Natural History Museum and Windsor Castle by Natasha

     On the 25th we went to the Natural History Museum. It has so many displays and sections, it would be impossible to see everything! One really interesting display was about birds; it had six different types of vultures, a dodo bird (yes, a real, stuffed one), examples of what the different feet, wings, beaks, feathers (including an ostrich and a penguin), and every type of humming bird, waterfoul, and hawk! In another section there was a life sized termite mound - the termites. Another amazing display was a life sized model of a blue whale! Its head was at one end of the room and its tail at the other, and this room was about 50 meters in length! Aside from the blue whale there was also other life sized models of elephants, a giraffe, a hippo, a rhino, and other ocean creatures like the narwhal, the orca, the sea lion, and tons and tons of dolphins. And that's only some of the stuff!

     The next day we went to Windsor Castle, official residence of the Queen. After we had gotten our tickets we went to St.Georges Chapel. It was simply amazing! There was stained glass on almost all the windows, and I think that it was portraits of important people like dukes, kings, princes, queens, princesses (you get the idea). It also turns out that all the important people get buried there, only I guess there was more "important people" than expected because everywhere you go in there you always run into elaborate statues and plaques. Even the ceiling is grand, with its intricate patterns and crests, also it's super high.
     Next we went to Queen Mary's Dolls' House which was also cool. The house for her dolls was a minature version of the castle, with wooden furniture, bed drapes, real carpet, the list goes on and on! The different rooms were labelled: the kings bedroom, maids room, queens sitting room, mans room, queens bedroom, dining room and many, many others. And the rooms looked very similar to what they actually do. Then there's the dolls themselves, they were given to Queen Elizabeth and her sister from France complete with they're own wardrobe, and when I say wardrobe I mean a full wardrobe. They have an ermine fur cloak, an evening gown,many pairs of shoes, gloves, and stockings, fancy pajamas that looked like they were made of silk, bonnets, everyday dresses, flowered hair bands, brooches, jewlery, various coats and a big trunk to keep it all in! It was absolutely insane.
     We also got to see the actual rooms (they are still in use to this very day)! We saw the kings bedroom and the queens bedroom, on the walls there is these huge tapestries that have show scenes on a huge scale, and if there isn't tapestries then there is huge paintings and portraits. Another thing that you see alot of is marble busts, probably of past kings and queens. On thing that I found funny was how the queen has an audience room, a reception room, (and another with a similar name) that all sound like they serve a similar purpose. There was also two tables made of silver!

Court 2

  Well we returned on wednesday to try and catch some more tennis action. Only had to wait in queue for 15 minutes tonight, then we were in and running up the stairs to try and get tickets to one of the show courts. Tickets are made available as patrons leave the grounds, they can turn them in at the gate and then the tickets are resold for 5 pounds and all the money goes to charity. The lineup for the 5 pound tickets was huge so we walked around saw some matches on side courts and had dinner, and strawberries and cream of course.
 Then we headed back up to check on the line for tickets. No line, and we got tickets for court 2 and the match was about to start. Rushing to our seats we got settled in with a glass of wine and some treats and enjoyed the tennis. About six games in one of the players miss hit the ball and it was on a high lob our direction, glass of wine in hand I caught the ball, much to the girls delight I quickly put it in my pack. Unfortunately at Wimbledon you are not supposed to keep the ball and so the umpire called for it back.
 The rule is that in professional tennis 6 new balls are used for the warm up and the first seven games. After that the old balls are exhanged every 9 games. All 6 balls should be of equal wear and playability. If one ball is lost then the 5 balls get more use and could wear faster. So spectators are not allowed to keep balls during the 9 games they are being used.
 We dug it of the pack and tossed it back down,much to our chagrin. After all we had one 2010 Wimbledon ball at home already and were looking for two more, so each of the girls could have one.The umpire then spoke with the players and ballboys and came back on the microphone and asked to have the ball thrown back up to us! We had our souvenir after all. This is even more rare because Wimbledon sells game used balls at a kiosk on the grounds.

