Last night we returned to rainy Frankfurt after a wonderful weekend in London. On Saturday morning, we went out around the city, riding the underground to many of the main tourist attractions including Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abby, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Gardens, Diana Memorial Playground, Trafalgar Square, and more. We ended the day at a local pub with fish and chips, mushy peas, and a couple of pints.
For Mẹ Day (Mother's Day to most of you out there) we spent almost the whole day at Kew Gardens. We got there right when it opened and went straight for the treetop walkway, which did not disappoint. Along the way, Gianna found a rather tame peacock that got a little too close for her tastes. The rest of the trip, she was on the lookout for those dangerous creatures called peacocks, even in the airport! We saw a lot of other wildlife at Kew, including several species of pheasants, guinea fowl, parrots, and a fox. Overall, I would rate Kew as one of the most beautiful botanical gardens I have ever visited, and I have visited quite a few. Still #1 in my book is Singapore Botanical Gardens with a superb bonsai collection, plumeria grove, native rainforest, and an orchid display that puts all others to shame. To round out Mẹ Day, we walked through Hyde Park to the Lebanese section of town for an authentic Lebanese meal complete with people smoking the hookah.
Monday morning we intended to tour the inside of Westminster Abby right as it opened, but the lines were already long, the weather was cold and windy, and the admission price was £15 per person. So instead of waiting, we hopped on a 10am boat tour down the River Thames from Westminster Pier. If the three cappuccinos at breakfast didn't wake me up, the brisk weather on top of the boat certainly did. Gianna really loved riding on the boat, seeing other boats, and just looking at the water. It is hard to find things that are equally as interesting to adults and children when you are on vacation, but a boat tour was just right. We got off at the Tower Bridge and intended to tour the Tower of London, but it cost a whopping £17 per person, even more than Westminster Abby. The boat tour was a relative bargain at £12 for all of us, and you got to see a lot of London without any walking involved. I highly recommend it for both the lazy and cheap!
This was a wonderful first Mother's Day for me and I just want to thank Dan, Gianna and everyone in the US and Vietnam that made it possible for me to be a mother, a special mother, more than a mother, a Mẹ.
Click to see more photos of London and Kew Gardens.
Well, the pics you posted here are awesome! I cannot wait to take some time to look through the rest of them! BTW, I love peacocks, they are so beautiful... what happened with Gianna? Dave and I are SO, SO, SO happy that this year you could have celebrated Mother's day this year.
ReplyDeleteWe were standing about 3 ft away from the peacock. It was just laying there looking at us and Gianna was gazing at it contently when it let out its loud call for the female that sounds like someone screaming. Gianna jumped into my arms and started crying, "no peacock! no peacock!" We could hear their calls throughout the gardens and ran into them a couple more times after the first encounter.
ReplyDeleteSounds like an awesome trip and mothers day!!!!! You guys are such a cute family :) Miss you!
ReplyDeleteOops! I forgot to mention things are REALLY expensive in London (in fact, I may have delibrately forgotten the price of everything since we were only going to be there once). Alex loves the old medievel stuff, suits of armour, weapons, etc. so there was no question of us going to the Tower. I even had the chance to help fire a trebuchet.
ReplyDeleteAh well.
Looking at your pictures, I wish we had gone to Kew.