Oh, and another thing...

The museums in London are wonderful. I am attracted to the strange and quirky ones. Probably because I am strange and quirky.
(My family will all attest to this and bore you with lengthy complaints of my bringing them to the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto a few summers back. But it was COOL! Really! Trust me!)
Anyway, here in London, I was able to convince my 2 youngest to accompany me to the Pollack Toy Museum, below. We had a great time! Plus I bought them chocolate muffins. So that helped. A male must-see is the Imperial War Museum (and actually, the females enjoyed it too).
Here are my kids and their Oregon cousins, whom we met for a fun day at the end of December.

While everyone was busy at work and school, I took a day to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was cooooool. (And FREE!) This sculpture in the main lobby looked to be made of glass. Beautiful in the sunlight!
Glancing over one balcony, you could check out a work/storage room, giving you a rare behind-the-scenes feel.
These carvings were so lifelike, one almost expects them to sit up and start talking, a la "Night at the Museum." I'm thinking the one reading a book must have a horrible crick in her neck.
I roped Jer into going to The Clock Museum but there were no photos allowed.

I'm hoping he'll indulge me one more time and go to The Puppet Museum with me.

But I'm not holding my breath...

Any takers???

Adventures in Ireland

On our first day, we took a drive along the "Connemara Loop" (sp?) and visited the Kylemore Abby. It was originally built as a castle, then converted to an Abby with a school for girls. Now it's just an Abby. Not bad digs, eh? (click on the picture to really appreciate the beauty)The weather on this trip ranged from misty to drizzly to downright rainy.
Thus, the preponderance of green...
A graveyard nestled in the woods.
This chapel was a short walk from the Abby. We were about the only visitors around,...
...except for a few new friends;)

Jer's Home land!

As many of you know, we made a quick trip to Ireland for our last hurrah. RyanAir had a deal to fly to Shannon for 1p per person! Of course there were taxes and other charges, but it was still ridiculously cheap so we went. We decided to rent a car, as we were going to tour the southwestern coast of Ireland, which is mostly country. Here's Jer, driving a STICKshift, on the 'wrong' side of the car, on the 'wrong' side of the road. (Note the white knuckles). The roads were incredibly narrow, many times with stone walls on either side.
It made things interesting when we met another car on the road...
There were other driving challenges too...
...and signs warning of possible dangers...
But in the end, the views were definitely worth it.
(The Cliffs of Moher) Specky, no?
(click on this picture - you won't be sorry!)

Harrow High School

Here are two pictures of Jer's school. It's a very old building with many, many additions over the years. As stated previously, sometimes you have to go up some stairs and then down some stairs just to get to a different place on the same floor! Sometimes, unfortunately, the behavior inside does not match the granduer outside. But there are still a lot of good kids walking the hallowed halls;)

Bev Murphy's Law

On this adventure, I seemed to have the kiss of death: If I wanted to see something, it wouldn't work out. When we first got to London, we set out for Trafalgar Square. I'd promised the kids they could eat lunch in the crypt at St. Martin's in the Fields. When we got there, it had a sign saying,
CLOSED FOR REPAIRS.
And that was just the beginning.
I'd wanted to see the Cutty Sark and the worlds largest collection of mast figureheads.
CLOSED DUE TO FIRE.
I wanted to eat pies at Goddards, one of the oldest running pubs in all of England.
NOW A HAMBURGER JOINT.
(See what I mean?)
So, in Paris, when I wanted to hit a restaurant I'd read about, Cafe Vavin, I was hardly surprised to find it
CLOSED DUE TO PRIVATE CHRISTMAS PARTY.
But then it got silly. We trucked off early one morning to visit the catacombs.
CLOSED DUE TO RENOVATIONS.
Wha..? Catacombs have renovations?
On the bright side, some of these excursions have led us to interesting surroundings, such as this cemetery, below.

All of these individual family crypts were works of art in and of themselves. There were thousands of them. This particular cemetery was in the Montparnasse area of Paris.
In St. Louis-en-I'lle, we never found the recommended restaurant but we did see this very cool church!
But finally, my doggedness was rewarded. And handsomely. I'd read on The Lonely Planet website to go to Baker and Spice in London "to eat a meringue the size of your head."
And it was there.

And it was good.
Very good. (My new fave - Bread and Butter pudding, pictured above)

Mmmmmmm.

A few more glimpses of England before we go...

The world famous Harrod's decked out in holiday finery... The colorful buildings and double-decker buses...
Bakery windows you'd love to press your nose against...
Leaves still turning and flowers still in bloom...
...and Speaker's Corner, where anyone is welcome to stand on their own chair or ladder and say anything they bloody well please!
Lots to love.
Loads to miss.