 In the end the Serb beat our Canadian girl, not without a good fight and we went home very happy. Now to find the elusive third ball.
To see more photos of the match click here

AELTC

 It has been a busy, tennis filled week here for us. To start, it appears that everyone in our building complex moves out during Wimbledon and rents their places out, because it is a nice location some tennis players have moved in. Right next door to us is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, he is ranked #10 in the world. Just 2 doors away is Justine Henin of Belgium, she is ranked 16th. Of course their coaches and some family are also staying with them.
  On monday evening the girls and I joined "The Queue" to get onto the tennis grounds at about 5 pm. As people leave the grounds they let others in. The demand for tickets is always greater than the supply but the AELTC (All England Lawn and Tennis Club) has made it possible for anyone willing to queue(line up) to get tickets. People will come and camp out the day before to get tickets for one of the show courts the next day. For each day they reserve 500 tickets to each of the show courts plus tickets to get onto the grounds, from which you can watch the sidecourts. Everything is very orderly, with everyone in the queue getting a numbered card and you have to be there to get one, there is no reserving of places or leaving the queue for any extended amount of time. Along side the line are washrooms and food service, as well as lots of stewards directing traffic and answering questions. There are about 14 courts that you don't need tickets to and early in the Championship almost anyone could be playing at them.

  After an hour of waiting we got in, and we headed for the first court we could see. It turned out to be Stephanie Dubois of Canada, so we sat down and watched a set. On the side courts you are literally only a few feet from the court and it is incredible, the game is much faster live and the court feels much smaller than it looks on tv. In the photo above the girls are sitting directly behind the line judge and beside one of the players fathers.
 For the rest of the evening we explored the grounds and would just sit down wherever we could and watch a match.The atmosphere is electric, with constant roars going up all around you as players win exciting points or games.
 We headed out at 9 pm and walked home. This was just a reconaissance mission for when we would return on wednesday night with Monique.

Weekend in Bath

 It has been a busy few days, with beautiful hot weather( 25 C or more today) and lots to do in our own neighborhood.
 A quick note to anyone on their way to London, head to Tower Hill, there is lots to see and do and the girls loved it. Everything from castles to jewels to beheading's and Knights and shining armour. Fun for the whole family. Above Vera is wearing a helmet that weighs about 4-5 pounds! Can't imagine what a suit of armour weighs.
 On the weekend we headed to Bath, which is about an hours drive west. We passed through the village of Avebury on the way and stopped to see another example of a  "Henge". Like Stonehenge only much larger and also far more accessible, the site surrounded the entire village and we were able to touch the stones. Unfortunately it was the weekend before summer solstice which brings out all the nutters to these ancient sites. Unwashed, dreadlocked people with copious piercings, dressed in dirty rags. As well as the true wack jobs dressed in animal furs with what appeared to be elk antlers on their heads. Too many bongo drums to count and far too little personal hygiene.
 We carried on to Bath and found a hotel room, then headed out for dinner. Our first good meal in England and it was Italian food ! Reasonable as well, dinner for 5 with appetizers, wine and tip included 110 pounds. Actually the prices of food and wine has been surprisingly inexpensive. Good wine for about 14 canadian dollars.

Vera chatting with the local Roman and her slave

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 The next day in Bath we headed for the Roman Baths, for which the town was named, went on a boat ride up the Avon (river), hit the fashion museum, the royal crescent and enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather. If you have any interest in Bath click here.

Crown Jewels by Vera

Today we went and saw the Crown Jewels.  They were in the Tower of London.  We saw one of the biggest diamonds in the world.  We saw a sword called the Sword of Offering.  The jewels on the handle would probably hurt if you held it because there were so many of them.  It would probably give you blisters but it is just ceremonial.  We saw Queen Elizabeth II crown and a huge plate made out of gold with engraves of people sitting at a table with food on it.  There was a HUGE punch/wine bowl that had little people engraved on it.  The punch bowl could fit me and my sisters in it! They showed pictures and videos that talked about Queen Elizabeth I and II and all the things (crowns, jewels, swords) that you would see for real.  They made you go on a moving walkway so you couldn't just stop and stare at the crown jewels that were all behind glass because they don't want any of it to be stolen (obviously!).  There were a few guards called Beefeaters. We took a picture with them and I think they wear very funny suits. You weren't allowed cameras which sort of stinked.  Somebody still took pictures with a mini-camera. There was a gold robe that I think would be used for ceremonial things. And that is pretty much what I can tell you about the crown jewels!!!

