London and beyond

Tuesday, Oct 4th: The morning was full of beautiful art.  When I was in London the first time I had not taken any art history classes and wasn't sure what to look for.  This time I was laser focused on certain works that I had been itching to see at the National Gallery (Da Vinci's Virgin of the Rocks and the Burlington House Cartoon as well as Bronzino's London Allegory), the Courtauld Gallery (Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère and Van Gogh's Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear), and a few iconic images at the National Portrait Gallery, though I must admit I was mostly interested in these because I watched Elizabeth on Netflix just before the trip ;o) 

Progressive green crosswalk symbols right by Trafalgar Square.

After the museum extravaganza we toured Westminster Abbey (a bit overwhelming and extremely crowded), passed Downing Street, and since we missed the overly popular Changing of the Guards, we made a point to see the Dismounting of the Horse Guards. 

Mom fits right in with the Horse Guards

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the Churchill War Rooms, which was really intriguing, but we were so wiped out after such a long day I don't think either of us were able to do it justice.  It was time for a River Cruise!

Seth, does this look familiar?

Thames Cruise at sunset, the prettiest time of day!

Mom was getting swept away by the wind!

Some of the best Laksa outside of Penang is just across from our hostel

Wednesday, Oct 5th: It was finally time to slow down a step and take an excursion just outside of London, to Windsor Castle. 

We didn't plan it but we ended up seeing the Changing of the Guard here.  Too many people with stupid Selfie Sticks...

Off to see Queen Mary's Doll House. The craziest doll house ever.  It even has tiny vacuum cleaners that work!

St George Chapel was really exciting.  It is ground zero for the Order of the Garter, of which there are always 24 knights.  Since it was established in 1348, Prince William was made the 1000th knight.

It is fascinating that people actually live inside the castle walls.

We zipped back to London in the late afternoon.  Our final stop was the British Library, which is only two blocks from the hostel. 

King George IV's collection.  I appreciate that people actually use this library for studying!

And by the way, London has really great grocery stores.  They even have massive boxes of tea for only $3!