Thames, on the south side (very important for orientation purposes) where we saw London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, the Clink (the original jail that was called that), Southward Cathedral - the oldest Gothic Cathedral in England - , the Globe (replica built on the site of the original), and crossed a pedestrian bridge. The pedestrian bridge is known locally as the Wobbly Bridge, since when it was first built the wind and vibrations caused it to wobby fiercely. It was closed and re-engineered to be more stable.

At 12:30 we met up with all of the Hardman's and Bev and John. It was a wonderful reunion. We had lunch at an Asian noodle restaurant and did some more strolling. There is an interesting display of huge guitar sculptures, each signed by a famous musician. We will explore that further tomorrow and report details later.

Eventually, we had to return home as Chris had more ordaining to do and Isabel and Steve needed to get home. Roger, Bob and I shared a quiet dinner and caught up on reading and tidying up.

Tomorrow our hosts will be out early, so we will head into town on our own, just like grownups. We plan to cross the Tower Bridge and visit the Tower of London. After that, it's either the Tate Modern Collection (all the museums are free), or ride on the London Eye, a huge glass Ferris Wheel type thing that gives a great view of the city. Visibility will determine.

Tomorrow evening Roger will put us on the right train to Stevenage, where we'll spend the night with John and Bev and visit Bev's school during the day. I'll be paired with a Spanish teacher and Bob will visit the library. After school, we'll return with them to London, where the six of us will have dinner and see Love's Labour's Lost at the Globe. How English can you get?