Stonehenge and Old Wardour Castle by Emma

We went to Stonehenge today, its one of the seven wonders of the world. It was really amazing because there were lots of huge stones and the tallest was said to be forty five tonnes in weight! Then after we finished looking at the rocks we got to walk on the mounds in wich they burried people in. Surprisingly enough they were in a feild with cows in it. The mounds were made out of chalk wich was quite interesting because I did not think that they would want their friends to be buried in chalk. When we were listening to an audio tape that told us about the rocks it said that the people used to bury the people with some of their belongings like dogs or horses and things that were important to them. After that we went to a stone castle that was quite small for a castle. It had been blown apart in a battle. We got to run around in it and see the kitchen and the tower and the hall. There was actually a wedding going on when we were there. The funny thing was that that there was no ceilings!Then we ran around in the gardens for a while and then headed home. As we were driving every one started to get hungry so we stopped at a resteraunt for dinner but they didnt serve food until six and it was only five. So we drove to another resteraunt but they didnt serve food until seven. So after a while it got closer to six and then we found a resteraunt that served food all day. When we finally got home it was like eight thirty so we pretty much went to bed after that.

A quick visit with the Queen

 Today was what the kids would call a "random" day. We decided to head into London and see the sites with no real plan in mind, it turned out to be the Queens bday/ Trooping of the Color parade. The day reserved for the public to celebrate the Queens b-day, even though it is not the actual day. (real day 21 of April)

  We started off by catching a double decker bus, because our tube stop is under renos, and sitting up top of course. Then onto the tube for a ride to the fabled Kings Cross Station, to search for platform 9 3/4, where all good wizards go to catch the Hogwarts Express.

 We headed back into central London on the tube and had a quick snack at Piccadilly Circus. Thinking that the Queens parade was over, we headed towards Buckingham Palace just to look around. The crowds were amazing, people streaming everywhere, so we asked a policeman what was happening and he said that the Queen would be returning down the parade route in about 15 minutes.So we found a spot alongside the route and waited, and a rather interesting wait it was...

A Walk in Wimbledon Common by Natasha

      On Friday we went for a walk in the Wimbledon Common. the birds are so noisy it sounds like a jungle in there, only you never actually see many birds. The Common is apparently the place to go horse back riding because there is tons of horses and their riders all over the place. There is also a riding arena where they go after they finish the trail. Another thing that the Wimbledon Common has lots of is dogs; there's tiny little foxlike dogs, playful labradors and big panting dogs. Quite a variety. It's also a golf course.
      A fair is also setup at the edge of the Common and last night we went there. It had some pretty good rides and delicious cotton candy. There was rock climbing as well, and something where you get sealed into a plastic bubble and go floating out in a large tub-ish thing filled with water. It's really funny (see video).


Water walking at wimbledon fair from chris bulowski on Vimeo.


By Natasha B :)         
      

Driving and Roadways

  As it turns out, driving here is rather interesting to say the least. Once you have mastered the right hand drive and general "rules" of the road, you realize that the only way to drive here is aggressively, or you may not get anywhere at all. The first few hours are spent trying not to wipe your sideview mirrors off on some car, lamppost or pedestrian, then you try and figure out the roundabouts and then you're on your way.

The above picture is a fairly wide street in our neighborhood, two rows of parking and two directions of travel!? The roads in our neighborhood are labrynth at best and I swear they change because I never end up in the same spot! Here is a map of the hood, and like I have said before "thank god for gps".

We have arrived

I'm sure that if you asked any of the girls the best part of the trip was the limo ride to the airport, a necessary means of travel for a family of five with luggage. (it's either that or two cabs) The flight was on time and uneventful, just like they should be.

After waiting almost 2 hours to get our rental car, we were off, 40 minutes later we arrived at our place, thank god for onboard navigation systems!