The Finale ~ Sad to see the Fun End

Wednesday was our last big day, and we finished the fun in London.  Our first stop was breakfast in Covent Garden. I had booked this as a "tea", but in London you do not have "tea" in the morning. Having said that, we had tea, but the pastry chef did not come in until after 11:00, so there were no scones and clotted cream.  So, it was pretty much an epic fail.  I was soooo bummed.  But, the food was good…light…but good.  And, now the Knepps can say they had tea in London…kind of.

The lovely ladies

And handsome gentlemen (and missing a pic of the moms)

Next up was the Tower of London. Leksi wasn't so keen on this idea, but I made her go. ;)  I should point out that we took the Tube to get there.  Due to incessant talking on the part of the moms, we lost Andy.  Oops!  We didn't realize that his Tube pass didn't work, and he was stuck back at the window attempting to reload his card.  We just carried on only to realize (once we were ON the Tube) that Andy wasn't with us.  We got off at the next stop (which was the plan if we got separated) only to find that stop was closed.  Then we had to walk to another stop to get back on.  Honestly, it has been so long since this happened that I'm not even sure what happened next.  But, we made it to the Tower of London and several minutes later (maybe 45?) Andy also made it there.  Phew!  Glad he found us!

Ready to see the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.

And so was the rest of London, but it moved along rather quickly.

A shot with the Royal Guard (that's what he's called, right?)

The Vastine kids didn't get the memo that this was a "no smiling" picture with the Beefeater.

The Beefeater didn't get the memo that this was the "smiling" picture.  

Tower Bridge is so gorgeous!  This one's for you Christie!

And so are the Knepps!

The Tower of London

Shots in front of Tower Bridge!

Last stop was Hamleys Toy Store.  Hamleys is the oldest and largest toy store (and maybe the most miserable for parents.  Ha!) It reminds me of the movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which is equally annoying.

Ilyse is practicing for her future role as HRH.

Ending our time in London with a photo with the (Lego) QUEEN of course!

Off we go…back to Brussels.  Farewell to the land of English.  We will miss you and hope to see you again!

And, the next morning, we had to say farewell to the Knepps.  We cannot thank them enough for coming to see us.  It meant the world to have them here with us, experiencing life in Belgium, and traveling to some of our favorite places in Europe. We love you!

(Even better…we really didn't have to say goodbye because we were going to see them in less than two weeks. Yay!)

Next up!  The Vastines head to the USA!!!

Until next time,

Wendy

Keep Calm and Go to London

Our last trip of the Knepp's vacation was to London.  This is Allison's favorite city, and she could not wait to share it with Leksi.  We boarded the Eurostar bright and early for the two hour train ride.  Well, the ride was a bit longer by about 30 minutes as there seemed to be some technical problems with the Chunnel (short name for the Channel Tunnel ~ a 50 km rail tunnel beneath the English Channel linking the UK to mainland Europe.)  We did find out later that trains after ours were stopped in the Chunnel and passengers had to disembark.  I cannot imagine having the kids get out in the tunnel!  Several trains were cancelled as well. We were so lucky we made it through and could enjoy our first day in London.

Of course we couldn't pass through King's Cross Station without a stop at Platform 9 3/4!

Unfortunately, I missed Ilyse, and Thomas was a party pooper and wouldn't do it.

After getting situated in our rooms, we were off to Buckingham Palace.  We passed through Green Park where the fan park was located for Le Tour de France.  So exciting!  

There were a lot of people hanging out around the palace with the race passing right by.  

Oh hello there!  He was quick.  I almost missed him!

Yes, we planned the shirts.  I'm sure that doesn't surprise those of you those know me and Andrea. :)

Now that is some patriotism!

The Mall was all decked out and ready for the riders.

The Vastines got all decked out too!

Getting some pics with the Horse Guards.  

Hey Mr. Prime Minister…come on out and see us!

 I think these are my first pictures of Big Ben with blue skies!  Those blue skies didn't last the whole time, but they were great while they lasted.

Obligatory phone booth pics.  I don't want to ruin it for you, but most of them stink like urine.  You're in and out for a pic.  And, you certainly don't put your face to the receiver…THOMAS!

So excited for the riders to go by!

What a great perch!

We enjoyed the sponsors driving by and throwing free stuff to the crowd.

Still smiling.  We ended up waiting about 3.5 hrs for the riders to go by.

Getting more crowded

BORED out of his MIND!

You knew it was time.  All of the arms went up with phones and cameras in hand.

The race leaders for this stage!

And, in about 20 seconds it was over, but it was so worth it!

The lovely Westminster Abbey.  We didn't go in.  But, enough about that.  Right Andrea? ;)

Hair by the cool tube breeze.

Of course!  You need to eat!

Dinner stop in Covent Garden.

And, you can't go to London with kids without a stop at the M&M World.

This. Cracks. Me. Up!

Professional Tube rider

Andrea's great pic of stage leaders.  She had a great view from the fence, but she had very tired legs after all that waiting.

Next up is the Harry Potter Studio Tour.  Yep, it gets its own post!

Until next time,
Wendy